Troublemakers

We tend to avoid tension, trouble, and conflict. I know I do (and in my line of work, it's not always a good thing). Church folks often play games with each other (and with clergy) in trying to deal with conflict and trouble. If we ignore it, it can fester and fume and explode later. Or if we try to confront it, we do it by talking to someone else (and thus the infamous triangle is consulted and the root of the problem is not faced). This is not always the case, but sometimes it is. I don't like conflict and trouble so my natural tendency is to avoid it, too.

When I read about Jesus it seems like he was getting into all kinds of trouble. But it is interesting to realize that the reasons he was getting into trouble were for being nice to others. He healed a woman on the Sabbath, and it pissed off some of the religious higher-ups. He healed a blind man and some folks didn't see it (literally and theologically) as a good thing. And as he continued to mingle and mix with the dregs and low-lifes of his day, he got into more trouble. This trouble eventually led to his death. It doesn't make sense . . . being snuffed out for being good and nice and accepting. Such is the lot for troublemakers throughout history--Jesus, Gandhi, MLK, Jr., women, people of color, et al. We don't quite know what to do with troublemakers so we kill them. This is true for the prophetic preachers and for criminals who we think are beyond redemption and/or restoration. So we kill them.

We religious folks can be lumped into these categories of "we" because "we" often fall into those groups of people who don't have a problem with killing troublemakers. Sometimes this is done literally (like with the death penalty in Texas) and sometimes we do it in cowardly ways (like when religious leaders stifle or squelch voices of reason and justice).

Hopefully my group of religious folks (both locally and broader) can learn to not kill troublemakers. Maybe we can learn to see them as opportunities for mercy and grace and healing. Maybe we can realize that if Jesus caused trouble for helping people, it would do us good to feel the stings of resentment and self-righteousness and alienation for doing the same.

There was a period in ministry where I was a troublemaker, and it was when I felt most alive and most at home with my convictions. Now, I tend to play it safe and not make waves. But maybe I/we need to be in those places where Jesus is still at work and still present. In those places there is trouble. I think I will go looking for trouble, and maybe trouble (or Jesus) will find me.