Scandalon

I've had some songs rattling around in my head recently, and I decided to inflict them on my readers, few though you may be

So today's episode is Scandalon by Michael Card.
Verse 1 :
The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago
That the long awaited one would make men stumble
But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill
Who'd have ever thought He'd be so meek and humble

Chorus :
He will be the truth that will offend them one and all
A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall
Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

Verse 2 :
Along the path of life there lies a stubborn Scandalon
And all who come this way must be offended
To some He is a barrier, To others He's the way
For all should know the scandal of believing

This verse is the one I wanted to talk about first. In many ways, it is truly a scandal to be a believer. We are labeled intolerant, closed-minded, even homophobic, by people who don't even know us. Now I do realize that there are a vocal few who really are that way, and they give the rest of us a bad name. BUT, how is considering all of us like them any better than how they stereotype "liberals" or "gays" or any other group?

Verse 3 :
It seems today the Scandalon offends no one at all
The image we present can be stepped over
Could it be that we are like the others long ago
Will we ever learn that all who come must stumble

Some people today (probably a lot... probably a whole lot more than will admit it... perhaps even ALL of us, to some degree) want to mold God into their own personal idea of Deity, instead of taking him as he is. They want to warp His Word, pretend things are acceptable to Him that really aren't, and make themselves feel "Holy" for the sins they are committing. They want to make God unoffensive to everyone. In the name of "tolerance" they water down the message and the gift. The image they present doesn't even have to be stepped over, it just melds into the road. Some of us already know we have to stumble... we realize we are all sinners, and we don't hold up our sin as a good thing.

I think the book of Revelation makes a good case for the second coming to be much less meek than the first. Then He will come as a King who conquers and kills. He will separate the sheep from the goats. He won't be quite so step-over-able then.