According to Google, the phrase “I’m offended” has increased in usage by more than 5,600% in just the past century. Humans have always taken offense, but never have we been so obsessed with it. Offense stunts our conversations and divides our relationships. It infects our families, politics, entertainment, and churches. Yet few seem to be asking why or what it might be costing us. If you trace the offense deep enough, you’ll find a culture and our individual lives drowning in insecurity. For all our self-help, self-affirming, and self-esteem rhetoric, we can’t seem to overcome it. Just beneath our awareness, our insecurities distort our desires, poison our relationships, and leave us increasingly sensitive to offense. But there is a worse consequence. Offense makes it harder to hear the truth. It can even prevent you from hearing Jesus’s good, but sometimes hard, words. A Sharp Compassion offers readers a closer look at some of Jesus’ most challenging words. Through a careful study of the conversations in which Jesus offended, you will discover a savior willing to risk offending you to heal you from your deepest insecurities. Because his love is great, his truths are often hard, and his compassion sharp. But perhaps it’s Jesus’ hard words we need most right now. "Through a careful look at some of Jesus's most challenging conversations, Chase helps us better understand the trap of offense and how Jesus can rescue us from it. Like a skilled surgeon, Chase uses Jesus's words to dissect our lives, helping us recognize the insecurity and idolatry that often leads us to envy and offense. Jesus loves us enough to be honest with us. For those willing to listen, his hardest words also turn out to be some of his best. With Chase's usual mix of history, psychology, and literature, A Sharp Compassion is a fascinating and sober read. For those willing to take the journey, you'll learn and certainly be changed." Mark Batterson , lead pastor of National Community Church; New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker "Good therapists know how to be warm, compassionate, and empathetic. But they also know when to be challenging and confrontive if that preferred approach is not working. Jesus was a good therapist. And Chase Repogle is also a good clinical theologian, and an engaging writer. In this wonderfully transparent book, he examines some of Jesus's own words of "sharp compassion" to help the reader find a more examined and free way to live, and to love." Gary W. Moon , M.Div., Ph.D. Founding Executive Director Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Center, and current director of Conversatio Divina, at Westmont College and author of Apprenticeship with Jesus, and Becoming Dallas Willard. "In our desperate search for comfort, the temptation to minimize, neutralize, or distort the cross looms large for Christians navigating the fragility of our own shortcomings. But the cross is offensive. As Chase Replogle reminds us, 'the cross is the singular offense we must not lose, for it frees us from all other offenses.' A Sharp Compassion is a timely diagnosis of our contemporary condition, offering a challenging but accessible, difficult but beautiful path forward, away from suffocating fragility, toward a spacious and free life." Jay Y. Kim , Pastor and Author "In his earthly ministry, Jesus sometimes offended people. He never intend- ed to demean or denigrate, however. Instead, as my pastor Chase Replogle points out in A Sharp Compassion , Jesus' words were surgical, aimed at healing sin-sick souls. We become better when we take His words to heart. Chase takes you deeper than the obvious, unpacking the spiritual warfare involved and equipping the reader with tools that are practical yet deeply seeped/rooted in theological, psychological, and sociological substance. The content is truly life changing!" Donna Barrett, General Secretary of the Assemblies of God "The most powerful writings serve as a catalyst for change. This book is one of those that packs the potential to transform the reader. Chase inspires all of us to take an introspective look at our desires, our insecurities, our relationships, our ability to imitate Jesus, and even our view of Christ's Cross. This book propelled me to consider ways I can choose to be blind to what Jesus wants to reveal in me or I can embrace offense as a mechanism to uncover the work Jesus longs to do in my heart and life. Ultimately, this book empowered me to consider every offense—or temptation to be offended—as an opportunity to intentionally take my eyes off myself and place my gaze solely on Jesus allowing nothing to replace him in my heart and life. This powerful book will certainly shift your perspective and approach to offense and deepen your understanding of Jesus!" Shonna Crawford , PhD, Convoy of Hope, Vice President, Convoy:Women