Removing Stumbling Blocks Through Considerate Love

Summary

The message opens with the temple tax in Matthew 17. Although Jesus, as the Son, was free from the obligation, he chose to pay it so that he would not offend anyone. The preacher dwells on the wide range of meaning behind the word translated as offend: to grieve, to disappoint, to wound, to provoke, or even to become a stumbling block to another.

From this story comes a striking portrait of Christ's sensitivity toward people. He was willing to pay what he did not owe rather than close a single human heart. When someone is hurt by us as Christians, the door to the gospel slams shut, so our witness must be wrapped in gentleness and genuine care.

Turning to Romans 14, the preacher urges believers never to place a stumbling block before a brother. The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We are therefore to pursue what makes for peace and never to destroy, over secondary matters, the one for whom Christ died.

Key Points

• Jesus paid the temple tax he did not owe so as not to offend others (Matthew 17).
• The word offend can mean to grieve, wound, disappoint, or become a stumbling block.
• Christ was deeply sensitive to the hearts and feelings of people.
• A wounded heart closes itself to the gospel, so our witness must be gentle.
• Love is sometimes willing to give up its own freedom for the sake of another.
• The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, not food and drink.
• Pursue what makes for peace and builds others up (Romans 14).