Read Matthew 17:24-27
Do People Take Offense At Things I Do?
Some tax collectors approached Peter, saying, “Does your teacher [Jesus] not pay the two drachma tax?” It seems Peter wanted to defend Jesus and responded, “Yes he does!” But after saying that, Peter felt compelled to go and talk to Jesus about it. Jesus anticipated that Peter was going to bring the tax issue up with him. So Jesus asked Peter, “From whom do the Kings of the Earth collect taxes? From their sons or from strangers?” Peter responded, “From Strangers.” Jesus said, “Yes, the sons are exempt / excluded.” Jesus was implying that because he is the Son of God, it is not necessary for him to pay the tax. But so that no one would take offense to him not paying, he told Peter to go to the sea and catch a fish. The first one he catches, he is to open it up and he’ll find a coin that is enough to pay his taxes and Peter’s taxes as well.
I find it interesting that Jesus backed up what he said. Peter came to ask Jesus about the tax and Jesus basically said, “I don’t have to pay the tax because I’m the Son of God.” But Jesus demonstrates to Peter that he is the Son of God through two miracles, by:
1. Speaking to Peter about the taxes before being asked, and
2. By doing a miracle where Peter catches a fish and there’s money in the fish enough to pay for both of their taxes.
In reality, Jesus didn’t have to pay the tax, but because he was concerned how others might take offense to that, he paid it.
As a follower of Christ, I feel there are things that non-christians may take offense at, and thus, hurt my testimony for the Lord. For example:
1. As a high school student, our school had a policy, don’t wear any shirts that had the word HELL written on it. During that time, a Christian band called Stryper, had a song titled, “To Hell With The Devil!” They even sold t-shirts with those words written on it. One day, this Christian kid wore that t-shirt to school. The principal told him he couldn’t wear it because of the word HELL on the shirt. Because it was a “Christian” t-shirt, the student felt he should be able to wear it. The discussion got very heated, and in my opinion, it went too far. To me, the student hurt his testimony for Jesus and gave Jesus bad name to the principal. Rather than wear the shirt and have people take offense to it, don’t wear it at school.
2. Since we have been doing Ministry at the school, we have build a very strong bond with the leadership there. They want us there. But one day they changed one of their policies which made it harder for us to promote. We could have been jerks about it and “fought for our rights”, but we felt fighting for our “rights” could result in destroying the relationship we have built with the school. It was not a major issue, so we adapted to the change and all is well. Fighting for something isn’t always the best answer if it could result in others taking offense to it and destroying our testimony for the Lord.
I hope this causes you to think!
