Have you ever been called a troublemaker? What trouble have you made? In 1 Kings 18, King Ahab called Elijah, “troubler of Israel.” Elijah responded that Ahab and his family dynasty had caused great spiritual trouble in Israel. Elijah caused what John Lewis called “good trouble.” He disrupted the pagan status quo and false worship by praying and stopping the rain.
Tertullus, the lawyer who presented the Jewish case against Paul called him a troublemaker, too. Paul’s opponents accused him of stirring up riots, being a ringleader of the Nazarene sect, and trying to desecrate the temple. Riots did follow Paul, to be sure. He was clearly a leader of the early Christians. But he did not try to desecrate the temple.
The good news which Paul preached, and we proclaim calls for a life-transforming decision to follow Jesus. “Jesus was never looking for admirers but for followers of a way,” wrote Kierkegaard. Paul unapologetically called his listeners to follow Jesus. To this day, if we accept this invitation, we will find ourselves out of step with a culture that rejects him. A recent conversation with an acquaintance reminds me that Jesus’ message and mission still trouble many. But the trouble Christians cause is good trouble. No wonder Paul later wrote to the believers in Rome, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
