I’m not a huge football fan, but I live relatively near the stadium where the Carolina Panthers play. A couple years ago, I was at a family gathering where people were talking about how the Panthers needed a new quarterback, and in an attempt to participate in the conversation, I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if they recruited Colin Kaepernick?!” (I was impressed with myself for knowing that Kaepernick was a quarterback.)
You would have thought I had suggested recruiting Satan.
Assorted grumbles ensued, but the one that stood out was, “He’s an agitator” as if that’s the worst possible accusation a person can make. I remember thinking, “So was Jesus,” but it didn’t seem like a good time to say it out loud.
I realize now that reminding people I love that Jesus was lynched for being an agitator is part of my witness as a Christian. Jesus disrupted the status quo – not for the sake of causing unnecessary chaos, and not for drawing attention to himself but – for the sake of the poor and powerless. Examples:
- Jesus associated with “inappropriate people” like the unclean (lepers, a bleeding woman) and traitors (tax collectors) and heretics (Gentiles, Samaritans). This would agitate anyone – even today – who only associate with people who look, speak, live, and worship like we do.
- Jesus said some harsh words about being comfortable with our own lifestyle. 15% of his teachings and 11 out of his 39 parables are about wealth. And this would agitate any of us who – in our heart of hearts – love money and nice things more than we love Jesus.
- Jesus shifted long held understanding of God’s commandments. It was long believed that honoring the Sabbath, for example, wasn’t about refraining from work if that work saved people by healing them or feeding them. But this would agitate anyone who clings to rote rules (“No blue jeans in church”) over wrestling with the deeper meaning of God’s Word.
- Jesus elevated the worth of women in his (and our) culture. He not only included women in his ministry, but – in God’s good plan – it was a woman (or several of them) who were the first evangelists on that first Easter morning. This would be deeply agitating to anyone who believes that God created women not to challenge men or that God forbids women to be leaders in the faith.
The truth is that Jesus was indeed an agitator in terms of showing us what it means to love and serve God. If we are never uncomfortable in hearing God’s Word, if we are never challenged in what we believe, then we have turned our own way of life into an idol.
It’s so much easier for us to focus on practices that keep the peace but damage the mission:
- Maintaining rules that perpetuate the power of long term church members,
- Turning our backs on challenging situations which will require our congregation to address the needs of children with neurodiversity or adults who smell bad or any number of uncomfortable realities of human life from addiction to domestic violence.
- Refusing to hold members accountable when they gossip or lie.
Anyone who takes on beloved but problematic policies or church bullies or challenging realities will be considered agitators and – very likely – will be subsequently punished if not asked to leave. And this is one of a million reasons why the Institutional Church is failing: we do not do what we say we believe. We do not love the unlovable or serve the poorest of the poor. We do not make sacrifices for the vulnerable.
Again, being an agitator is not for the sake of creating personal power or chaos. It’s about challenging the norms that hurt the people Jesus has told us to love and serve in his name. It’s so much easier, though, to keep our mouths shut.
Image is a detail from Christ and Two Merchants by Giotto di Bondone (1303-05) located in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.
A Church for Starving Artists 