DISRUPT AND CONFRONT
“I’ve come to disrupt and confront! From now on, when you find five in a house, it will be – three against two, and two against three, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against bride and bride against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:52, 53.
Is it Jesus’ intention to cause trouble in families? Never! That would be contrary to His nature as God. God is one – ECHAD – unity in diversity expressed by His essence, love. It is God’s intention to restore everything that Adam’s disobedience destroyed, to its original oneness in Himself. “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (Jesus), and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:19, 20 (NIV).
Jesus is not speaking about intention but about outcome. He is stating the fact that a relationship with Him is so deep and so radical that it cuts across even the closest family ties. There is a deep-rooted underlying problem in the human heart of which Paul speaks in Romans 5:10 – “…we were God’s enemies…” Enmity against God causes us to resist someone else’s faith in Him, even in the very closest of family members. Our belief system which is shaped by the deception sown in our minds by God’s enemy, the devil, causes us to resist the truth and to oppose those who believe and receive God’s word.
There is a second flaw in our fallen human nature that persistently causes trouble. Unlike God, we do not respect other people’s freedom and right to make their own choices. We try to force our own beliefs and opinions on others, even resorting to murder if the other person refuses to see things our way. What kind of a god would require us to kill our own flesh and blood if he or she chooses to believe in Jesus? And yet it happens across the world.
Is this what Jesus desires? Certainly not! Jesus is not a blood-thirsty murderer, taking pleasure in disrupting and dividing families. We do it to ourselves by stubbornly trying to manipulate the conscience of another.
Why would people behave in such a drastic way to enforce their will on others? Is this not evidence of the source of their beliefs? Jesus accurately diagnosed the problem. He said, “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:43, 44 (NIV).
It amazes me how stubbornly people hang on to their lies even if it means destroying another’s life. There is nothing more tragic than deception and self-deception – believing and basing one’s whole life on what is not true. God created the world to be a place of righteousness and peace for all people as a reflection of Himself. He gave us the freedom to make our own choices and to take responsibility for the choices we make. Hating and killing to enforce our will on another can never be right because it defeats the very purpose for which we were created.
Therefore we must conclude that disruption and division in families and in society must have its source in God’s enemy, the devil. Satan has one agenda – to steal from God the human race He created in His image to worship Him and to enjoy the blessing of being His sons and daughters. We should be alerted to our future by the hell we taste on earth now and will experience forever if we choose to believe his lies.