Creating Controversy

Apparently, I am very good at creating controversy. I am not exactly sure why this is true. However, I seem to have a spiritual gift in this area.

In speaking about family devotions and the need to keep them interesting for our children, I once stated (in front of a congregation in Michigan), "After all, you can't use Daily Bread your whole life!" The next thing I heard was a collective gasp from about a thousand people - and laughter from a small group about halfway back in the center section. It seems that I had made my rather definitive statement about devotional material in front of the church the DeHaan family (think founders,writers and main movers behind the Daily Bread) attend.

For the record, the DeHaans were the only ones laughing.

Even when I am not trying to create controversy I do! Once, while singing some congregational hymns in a church where I was to speak, I found myself thinking about my sermon introduction rather than words in the hymnal. As a result, the final words of the second verse of Beneath the Cross of Jesus became, "... the wonders of my redeeming love and Your unworthiness." Fortunately, the guffaws of my long-suffering wife saved me from being burned at the stake.

I take comfort from the fact that Jesus was also very good at creating controversy. In fact, in certain situations He seemed to revel in it.

In Mark 2, Jesus calls His oldest disciple, Matthew, to follow Him. At the "I-am-retiring-from-tax-collecting" party held immediately afterwards, Jesus is seen eating, drinking and participating in the general shenanigans with Matthew's rather unsavory acquaintances. The New Living Translation describes the Pharisee's response this way, "But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

Whoops! That kind of language could get the Pharisees' radio program cancelled.

In the very next passage Jesus, once again, pokes His thumb in the Pharisees' eyes.

".. when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast." (Mark 2:18-19, NLT)

The Pharisees had made a full-contact, national sport out of fasting. Although there were only limited requirements for fasting in the Old Testament Law, the Pharisees had extended the "fasting season" to be almost as long as that of the National Hockey League - which as far as I can tell lasts from August to June. There can be no doubt about it, the Pharisees loved to fast and, more importantly, loved to be seen fasting.

Jesus' responded to the Pharisees' concerns by declaring that His presence was enough. Fasting was not going to add anything to His disciples' experience while He was with them. He went even further to take a jab at the worn, religious system the Pharisees had developed (vv. 21,22). In other words, Jesus could have played it safe, but he used the situation to create even more, purposeful controversy.

I wish I could say that the controversy I have created in life had a purpose - some long-term value. However, most of it occurred because of my own social ineptitude and tendency to say whatever goes through my mind. Jesus used controversy to shock people out of their dusty religious systems so they could actually think about the claims of the Kingdom. Whether it dealt with the nature of His disciples, the purpose of fasting, or, how to use the Sabbath, Jesus wanted those around Him to understand the offer He was extending to them. Sometimes, no, many times, He created tension in people's minds so they could process that message in a new light.

In reading over the above words I realize that I may have inadvertently insulted Christians in Michigan, talk-show radio listeners and Hockey fans. I take it all back. Well, at least any offense given to my friends in the great state of Michigan. Although, the thought comes to mind that winter there lasts almost as long as the NHL season...