The Rock of Offense

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"The Jesus who doesn't fit into the American church's soft gospel or cultural friendly faith" - this episode of Renewed Mindsets delivers a powerful wake-up call to Christians who have embraced a comfortable, inoffensive version of Jesus that bears little resemblance to the biblical Christ.

Rick cuts straight to the heart of modern Christianity's greatest deception: the substitution of Jesus the King with Jesus the mascot. This Americanized Jesus loves without confrontation, accepts without transformation, and offers blessing without repentance. The problem? He's not real. Drawing from Scripture, Rick reminds us that Jesus is described as "a rock of offense" - not because He's harsh, but because truth disrupts comfort and light exposes what hides in darkness.

The episode presents a challenging question: When was the last time Jesus offended you? If you can't remember, perhaps you've surrounded yourself with teachers who tell you what your itching ears want to hear rather than what your soul needs. The biblical Jesus doesn't validate our brokenness; He transforms it. He doesn't affirm what culture celebrates when it contradicts Scripture; He calls it rebellion. This Christ demands complete surrender, not casual acknowledgment.

Matthew 21:44 presents our stark choice: "Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." There is no middle ground. We must either allow Christ to break our pride and tear down our self-built identities, or face His judgment. The offense Jesus brings is ultimately love - He wounds to heal, breaks to restore, and confronts to save.

Have you settled for a passive, people-pleasing Jesus who tolerates sin instead of destroying it? Text a friend about this episode, visit renewedmindsets.com for more content, and prepare your heart for the authentic Christ who loves you too much to leave you in deception. The time to wake up is now.

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The Intro/Outro music is Are You Ready? by Floodgate. From the Album, Are You Ready? copyright 2002 OffBeat Ministries, Inc.
Floodgate is available on Apple Music and iTunes.
Music used with permission.

Thank You. I Love You!

SEE YA!

Rick

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The world is changing and time is running out.
This is Renewed Mindsets, wherewe confront biblical truth
head-on no sugarcoating, nocompromise.
We expose false doctrine,reveal fulfilled prophecy and
shine light on the demonicdeception of these last days,

(00:21):
but we also stand firm on thehope of Christ's return, the
call to holiness and the urgencyof true salvation.
It's time to renew your mind,for the time is now.
Let's go, boys.
Hey, welcome back to RenewedMindsets.

(00:45):
I'm Rick and I'm so glad you'rehere.
This isn't the podcast for thecomfortable Christian.
This is where we confrontdeception, expose darkness and
call the church back to thenarrow road.
Today's message isn't going tosit well with everyone, and
that's exactly the point.
Today's message isn't going tosit well with everyone, and

(01:06):
that's exactly the point.
We're talking about Jesus, therock of offense, the one people
want to follow until he speaks,the one they claim to love,
until he calls out their sin.
The Jesus who doesn't fit intothe American church's soft
gospel or cultural friendlyfaith.
Let me say this very plainly Ifyour version of Jesus never

(01:30):
offends the flesh, it's not thereal Jesus.
Let's just jump in with somescripture.
Romans 9.33 says as it iswritten behold, I lay in Zion, a
stumbling stone and a rock ofoffense, and whoever believes on
him will not be put to shame.

(01:51):
And then the stone which thebuilders rejected has become the
cornerstone.
That's from Psalm 118, 22.
Jesus wasn't crucified for beingnice.
He was crucified because hismessage confronted religious
pride, it exposed sin and itthreatened the systems of power.

(02:13):
He offended yeah, he offendedthe Pharisees with his holiness.
He offended the Romans with hisauthority.
He offended the sinners withhis call to repentance.
And he even offended hisdisciples with his suffering.
He wasn't killed for healing.

(02:35):
He was killed for truth.
In Matthew 13, 57,.
Even in his hometown they tookoffense at him.
Why?
Because he didn't fit theirexpectations.
Because truth disrupts comfort,because light exposes what's

(02:56):
hiding in the dark.
And here's the part we need tosay loudly, clearly and without
apology.
The American church has replacedJesus the king with Jesus the
mascot.
This Americanized Jesus loveseverybody, but never tells them

(03:21):
to change.
He accepts sin as identity.
He tells you to follow yourheart instead of crucify your
flesh.
He gives you blessing withoutrepentance.
He promises you favor whileyou're still living in rebellion
.
It's more about your platformthan your purity.
Jesus in the American church ismore interested in your

(03:44):
happiness than your holiness.
This Jesus has been massproduced in churches that care
more about audience size thanaltar calls, more about
relatability than inrighteousness, more about crowd
retention than repentance.
But this false Jesus is a trap,and those who believe in him are

(04:04):
being led straight to adeception that feels good but it
ends in destruction.
That's a fancy way of saying.
Those that believe in him arebeing led straight into hell for
eternity.
They'll gather around them agreat number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want tohear.
That's 2 Timothy 4.3.

(04:26):
That's the American church.
You can believe in Jesus.
You can attend church, you canpost scriptures online and still
be offended by the real Christwhen he exposes your idols.
Now here's why people stillstumble over him.
He confronts your sin, not ingeneral, but yours.

(04:48):
He doesn't affirm what theculture celebrates.
He calls it rebellion.
He demands obedience.
Why do you call me Lord, lord,and not do what I say?
That's Luke 6.46.
The real Jesus doesn't wantjust your Sunday, he wants your
life.

(05:08):
The real Jesus exposes fakefaith.
A lot of people are offendedbecause Jesus tears down
everything we've built withouthim.
Shallow Christianitycompromised leadership.
Hallow Christianity compromisedleadership.

