Beautiful & Offensive

I was reminded of a quote from Derek Webb when I read this excerpt from Mark Driscoll, who recently released a new book entitled Death By Love: Letters from the Cross. Webb, if I remember correctly, said that the gospel must be both beautiful and offensive. If it is not both, then it is not the gospel that we are preaching. He then went on to reference The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, where one of the children asks if Aslan, the Great Lion, is safe. The response received is remarkable: "No, he is not safe... but he is good, and he is the king."

Driscoll: "The curious paradox of the atoning death of a bloody Jesus rising above the plane of human history with a mocking crown of thorns is that he is offensive in an attractive way. It is the utter horror of the cross that cuts through the chatter, noise, and nonsense of our day to rivet our attention, shut our mouths, and compel us to listen to an impassioned dying man who is crying out for the forgiveness of our sins and to ask why he suffered. Tragically, if we lose the offense of the cross, we also lose the attraction of the cross so that no one is compelled to look at Jesus. Therefore, Jesus does not need a marketing firm or a makeover as much as a prophet to preach the horror of the cross unashamedly. (Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, 33, emphasis added"

Driscoll on Joel Olsteen