THE CHURCH IS NOT TRAINED TO BE DISTURBED

The life of Jesus is disturbing.

Often scriptures illustrate him blessing one person only to upset another within the same context. Two men praying in the temple depicts such a truth. The Prodigal and his brother reveal yet another.

Fundamentally, the church doesn't do disturb.

Members basically refuse it and believe such to be of the side of darkness. We suffer due to our incessant gravitation toward faith through the safety of little required of us. This simply is diametrically opposed to the nature of Jesus and the cross.


For this reason the church is quite weak in the realm of discipleship. We are missing a great element of kingdom blessing by insisting the church remain agitation free. We naturally desire a fleshly peace which would divert us to a walk a safe distance from the cross but still allow service of sort.

I'm not promoting unwarranted nor unsettling issues; but rather the power of the Word. I am saying the church reacts to disturbance by putting it down quickly when such might be an effort by God to shake us loose from our calloused and deadened ways. The Word cuts. In order to avoid its cuttings we tend to avoid the Word.

The Word will teach us new ways which will oppose some of our settled conclusions. The Bible will not let us remain who we have been; but will call us into the new Life of growth and maturity.

Discipline is hard. It is of God.

Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been undisturbed on his lees, neither has he been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed. Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars (Jer. 48:11-12).

Lees is the sediment settling to the bottom of a vat of new wine. Emptied from container to container the lees are disturbed and then redisturbed until the fine wine develops as the lees are not allowed to settle but are eliminated through the disturbing process.

So it is with us. Our call is not to quit; but rather to regard annoyances and disruptions as a part of the kingdom life process. We are not to give up in frustration because matters do not pan out as we had planned. Rather we are to regard our personal agitation as within the framework of God's intended and insistent blessings.

One reason the whole church needs to experience what is regarded as that villain called change is that such a process purifies what could have become dull, rigid, and dead over time. I speak not of error; but of Truth that we have yet to realize or admit.

The church is not trained to be disturbed. Who among us prefers it? However, the church has been groomed to reject alarm. Yet, it is surely an important factor for legitimate growth of the body.

The church is not trained to be disturbed. We are the weaker for it. Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeals among us. These are for our testing....they are our lees....I Peter 4:12.