A Necessary Disruption

 “Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants.” – Matthew 21:12 (MSG)

How does that prayer go?

“Gentle Jesus meek and mild…”

Certainly not in this instance. Jesus was not making any skylark with those who had transformed His house, “designated a house of prayer for the nations, into a hangout for thieves” (v 13)

With this act, Jesus had interrupted the normal course of things.

If you think about everything that Jesus did, you would realize that He was inherently disruptive but all for good reason. His disruption was a necessary disruption to bring about a necessary change.

Jesus had come to announce a counter-cultural way of life. His words and actions were disruptive to the status quo. He opposed the scribes for their misinterpretation of Scripture, adding their own manmade traditions to it thereby nullifying God’s Word (Mark 7:13). He questioned the practitioners of the Law and exposed them for their lack of truly understanding the Law (Luke 15:45-52). He rebelled against the Pharisees, vehemently criticized and rebuked them for their hypocrisy, selfishness and greed (Matthew 23:1-39). Jesus disrupted the religious hierarchy of the day.

Today, we as Christians, feel that Christianity is all about being meek and mild, stepping lightly around hard topics, and not showing any sort of force.

Christianity and Christians are supposed to disturb the norm. Our words and actions, like Christ’s, should disrupt the world.

What we do and say is supposed to be impacting those around us in such a way as to bring about change so positive, that it disturbs their psyche and everything they thought they knew.

We can either be passive observers or actively participate in this Christ-like disruption.

Jesus did not allow things to continue as they always were, and if we claim to be His followers, neither can we.

The disruption, even if it makes the “this-is-how-we-have-always-done-it” posse uneasy, is necessary!

How could you, claiming to be an authentic follower of Christ, leave the norm to continue in its dysfunction, knowing full well that it’s resulting in thievery of all forms because you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or have a confrontation with the elders?

There must be a necessary disruption!

How long will you simply look on? Isn’t it time for you to stop being a bystander and start being a table over-turner?

Okay, yes, I agree that change can be difficult, so we avoid it, fight it and rail against it. We don’t want to get out of our comfort zones, we don’t want to be displaced, we don't want to kick over tables, we prefer not to have to be discommoded in any way. Change can be uncomfortable and takes effort, so we opt to leave things as is, how it’s always been, because that requires no effort whatsoever and things remain the same, bringing no positive results, no growth, no forward movement, no new mindset, only stagnation.

Beloved, Jesus did not allow things to remain the same. That’s not why He came. He did not say, “Oh that’s how it’s always been? Okay, well come on you twelve, let’s move on to Sidon” No, Jesus left nothing unturned; He even made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the Temple, animals included (see John 2:15). Jesus was disruptive. His disruption was necessary, it has been to our benefit. Let us follow His lead, but not the whip part, we’d be arrested.

There’s got to be a necessary disruption!

Shelley Johnson "A Necessary Disruption" © January 18, 2025