It baffles me why some people think that change in the church must be gradual and not disruptive.
Let me introduce you to the God of Disruption!
Paul got saved and became an apostle of Jesus Christ through divine disruption.
Paul was going on his merry way when Jesus completely disrupted his life!
“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” -Acts 9:3-4
He was struck with blindness for 3 days and had to completely change his worldview overnight. Paul’s encounter with Jesus was anything but gradual!
The God Who Gets In Our Face
John the Baptist was the face of God to his generation. Before anyone noticed the face of Jesus, God sent the face of John.
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,” -Mark 1:2
John came to prepare the way for Jesus. And how did he do that?
By getting in their faces! By disrupting the status quo!
John wasn’t the kind of person you could ignore. Before John was even born it was prophesied about him that he would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah”.
“And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.” -Luke 1:16-17
Let’s look at Elijah then, and see how John the Baptist resembles him…
Elijah was called, “a troubler of Israel” by King Ahab.
“When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” -1 Kings 18:17
Why are true prophets of God despised? Because they’re viewed as disruptors and troublers by those who do not want to change.
Elijah’s call brought him into direct conflict with the practices of his day. He was true to God and drew a line in the sand. This brought Elijah into confrontation with powerful people who hated him because of what he had to say.
John the Baptist ended up being a mirror of Elijah’s “ministry of confrontation”.
Elijah’s zeal for the Lord ended up in a showdown with King Ahab. Likewise, John the Baptist’s uncompromising proclamation of truth ended up with Herod the tetrarch making a decree that ended up costing John his life.
Elijah was a major disruptor, and the John the Baptist followed in his footsteps!
What is Elijah most known for?
Calling fire down to make a distinction between the one true God and the false god Baal.
When God shows up as the “God of Disruption” it’s usually because He wants to make a distinction. He’s drawing a clear line of demarcation and forcing a choice!
Elijah and John the Baptist both shared this prophetic quality of drawing a line in the sand thus forcing a choice.
“At noon Elijah began to taunt them!” -1 Kings 18:27
It was impossible to ignore Elijah. Love him or hate him, you couldn’t ignore him!
It’s no accident when God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus that John would be somebody you couldn’t ignore either. John was literally sent there to get in the face of people in the same way Elijah did.
“He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” -Luke 3:7-9
John wasn’t exactly a master of subtlety. He offended people on so many levels and it only took him a few sentences!
John the Baptist, however, was only a forerunner of disruption. He was preparing the way for Jesus, the master of it!
Jesus- The Master of Disruption
Jesus came quickly after John the Baptist and totally shattered the preconceived religious ideas of His day.
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes. He overturned the tables of those were buying and selling in the temple. He seemed to have a habit of breaking one religious rule and tradition after another! Besides that, Jesus would go right up to important religious leaders and tell them exactly what He thought of them in the most unflattering way!
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” -Matthew 23:27
Is there anything about this that gives you the impression that Jesus was trying to leave the present religious system intact?
Jesus Strikes At The Center Of The Religious System
For the Jewish people The Temple was right at the heart of their religious system. Not content to just talk about it, Jesus had a plan to overthrow it!
Jesus overthrew the entire religious system of His day and created a house of “Living Stones” to replace it.
“You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 2:5
He prophesied the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and made us the Temple instead!
Notice the reference Jesus made about the stones of the Temple…
“As Jesus was leaving the temple courts, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! And what tremendous stones were used to build all this!” Jesus turned to them and said, “Take a good look at all these enormous buildings, for I’m telling you, there will not be one stone left upon another. It will all be leveled!” -Mark 13:1-2
Jesus had something else in mind for His people than what they could conceive. They’re looking at earthly stones and He’s looking at Living Stones. They think the glory is in the religious buildings and structure; He intended the glory to be in us.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” – Colossians 1:27
Let’s be clear about something- Jesus had no qualms about getting rid of the old thing in order to bring in the new thing!
There are far too many people who still don’t understand what Jesus came here to build. They’re still looking at the earthly stones, instead of the Living Stones.
Jesus is going to change all that! Prepare for disruption!
The Church Started With Disruption
The Church started with disruption. It only makes sense that it would begin that way since they were following the Disruptor-in-Chief!
The Holy Spirit comes in Acts 2 causing so much commotion that nobody in town can miss it. He purposely chooses to come at a time when there’s all kinds of foreigners in the city to get the maximum impact. When a crowd forms wondering what in the world is going on, Peter stands up and says this…
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men!“ -Acts 2:22-23
Peter blames them for killing Jesus!
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound very seeker-sensitive to me!!
For some reason nobody took Peter aside and said, “You know Peter, you’re not making any friends here, it’s kind of disruptive!” To be honest, a lot of churches today would probably not invite Peter back to minister after bringing a message like that. It was his first attempt at preaching and what does he do? He blames his audience for killing Jesus!
One might think that the early Church would eventually settle down, but the rest of the Book of Acts reveals that was not the case. Peter, Paul and the rest of the disciples continued to blaze a pioneer path of disruption everywhere they went!
“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also… saying that there is another king, Jesus.” –Acts 17:6-7
The Spirit Of Disruption At Work Today
I know plenty of people whose lives have been totally disrupted by God in order for Him to get them into alignment with His purposes. I’m one of them.
I for one am grateful that there have been times when God didn’t ask permission, He just smashed into my life! He brought a great upheaval that changed everything. He wasn’t interested in keeping my past around. In fact, He needed to remove it in order to propel me forward.
As I look at the present state of the Church I foresee a great disruption on the horizon.
The reason I say this is because the pages of the Bible depict a God who does not hesitate to do whatever He needs to do to bring about His purposes. As His children, we were chosen to be conformed into the image of Jesus. God will relentlessly do whatever He needs to do to make that happen.
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,” -Ephesians 1:11
A tidal wave of Glory, a tidal wave of the Spirit of Holiness and Love, will change the landscape of the Church.
It will be disruptive! You can count on that!
Many will refuse and hate it. Because of the great disruption that will come, many will say that it’s not from God. Many others, however, will quickly enter into a brand new life in Jesus because He disrupted them into Glory!
Until the message and lifestyle of the Church represents what we see in the Word of God we can expect massive changes, because God will not abandon His pursuit of us and allow us to remain in a subpar condition.
Consider what Jesus, Paul, Peter and the early Church preached and lived. Now compare it with the message and lifestyle that is preached and practiced today.
“So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.” -Mark 6:12
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” -Acts 26:20
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” -Acts 3:19
“Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” -Hebrews 12:14
When true revival comes into a person’s life their language and their lifestyle begins to match the Holy Scriptures.
God loves us too much not to disrupt us!
The Ultimate Disruption
I would be remiss if I failed to point out the ultimate disruption that awaits this sleeping world.
“While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” -1 Thessalonians 5:3
Jesus had this to say about that coming day…
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.” -Matthew 24:37
The Apostle Peter tells it like this…
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be burned up.” -2 Peter 3:10
If you’re understanding of God fails to believe or embrace these revealed truths about the things that are soon to come upon the world then you are greatly deceived. God has never had an issue breaking into His world and causing disruption- it will surely happen. We are told that the only reason this Ultimate Destruction has not already taken place is because God “is being patient, not willing that any should perish…”
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” -2 Peter 3:9
I urge you to take this seriously.
The Apostle Peter spoke directly and with great boldness on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out on the Church. He continued to do so in the letters that he wrote, never failing to warn the people about that which was to come.
I will close then with the words of Peter who not only gave warning but has told us how to respond to God.
“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” -Acts 2:37