Because we Christians value truth and believe in our hearts that when Jesus said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life – no man comes to the Father but by Me”, He meant it, and had the authority to say it. If God, Whose ways are above our ways and thoughts are (unfathomably) above our thoughts, thought that we should seek the truth, know the truth, and share the truth, then it’s incumbent upon us to be obedient and not suppress it.
When Pilate, the sixth procurator of Judea and Samaria who ordered Christ to be crucified under pressure from the Jewish leaders wrote the title to be placed on the cross above Jesus’ head, he wrote “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews”. It was standard Roman practice in those days to write the charge for which the person was being crucified to be placed at the top of the cross for all to see what awaited anyone guilty of the same offense, e.g. thief, murderer, seditionist, etc.
In an interesting display of political correctness long before its ascent, the chief priest of the Jews objected, saying “write not, ‘the King of the Jews’, but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.'” (Emphasis mine) He wanted Pilate to compromise the truth and reduce the Messiah to a pretender. He probably feared that many of the Jews would be offended by this as a statement of fact, rather than a mere proclamation, as he suggested. Pilate’s admirable response (following his otherwise dismal display of leadership) was “what I have written, I have written.” You can read this brief exchange in John 19:19-22.
When the disciples Peter and John were told in Acts 4:18 not to preach the gospel, in opposition to what Christ had instructed them to do (Matthew 28:19-20), this was a limitation of their freedom of speech, spreading the good news, complete with threats of punishment for not complying.
They were serious when Peter said “we ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29 We should do likewise.
Whoever is threatened by the truth will seek to suppress it, whether by claiming offense or, with the authority, by edict. The speaker is the guilty party, when all he did was speak the truth. It could be said that the crucifixion, though fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, was a demonstration of political correctness gone amok. The offended party silenced the offender (or so they thought), when they should have considered what He was said.
It was both observation and prophecy that many (e.g. the Pharisees) were, and would be offended by Him, His words, His actions (see Matthew 13:57 & Matthew 24:10). It was to those of us who know Him personally, that He wrote in John 16:1 “These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended.”
His disciples, slow as they sometimes were, at least admitted on more than one occasion “Master, this is a hard saying” in response to something He had said…but they eventually learned from it, knowing it would make them grow. As a result, they “turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6) Taking the easy way out by just being offended would have had a far lesser outcome.
(As an interesting aside, the Greek word meaning “be offended” is skandalizō; sounds a lot, not coincidentally, like scandal. To be offended by the truth is to, in a sense, turn it into a scandal, when it deserves better. I sometimes wonder if our descent into the mire of political correctness obsessed society, which seems to love being lied to, has indirectly fueled the public’s lust for scandal.)
So who is it that’s really behind political correctness, ultimately? Who would have wanted Jesus’ message of repentance, love, forgiveness and redemption not to be preached? Who would put in the hearts of people to be offended by the truth? Most of you reading this probably already know the answer, and it helps complete the title of the article.
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