(05:29):
Celebrity pastors who preachself over surrender.
The real Jesus draws lines.
He who is not with me isagainst me.
Matthew 12, 30.
Jesus didn't come to unify allopinions.
He came to divide truth fromlies, light from darkness, sheep

(05:50):
from goats.
So let me ask you somethingdirectly when was the last time
Jesus offended you?
If you can't remember, thenmaybe you've silenced his voice,
or you've chosen the feel-goodversion of Jesus, or you've

(06:17):
surrounded yourself with apreacher or preachers from
online who are afraid to offendyou.
Yeah, I say that preachersonline, because a lot of people
that are in church that have apastor are listening to false
preachers on YouTube.
Those messages are good with alittle g.
Those messages make you feelgood.
Those messages make you shout.
Those messages aren't truth.

(06:38):
A lot of times.
The truth is Jesus doesn'tchange.
If he offended religioushypocrites and half-hearted
followers 2,000 years ago, he'sstill going to offend hearts
today, but the offense is love.
He wounds us to heal us.
He breaks the pride to restorethe soul.

(07:00):
He tears down so he can buildsomething holy.
Matthew 21.
44 says Whoever falls on thisstone will be broken, but on
whomever it falls, it will grindhim to powder.
That's it.
That's the message You'reeither going to fall on the rock

(07:25):
and be broken or it's going tofall on you in judgment.
There's no neutral ground withJesus.
You can't casually like thegospel.
You can't gently considerChrist.
You must surrender or stumble.
You must repent or stumble.

(07:46):
You must repent or rebel.
You're either going to have tocrucify your flesh or be ruled
by it.
If what you've heard todayoffended you, good, you're not
supposed to stay comfortable.
Maybe God has shaken thefoundation you've built your

(08:06):
faith on.
Maybe you've settled for apassive, people-pleasing Jesus
who tolerates sin instead ofdestroys it.
Maybe it's time to repent ofwho you thought he was and
return to who he truly is.
Matthew 11.6 says Blessed isthe one who is not offended by

(08:27):
me.
Turn to who he truly is.
Matthew 11, 6 says Jesus offendsthe proud, he disturbs the
compromised, he exposes thecounterfeit, but he saves the
humble.
Let him offend you, let himconfront your idols, let him
burn away everything thatdoesn't belong in his kingdom,

(08:49):
because the same rock thatcrushes is the rock that can
carry you.
You can feel it, can't you?
That lump in your throat, thatache in your gut, that
tightening in your chest,because deep down you know

(09:11):
you've been playing it safe.
You've been pretending You'vebeen going to church, quoting
scripture, singing the songs,but still clinging to the sin
Jesus died to set you free from.
You've been playing it safe.
You've made a version of Jesusthat suits your lifestyle,
instead of surrendering yourlifestyle to suit your Savior,

(09:35):
and now he's calling you out ofthat.
Right now.
No more excuses, no more middleground, no more flirting with
the fire while you're pretendingyou're walking in the light,
because here's the truth.
You will either fall on therock and be broken in mercy, or
the rock will fall on you andyou will be crushed under

(09:57):
judgment.
There's no third option.
There's no loophole.
There's no cozy Jesus who letsyou live in rebellion because
your heart is good.
Your heart isn't good.
It's broken, and Jesus didn'tcome to validate it.
He came to transform it.
So here's your real altar call,not the one that you made when

(10:18):
you were 16 and cried.
This is the real one.
Fall on the rock, let him breakyou, let him crush the pride,
let him tear down the identitythat you built without him.
Let him wreck the lies you'vebeen living under, because he
loves you too much to leave youdeceived, too much to leave you

(10:38):
in sin Too much to let you wasteyour calling on compromise.
You need to cry out right now,right where you are, father, god
, break what needs breaking,expose what we've hidden, uproot

(11:03):
the comfort that we've clung toLord.
We don't want a version ofJesus that makes us feel good.
We want the real Jesus, the onewho sets captives free, the one
who offends us into holiness.
Sets captives free.
The one who offends us intoholiness.
The one who wounds so he canheal.
Tear down the idols, shatterthe pride, burn away every
excuse that you've made for yoursin and let what's left be holy

(11:25):
.
You're still breathing.
That means there's time, butdon't mistake mercy for
permission, don't confuse delayfor approval.
This might be your last call,and if you're ready to stand on
the rock, not stumble over him,then let the offense do its work

(11:51):
.
Repent, rise up, walk in truthand never bow to the world again
.
Fall on the rock, let it hurt,let it heal you, let it save you
, because if Jesus doesn'toffend you now, you're not going

(12:12):
to recognize him when hereturns.
The executive producer ofRenewed Mindsets is Christy
McCurry.
That's all for today, but I'llbe back with more unfiltered
biblical truth and undeniableprophecy.
The time to wake up is now.
If today's episode challengedyou, don't keep it to yourself.

(12:34):
Tell someone.
Please Text them a link.
Share the truth while there'sstill time.
Visit renewedmindsetscom tostay connected and to listen to
past episodes and check out ourmerch at renewedmindsetsstore.
Jesus is coming soon.
Stay watchful, stay holy, stayrenewed Until next week.

(13:00):
I'm Rick.
Be an encourager, not adiscourager.
I love you, see ya.
The intro and outro music forthe Renewed Mindsets podcast is

(13:23):
Are you Ready?
By Floodgate from the album Areyou Ready?
Copyright 2002,.
From the album Are you Ready?
Copyright 2002, offbeatMinistries Incorporated.
Floodgate can be found on AppleMusic and iTunes.
Music used with permission.