"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me " - Luke 7:18-28

One of the basic reasons that philosophers discount the existence of God is the concept of sin or evil. In a very small nutshell the argument says that these two statements cannot be truths and coexist with evil: God is all loving and God is omnipotent. I spoke with a man one time that fell away from his Catholic or Anglican beliefs the day his mother died. He basically figured that if God existed then bad things should not happen. It is so sad to hear people turn from their God in the very times they need him most.

In the same spirit as this man's reasoning, many have fallen away because they did not trust in the Lord's ministry or God's plan. Many have looked at the physical needs of this world and said that the church does not care enough. Many looked upon Jesus's ministry and said He was not changing the world the way they thought He would change it or the way they thought it needed to be changed. The Jews thought that the Messiah was going to lead them from their oppressors and restore Israel's chosen status. Others thought that Jesus was going to prune the branches or cut the trees that were not producing, in reference to the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders. However, the program that men had envisioned for the Christ was not God's agenda.

Jesus did not want John the Baptist to fall into this category. He did not want John to be disheartened because of His ministry or His agenda. Understandably, Jesus recognized the question that John was really asking: If you are the one, what are you doing? If you are the one, why are you not cleansing the threshing floor? Are you the one or not? Jesus reply was simply, look at what I am doing, I am fulfilling the prophecies because: "...the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Luke 7:22). He further said: "Blessed is he who does not take offense at me" (verse 23).

Many were offended at His ministry. They were offended at both what He was doing and what He was not doing. Jesus did not want John to be among them. Jesus was encouraging John and telling him to keep the faith. Jesus was fulfilling God's plan, even though it did not make sense to John.

I know over the last several years I have been critical of the church. Sometimes I have questioned Biblical teaching and sometimes I have questioned church leadership, both locally and otherwise. Like many, sometimes I forget the true agenda that I should be following. The church's purpose is not to rebuild cities, feed the hungry, change politics, or any other of the wonderful humanitarian objectives. The church's purpose is not to entertain, occupy our time with programs and services, or provide us with warm fuzzies. The church's purpose is to save the lost. If the church brought the lost to their Savior, everything else would be a by-product or result from the fruits that it produced.

How do you think John responded to the lesson Jesus provided him? "Blessed is he who does not take offense at me" - what a profound statement.