The mandate to tell people that you can have your sins forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is of the highest order for Christians.  We are to speak openly and publicly about Jesus Christ and faith in Him.  And so it becomes of great interest in America for believers to protect free speech.

But we find ourselves in a time in our countries history when there is a growing sentiment to shut down all public discourse.  And it is being done subtly under the guise of the social value of offendedness.  When someone faces opposition to or criticism of their beliefs all they need to do is claim offendedness.  And legal circles, special interest groups and universities that proclaim tolerance and diversity and open-mindedness swing into action to label such offendedness as hate crimes or insults directed at someone's belief system. Legislators try to suppress free speech with acts such as the so-called "Fairness Doctrine".

But the risk of being offended is simply part of what it means to live in a diverse culture that celebrates freedom of speech.  The right to free speech means the right to offend.  Why else would free speech need to be protected?

This imaginary right to not be offended is fast-growing.  It is what is behind the incessant effort to remove all symbols, references and quotations related to Christianity from the public square.  The cross or the ten commandements offend people who are forced to see it from time to time, so we are told.

To assume that a civil society can reach a state that individuals will never be offended by another member of the community is unrealistic and absurd.  In fact civilization thrives when individuals minimize unneccessay offendedness but recognize that perceived offendedness is the price we pay for the free exchange of ideas and thoughts.

Christians must therefore contend for the preservation of free speech because it is essential to the cause of the Gospel.  And we must take care to not fall into the trap of claiming offendedness for ourselves.

The Apostle Paul made clear in writing to the Corinthians that the preaching of the cross of Christ has always been considered offensive by those who reject it (I Cor. 1:23).  This is a reality we need to learn to live with.  At the same time we must strive to never offend persons on the basis of anything other than the cross of Christ.  We can persent the Gospel in the context of love so that there are no reasons for an offense other than the Gospel itself.  This is our calling.  This is our Christian challenge in this culture for such a time as this.  May He find us faithful in carring out His glorious purpose!  Tell them of Jesus!