Rabble-Rouser

The days are just packed.

That is the title of one of the books filled with Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. Calvin and Hobbes is definitely my favorite comic. Just thinking about it makes me feel a little bit better about life in general. That title is how I feel about this semester (and about every semester, now that I think about it). I'm already in my fifth week of the year at Ozark, and as always, I feel overworked and stressed out. If I were honest with myself, however, I would admit that my problem is not that I'm too busy, but that I'm lazy and I waste a lot of time sitting around doing nothing productive. But I'm not that honest. I'm all about pinning my problems on external circumstances. One cool thing about this semester is that I have been preaching every week at First Christian Church in Commerce, Oklahoma. The church is basically made up of twenty senior citizens, so it's been pretty interesting. I'm learning that working with senior citizens really isn't that different than working with middle school students, so it's a good thing I have all of that youth ministry experience.

I have been reading through the book of Acts recently. Acts is one of my favorite books in the Bible. As I have been reading, I have noticed how trouble seemed to follow the apostles wherever they went. It's very obvious in the ministry of Paul--he goes to one city, preaches for a while until people start getting made at him and try to kill him, and then he goes to another city and does the whole thing over again. This is one of the major themes of Acts, of course. The church is persecuted, as Jesus himself promised it would be (Jn. 15:20). Paul lists out all of his trials in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29, and it's a pretty extensive list. So we see that wherever Paul went, he had opponents who carried out their resistance in aggressive ways. It was easy to tell where Paul was. All you had to do was follow the riots and shouting masses of people with rocks in their hands.

We live in much more civilized times now, however. The American church doesn't face persecution the way that the first-century church did. People are flooding the streets in search of preachers to kick out of town.
Why is that? Why is it now more or less socially acceptable to be a Christian? Why are people okay with the fact that we're part of a faith that gets people killed in other places and times?

In part, the answer to this question is that times have changed, and our culture is very different from the one Paul ministered in. We live in a nation with Christian roots, and the last time I checked, attempting to stone somebody is frowned upon. However, I do think there is another reason why our faith does not seem to cause the same sort of ruckus that Paul's did, and that may be that we are not living it out in as radical of a manner. People did not drag Paul before the city officials because he was keeping to himself and living a quiet life, being sure not to upset anyone with what he was doing. They did it because he was in the synagogues and in the streets unabashedly telling people about Jesus.

I feel like I'm am generally liked by other people. I'm not aware of anyone that I really tick off very often, even though I am pretty sarcastic and can be a bit of a jerk. I certainly don't have anyone that wants to beat me up. The closest I ever got to being in a fight was when I was seven years old or so, and I was in one of those giant ball pits at the Discovery Zone when I accidentally crawled over the top of a kid who was buried in all the balls. He stood up and was pretty heated about the incident, but he was a bit bigger than me, and I am the most passive person I know. So I left before things got ugly. For me. I'm sure he would've been fine.

Maybe my life should bother other people more, though. Maybe I should be living in a way that makes people upset. Not because I am mean or hateful or anything like that, but because I boldly proclaim the gospel and follow Christ in a lifestyle that stands opposed to the ways of the world. Because I love those whom the world has deemed unlovable. Because I live like I and those around me are going to be judged. Because I don't keep Jesus to myself as a personal matter of faith but present him to everyone I come into contact with as the Savior whom they need.

People can take all of this too far, of course. There are some Christians who hear Jesus' words about how the world will hate them and use it as an excuse to be unloving, abrasive, and obnoxious. They seek out conflict so that they can brag to others how they have suffered in Jesus' name. They wear their self-induced martyrdom like a badge of spiritual superiority. So please, don't be like that. It's unnecessary, anyways. When we live the way that Christ prescribed for us and that Paul modeled, the unbelieving world around us will take offense.

When I started writing this post, I suddenly became very tired and was hit with a narcoleptic-like attack. So I'm sorry if this one isn't my best. I feel like I owe you a good post, you know? You have been waiting anxiously for over two weeks, after all.