Jesus - All About Vandalism?

I was in Newtown the other day and noticed the remains of a "Jesus - All About Life" sign tied to the fence out the front of a house on busy King St. Someone had obviously taken offence at the sign and ripped it in half.  The sight of the vandalised sign didn't surprise me at all. With so many people walking past, at every hour of the day and night, it's a miracle that the sign wasn't vandalised earlier and its amazing that there was still half of it left on the fence! I love Newtown - I lived there for 2 years and really enjoyed it (especially the cheap Thai food) - but in a suburb like Newtown some resistance and some hostility to the Christian message about Jesus is to expected.

Something that has surprised me is the news (from several people in our local area) that the "Jesus: All About Life" signs that they have put up in their front yards have also been damaged or removed by unknown people. What is expected on a busy road in Newtown is surprising in the quiet back streets of the Upper North Shore.
 
The truth is Jesus offends people in all places. He doesn't discriminate. He offends people in different suburbs.  He offends people who vote Green, people who vote Labor, people who vote Liberal. He offends people of all different socio-economic groups. He offends people from all different cultural backgrounds. He offends people from different nations. He has offended people in all periods of time over the last 2000 years, and no doubt he will continue to do so.
 
Why? Why is Jesus so offensive? Why has he done to provoke anger and vandalism?
There are lots of reasons but here perhaps is the greatest:
"The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18
 
The gospel message seems crazy to many, it seems unbelievable, it seems foolish, it seems offensive. What is the most offensive part of the gospel? That we are sinners, that we have done wrong against God, that we are rebels facing punishment and only Jesus is able to fix this problem. This offensive message is the truth that Christians believe.
 
Jesus did not come to offend people, but to rescue them. 
But sadly many are offended by the idea that they need rescuing at all.
 
Pray that the "Jesus: All About Life" campaign will cause many to stop and think about Jesus. Pray that in the coming months many people would move past being offended and investigate the one who came to rescue them.
 
- Adam