The Gospel Disturbs our World

I have a friend that asked a rhetorical question that made me start thinking. So I’m going to throw some thoughts out there and see where they land over the next few articles. The question/statement was this:

What is the rationale of people who do not attend Bible based Churches?

God has never opened a door that Satan has not sought to close. Strange way to start a look at this question I know, but think about it, Paul saw the opposition in Thessalonica as a result of the work of Satan. He expresses this in his first epistle to the Thessalonians.

But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while--in person, not in spirit--were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you--I, Paul, more than once--and yet Satan hindered us. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18)

Wherever the gospel is preached the natural order of things is turned upside down. Since Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:1-2), God’s power turns Satan’s world on its head. Luke writes, "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." The King James Version indicates the trouble caused by preaching the gospel turned the world upside down.

The gospel disturbs our world and sometimes it disturbs Christians. Initially, the gospel is disturbing. The gospel reveals God’s desire to enter our lives for the purpose of reordering our lives.

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. "For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

The gospel is a two-edged sword, which cuts both ways. Jesus came to bring peace to the world, but it also divided his family.

Therefore His brothers said to Him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. "For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." For not even His brothers were believing in Him. So Jesus said to them, "My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. "Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come." (John 7:3-8)

We know that Jesus had at least five brothers and sisters, but only his mother was standing at the foot of the cross. There at the cross Jesus committed the care of his mother to John, which indicates that his work had divided his own family.

However, the gospel also brings peace.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:26-27)

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

We may feel like quitting when we discover peace isn't the absence of conflict. Jesus doesn't promise us a trouble free life. Quite the opposite is true. He promises us that we will have trouble, but he promises us peace in spite of trouble. Jesus promises us that the gospel will disturb our world. I believe that part of the reason don’t like or want a true Bible based church is simply this; they don’t want their world disturbed.

In His Grip,
-Jon