Lord, Send Me II: See the King
In so many ways, Christianity is offensive. By nature, we don't want to confess that we are a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). Looking at Christ on the cross is extremely offensive, if we know why he's up there bleeding. We see our sin up close and our brokenness becomes a reality. In a weird twist of events, Christ became "broken" for you! So what does this mean for your life? Does Christ's brokenness affend you or empower you (or both)? Does the reality of our sinfulness make us fully dependent of God? Perhaps it should.
Perhaps I'm taking the word offensive too literally?
Wouldn't it have been nice if Jesus wouldn't have had to endure such a terrible death, and so public a one too all to forgive my sin - sincerely, the sacrifice is just unfathomable. Probably I'm confusing the idea that I don't think I have the right to be offended by God's plans and the action that happened?
What I appreciate is the ability to deeply feel the action that Jesus died and it was because of my sin. Not just nod and acknowledge the historic event and go on my merry sinful way but to personally identify with the sacrifice, to reflect and repent and to accept forgiveness.
Accepting forgiveness has been an abstract concept to grab hold of as it seems too simple "I am forgiven".
Much like wanting to see a physical presence of God or some sort of prophetic sign, I left church on Sunday with the examples tossing round my head of all those people who finally got what they wanted, face time with God, and wondered if there wasn't something to be said for just depending on God without asking for physical reminders that He exists.
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