Blessed Disturbance!

          Being a Christian is a two-sided experience. There are blessings and privileges beyond the reach of human language to describe – summed up in the apostle Paul’s famous and beautiful phrase, "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). But there is another side – a side that requires faithfulness and daily cross-bearing (Luke 9:23; Revelation 2:10). A man named William McElvaney captured both sides by pointing out the Christian life is "not only ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine,’ but also, ‘Blessed Disturbance, we are Christ’s’ " (quote from homileticsonline.com). McElvaney’s words are worth thinking about. The fundamental call and claim of Jesus on the lives of those who would be His disciples (in ancient times and modern ones) is sounded in Luke 9:23 – Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Nobody who heard or read that statement in the Roman / Greek world of the first century would have needed any interpretation or explanation as to what Jesus was talking about. Crosses were used for only one thing – to crucify people condemned as criminals guilty of capital offenses. That’s "c-r-u-c-i-f-y" – as in drive large metal spikes through their hands and feet into rough pieces of lumber and then suspend them between heaven and earth to die an excruciatingly painful, shameful, slow-motion death that was sometimes hours and even a few days in coming. To have witnessed it would have been disturbing enough – to experience it not only disturbing but deadly, every time. So it is – Christ means to disturb us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." Bonhoeffer (a Nazi dissident who died in a prison camp in WWII) was not talking necessarily about physical death. True – many Christians over the centuries have died physically rather than give up their faith. And Jesus indicated that might be necessary for some in Revelation 2:10 when He said to Christians in the Asian city of Smyrna, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." But whether we are ever called upon to die physically or not, there is a kind of death every would- be-disciple of Jesus is required to die – die to being self-absorbed and "it’s ALL about me-ism." In that regard not just, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" – but also, for every genuine child of God, "Blessed disturbance, I am Christ’s!" If Christ never disturbs you in any way – if His teachings and example never challenge and disturb your attitude, emotions, priorities, choices, decisions or speech in any way at all, be sure of this – you are not bearing a cross after Christ along the road to self-denial!

As we close, note Romans 16:3-4 where the apostle Paul says,"Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Students of the New Testament know associating with the apostle would have sooner or placed one at risk (see 2 Corinthians 11:23ff)! The point is not that Christians can’t sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." The point is that at times we must be able to sing, "Blessed disturbance, I am Christ’s." Christ promises a crown, but calls us to carry a cross. He brings both assurance and disturbance to our lives. It ought to disturb us if Christ never disturbs us.

   Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN