What’s This About “Disruption”?

FRI., APR. 24, 1999, 11:00 AM
FPC, ASC

There are many analyses of your present social clime, the one you read last night being one of these. Looking back and then looking ahead is one favorite approach to seeing where you are now. You noted that the Church… and I… didn’t come forth as being important factors. So, as you would expect, I have some comments on this analysis. Hear, o son.

First, naturally, I’ll repeat that I still do love diversity, and the differences in humans, even in what is ostensibly the same culture, are part of what I create and allow. I realize that there is a certain cyclical nature to human groups, seeking, in one era, community and solidarity, and, in the next, more freedom and individuality. Then when strong community is needed again, the cycle continues.

Remember that the Jews, My chosen people, according to your Old Testament, evidenced this cyclical behavior. They had community, and that was an important part of their life (which had been solidified by harsh treatment by other human groups and… yes… by Me.) They had been “conquered” by Rome, but were allowed to have some freedoms, including the practice of their “religion.” Into their midst, at a particular time, I, Yahweh, sent Me, Jesus, as a Jewish baby, conceived “immaculately” and out of wedlock, to be their long-awaited Messiah. They had waited for such a long time that waiting had become “comfortable.” To actually have the Messiah in their midst was a “disruption.” I hadn’t come in a way that the rabbis and other church leaders accepted. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” was one response.

But My disruptive presence did appeal to some Jews (some who became close disciples and one, Paul, who was responsible for necessary church establishment and growth), but more so to Gentiles… those who didn’t have to give up much in the way of spiritual community. The Church… of Jesus Christ… became stronger, hierarchal, and determined to have a solidarity among the Christian brethren.

But the need for freedom and diversity became stronger, and the Reformation created other forms of My Body, even as the “original” remained, as it does to this day. You are part of the heritage of that Reformation, trying to be a unified Church, but beset by differences in how this should be. “God alone is Lord of the conscience” is a Truth that your denomination holds… though it is more appealing to some than to others.

And to you, a “somewhat leader” in this Presbyterian portion of My Body, I have come as Holy Spirit, offering you Teachings that you just have to hear and write down. In the hope of remaining a part of the community, you keep this a relative secret. Hence you are a vivid example of one who values freedom and individualistic experiences more than the comfort of community. Woops! not so “vivid” since you don’t flaunt your individual “gift”, ‘cause you don’t really want to lose your place in the community…

I have been a disruption in your life, albeit a good, positive one. You hope you can continue this “double life,” being guided by these Teachings and yet being accepted by a community that is leery… to rejecting… of such a “gift” to one of “their own.” You have to smile at how some accept the Scriptures attributed to chosen ones 2,000 and more years ago, but don’t quite know what to do with one who hears Me directly today, in their midst.

You do need community, but you also have a personal, individual relationship with Me that is satisfying and real. And you hear Me pulling and pushing you toward less active involvement with causes and projects and more contemplative time with Me. I have referred to this recommended “state” as that of a “semi-monk.” And you know that in some eras monks are valued and in others they are ignored… even scorned.