The Cross Still Offends When We Really Look at It

We have made the cross comfortable. We have turned it into a piece of jewelry. A symbol on a necklace. A decoration on a wall.

But when we really look at it, it still offends. The cross was not comfortable. It was not acceptable. It was offensive.

This is what we forget. The cross still offends. We have softened it, but it still offends.

This is what we need to remember.

The Offense We Have Forgotten

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians. Paul is writing about the cross:

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

Foolishness. Not comfortable. Not acceptable.

Foolishness.

That is the offense. The cross is foolishness. Not wisdom. Not strength.

This is what we forget. We have made the cross wise. We have made it strong. But it is still foolishness.

And then:

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

The cross makes wisdom foolish. That is the offense.

This is what we forget. We think the cross is wise. But it makes wisdom foolish.

The Offense That Remains

And then there is this, from the same chapter:

Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block. To the Greeks foolishness.

A stumbling block. Foolishness.

Not comfortable. Not acceptable.

A stumbling block. Something you stumble over. Something that offends.

This is what we have forgotten. We have made the cross a stepping stone. But it was a stumbling block.

We have made the cross make sense. But it is still foolishness.

This is what we need to remember.

The Offense We Need

So what does this mean for us? It means the cross still offends. Even when we think we understand it.

When we really look at it, it still offends. The cross was not comfortable. It was not acceptable.

It was offending. It was foolish. It was a stumbling block.

That is what we need to remember. The cross still offends when we really look at it.

We have softened it. We have made it acceptable. But it is still offensive.

That is the offense. That is what makes it powerful.

The cross offends. That is why it saves.

We have made the cross comfortable. We have turned it into jewelry, a decoration, a symbol.

But when we really look at it, it still offends.

A stumbling block. Foolishness. This is what it is.

That is the offense. That is the power.

The cross offends. That is why it saves.