One of the most awesome statements of divine wisdom I find in the words of Jesus are "...not to give offense to them,..." (Matthew 17). Reading the gospels does not reveal in Jesus an individual who worried about causing offense, irritation, or hurt feelings when he felt it appropriate. Even those who vehemently disagreed with him recognized that he spoke from the heart and did not mince words. How did Jesus know when it was time to "shoot straight and let the bullets fly" and when to decide "this is not a hill worth dying on"? When was a controversy worth the conflict sure to follow and when was it not worth giving offense? How much simpler life would be for us if we knew the answer 100% of the time!
Jesus' standards though high were simple. Glorify and honor the Father in all that you think, say, and do. That sounds easy enough. Jesus was perfect at the process. Even when he might have preferred a different path as in Gethsemane, he still put obedience and honoring his Father first in his decisions and his actions. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) stands as a great statement of the ways we can honor the Father in our daily lives. Jesus' response to questions raised by the religious rulers of his day also reveal his perception of how to glorify the Father. (Matthew 12; 15; 19; 22)
The two Great Commandments are described by Jesus as a summary of all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22) We don't have much of a problem in understanding what Jesus meant by the first and greatest commandment: love God with your total being. Of course following through has always been limited by our sinful and self-focused natures. Loving something other than God as the focus of our lives or even in the momentary decision is a constant problem. It is the second commandment about loving our neighbor as we love ourselves that gives us fits.
We make jokes about it. "Love your neighbor, but don't get caught." We try to qualify it under such phrases as "tough love". We even try to compartmentalize our expressions of love by "loving the sinner, but hating the sin." (guilty as charged!) Are any of these wrong? I would avoid the relationship with your neighbor that your safety would demand be kept secret. The other two expressions we often try to live out in our dealings with others.
In both cases the effort is being made to express a love that includes acceptance, the opportunity for forgiveness, and a realization there is a right and a wrong choice being identified. Anytime we identify a right choice and a not so right choice in a situation made by someone else, we are called upon to decide how we will respond in love. We must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is the only way we can allow the Father's forgiving love shown to us to flow through us to others who also need it.
Jesus made his decisions about controversy based upon the Great Commandments which have their goal of honoring and glorifying the Father. He recognized that decisions pertaining to the law had right answers and wrong answers. He also knew that not all legal decisions had any bearing on how we might glorify the Father. It was these questions that Jesus disdained to give the importance needed to raise them in a discussion.
There is a cost to controversy. How high a price should we be willing to pay? If God is honored when we take a stand, then the price we are called to pay is worth it, even required of us. If God sees the controversy as of significance to man alone, then the answer is to seek peace, go catch the fish, and pay the tax. The Pharisees saw the tax as important. Jesus did not. Love for God and fellow man were not a part of the equation. Causing a stir just wasn't worth the price.
