Daniel Seabaugh

I was recently talking with my pastor about a sermon he’s working on about how Jesus constantly challenged his disciples because he wanted to see them grow. During our conversation, he made the comment that Jesus is a troublemaker. I’ve been thinking about that comment ever since.

Matt Chandler describes discipleship as a constant confrontation with Jesus in which Jesus always wins. Jesus isn’t the kind of God who lets his people get away with much. In the best sense of the word, he’s a troublemaker — calling his followers into areas that are uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and many times, downright scary.

I’ve written about it quite a bit, but Jesus calls his disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (Matthew 16:24). If those words don’t cause some trouble in our lives, we’re likely not obeying them.

I could cite many examples, but do you recall Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector? These two men were among the first to follow Christ. Apart from the grace of Jesus in their lives, there is absolutely no way they would have associated with each other. The term Zealot refers to a violent Jewish sect that opposed domination from Rome. These people were “zealous” for the law of God and eager to remove the Romans from their lives.

Tax collectors were despised for their greed and commitment to Rome. Not only did tax collectors take more than necessary as a commission for their work, but they were hated for being the instruments through which the Roman emperor subjected the Jewish people. They made sure Rome got what it demanded. Can you see the trouble Jesus caused for Simon and Matthew when he called them to follow him? How do enemies join together and work toward a common cause? Only Jesus.

Or think about the Samaritan woman at the well. The fact that Jesus was speaking with her was troubling enough, considering many Jews thought Samaritans lived in a continual state of uncleanness. Anyone who drank from a Samaritan’s water jug would have been considered ceremonially unclean. But Jesus doesn’t only cause trouble to the established beliefs of the day; he steps directly into the messiness of this woman’s life.

Jesus asks the woman to get her husband and return to him, in which she replies, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true” (John 4:17-18 ESV). Jesus then, in a rare occurrence, identifies himself as the Messiah, offering hope to the woman. Again, Jesus causes people trouble so that they would grow into the people he wants them to become.

Jesus is a troublemaker in the best sense of the word. He doesn’t want us to stay in our sin. He came to do something about it. He offers us life in abundance. When we are challenged by the Lord, our growth in Christlikeness is what he has in mind. He is not out to harm us. He wants us to grow in holiness and become people who are whole.

What about your life? How is Jesus confronting you? How is he causing you trouble? Are you letting him win?