Monday, September 6, 2010

Stir Things Up For Jesus

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled." -- Luke 12:48

Most of us want to get through life without a lot of drama. We hold on to the kind and gentle Jesus we know. The Jesus who invited the children into His Presence. The Jesus who loves us without fail. The Jesus who gave His life for us. We have this soft, cuddly view of  God's Son.

We forget He came to save the world. Is He kind and gentle? Absolutely. He is also full of fire and determination. As Pastor Bob said recently, that in-your-face Jesus makes us uncomfortable. We'd prefer to keep going just as we are but Jesus points out the truth about who we are and how we've contributed to this mess that surrounds us.

Oh, I hear the denials going up. But every time we stay silent, every time we take the easy road, we end up contributing to the problems of this world. We want life to be easy, without major sadness or illness. We want to get along with people. We really don't want to stir things up. It's just too much trouble.

Where am I being called to lose my life to find my life and purpose? That's the question Pastor Bob asked us the other Sunday. God restructures and repairs us so that we might restructure and repair the world, he said. So we aren't meant to go peacefully through life, never stirring up trouble or making people angry.

We'd rather ignore that part. We want to stay in our comfort zone, doing what we've always done. It's easier that way. We don't have to go deep into ourselves and see what He is trying to mold us to be.

I like to avoid conflict. Really, I do. It isn't always possible. Sometimes my views and those of another clash. Sometimes I deal with hateful comments and hard hearts. Sometimes I remain silent when I really should protest loudly. Jesus never minded stirring things up. Why do we?