Jesus, the Cause of Division

Last updated on: August 13, 2016 at 8:53 am by Ahnnalise Stevens Jennings

Jesus, the Cause of Division 2016-08-13T08:53:11-05:00 Ahnnalise Stevens Jennings

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The lectionary reading for this week is putting some folks on edge. It is Luke 12: 49-56, you can read it here. As a Christian who is deeply attached to the social justice and liberation narratives found in scripture, reading this text at face value was a little irksome. I will confess that I would much rather have Jesus say “Turn the other cheek” than, “I did not come to bring peace.” The deeper I looked, the more sense this passage began to make. At first it doesn’t sound like Jesus, but then I thought more about the gospel.

The message of the gospel calls for a radical change in the way we live. It requires us to stop living selfishly. It requires us to think about other people. It requires us to stop living for ourselves and start living for God. It requires that you die to yourself. Dying to yourself, that is one of those catchy Christian things to say that has never made much sense to me. What does that actually mean and look like? I’m a united Methodist, so I turn to scripture, and also to the Wesley’s to help me figure that out. John Wesley taught about sanctifying grace. This is the grace that comes in and helps you uproot sin from your life. It is the grace that helps you become more like God. It helps you die to self. It cleanses and purges, and refines. It is a tough process. It changes you. It is meant to. Some of the people around you may not like to see that change.

In the text for this week, I believe Jesus is reminding us that living this new life where you are trying to uproot sin, turn first to God, and live as a servant to others is counter-cultural. People will not like it or understand it. They will certainly not like being told that they should do it too. When you start to take the gospel seriously and try to live your life like Christ, you start to shake up the people around you. Some of them are not going to like it. They will not want you to change. It may cause division and unrest, even in your own household and with the ones you hold my dear.

The gospel is a radical change from the world. It is a message that says love is stronger than any other force. The gospel tells us to leave worldly power behind. That is a huge shift. It upsets the status quo. People never like that. No one likes the feeling of conviction. That refining fire hits you and it hurts. It’s like the story of Jacob wrestling God, Jacob is confronted with the truth about himself and about God and it leaves him literally broken. God’s love, grace, mercy, and justice are not tame forces. They make change, and change means loss, and loss means pain.

This reminds me of the struggle for racial justice in the United States. Families and friends are being torn apart as some folks start to wake up to the systems of inequality and their role in those systems while others refuse to acknowledge the systems’ existence. The trouble is, the system is real and those who know that, but don’t want to face it are often the ones who will deny it that most ardently. Now as the consciousness of the nation is being raised, we are seeing a massive push back. Divisions seem to be getting deeper, voices are being raised louder in opposition. Some people who used to sit at home and be quietly racist all by themselves have begun to speak up in response to the voices calling for justice. The Black Lives Matter movement has been called a racist terrorist organization, while in the mean time actual racist terrorist organizations like the KKK are seeing a raise in membership. Somehow, people are upset about Black Lives Matter, but seem unconcerned about the Klan.

This turmoil means that change is coming.

At the end of the passage for this week, Jesus says, you know a storm is coming when you see clouds on the horizon, but somehow, you can’t see the signs in front of you now. (that’s my paraphrasing, but you get the point) The signs of the times are in front of us. A storm is coming. This storm will bring the much needed winds of change, the fire to purge the dead things that choke out new life, and the rain that will bring the baptism of a new birth. We are at the tipping point. All the fighting and the chaos are the signs of change to come. These are the birthing pains, the contractions that will bring us into something new. Don’t get scared of the current state of affairs, get excited to see what comes next.

The gospel is a game changer. Change does not come without some turmoil. The distress is a sign that big things are about to happen. Now, what are you going to do to get ready?

Previous Post

August 2, 2016

When Faith Fades

Next Post

August 14, 2016 Sexism in the Church

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What natural disaster did God use to destroy the earth in Noah’s time?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fire Famine Flood Earthquake