[L]ight has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19)

In such a dark world as this one, there is no “clean” path to the introduction of powerful illumination. Light is disruptive to darkness. The gospel of the kingdom will not be proclaimed among all nations, disciples will not be made from every tongue and tribe, apart from a large amount of accompanying “messiness.”

Certainly we don’t seek messiness for its own sake. But just as any powerlifters knows how true it is that, “No pain, no gain,” likewise with regard to gospel ministry we can say, “No messiness, no fulfillment of the Great Commission.”

This “messiness” I speak of can come in several forms, including but probably not limited to:

1. Direct opposition and personal suffering.
2. False accusations and “stolen martyrdom.”
3. Social unrest.
4. Misdirected zeal for the things of God.

Direct Opposition and Personal Suffering

Being a genuine follower of Jesus means that you have “counted the cost” and, with joy for the sake of the great and glorious gospel rewards already given to you, and with exuberant hope for eternal pleasures forevermore at God’s righthand that you anticipate as a child of God, you are ready to face imprisonment, martyrdom, confiscation of property, hatred and rejection from family and friends, etc., etc.. Although often ignored or minimized among the churches of “Christendom,” the New Testament teachings on such things are so abundant, so clear, and so well-known I will not expand on them here.

False Accusations and “Stolen Martyrdom”

Jesus prepared His disciples with this expectation, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account” (Mt 5:11, emphasis added). An ambassador of the kingdom will be reviled both for things that are true and for false accusations! Many Muslims will say that a Christian messenger is uttering blasphemy for claiming that Jesus is the Son of God. But that sort of direct opposition to Biblical truth is in some ways nicer, at least “cleaner”, than the false accusations which will abound. Josef Tson describes what he and other pastors and believers experienced in Romania under Communism:

Let me tell you something about a very important dimension of martyrdom, which is stolen martyrdom. You’ve never heard of this: stolen martyrdom. Whenever they apprehend a Christian, first of all, they smear that Christian, telling lies. They say, “Oh, he was caught with cocaine,” or, “He was caught embezzling the money of the church,” or, “He is a womanizer.” Of course, in medieval times they said, “He was a heretic,” and they smear you so much that everybody believes that you deserve to be burnt at the stake. They not only make you a martyr, but they steal your martyrdom, letting everybody believe that you are a rascal. That’s the most painful thing.

If someone puts a gun to your head and says, “Do you believe in God? Do you trust in Jesus?” you are prepared to say, “Yes!” Good! But what if following the Lord costs you your life or freedom and the headline does not read, “Faithful Jesus-lover gives glory to God with their last breath,” but instead accuses you of things which you yourself would be ashamed of if they were actually true!

Gospel proclamation of messy. Shrewd forces of darkness often don’t want to let you have the satisfaction of feeling you are “suffering for righteousness sake.” They don’t want to produce a clear “martyr for the cause” which would only encourage other people to follow in your footsteps. So they’ll seek to pin something on you that puts you to shame and discourages anyone else from imitating your example.

If you hear that a pastor, missionary, or believer has been imprisoned, deported, or executed for behavior that even fellow Christians would consider dishonorable, don’t be quick to assume it is true. In some cases Christians certainly do bad things. But there are also plenty of cases where Christians doing wonderful things which are intentionally misrepresented, painted in a bad light, or completely fabricated by their detractors.

Social Unrest

So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. … And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion” (Acts 19:29-32, 40).

The apostles proclaimed the good news of the kingdom publicly. The Greco-Roman “kerux” was the town crier who went into the central city square or market and proclaimed with a loud voice, for example, “Hear ye, hear ye, let all citizens of the empire give heed that Caesar Augustus has proclaimed a census in which every household should return to their ancestral town …”. The New Testament word often translated as “preacher” is that same word “kerux” (see also the verb form in places like Mt 24:14). Jesus wants his gospel proclaimed loudly and publicly.

But public proclamation often leads to riots. Or to people being stoned and left for dead. Or to any other manner of social unrest. But in all this God has a plan. Social unrest causes “a buzz,” a stir. People start talking: “what was that whole deal in town about today? What were the police doing? What was all the fuss about?” Amidst the buzz, amidst the stir, pieces of the gospel message are gossiped along, the wheels are greased for further communication about the matter, and some people gain a curiosity to investigate what was so significant to cause such a public fuss.

Misdirected Zeal for the Things of God

We have been speaking of messiness that originates externally from those opposed to the message of Christ, but professing and genuine believers also generate their own messiness, sometimes with the best of intentions.

Think of Peter cutting off Malchus’ ear to prevent Jesus’ arrest. Think of James and John eager to call down fire on the Samaritan village that didn’t receive him. Paul likewise testifies that his Jewish brethren, including the most persecutorial Pharisees such as he was, “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” [emphasis added].

Such honor was given to the Christian martyrs of the first three centuries, church leaders often had to remind believers that it was not appropriate to intentionally provoke authorities for the sake of triggering your own martyrdom. A well-known story relates how Origen’s mother hid his clothes to prevent him from leaving the house and presenting himself for execution. Polycarp, who eventually was killed for remaining devoted to Christ under pressure to renounce, nevertheless warned against recklessly seeking execution in contrast to humbly receiving whatever consequences God’s will brings your way as a faithful follower of Jesus. Tertullian, most famous for his line that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, also pointed out that we aren’t to seek suffering for its own sake.

Today, those with a love of Jesus in their bones will still face temptations to “do things for God” that aren’t wise or aren’t the best decisions. It may come from a legitimate desire to make a big impact for the Kingdom of Heaven. It may come from confusing passionate feelings for the lead of the Holy Spirit. It may be mixed with sinful selfish motives such as a desire for their posthumous biography to sing the praise of their radical ministry.

It is good to be aware of the potential for misdirected zeal, but it is not good to slam the breaks on zeal in general just because it has potential to be misdirected. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Passionate lovers sometimes do foolish things. Ideally, we seek to fan the flames of zeal while keeping that zeal rightly directed within the will of God. Realistically, heightened zeal will sometimes run off the rails. That is part of the messiness of life in this world. We don’t cancel the whole operation over the presence of messiness.

Conclusion

The gospel reaches the ends of the earth only through a path of great messiness. Readapting Luther’s counsel to Melanchthon, we could say, “Love God, and keep on boldly and faithfully pressing forward through the mess that you and other sinners create along the way.” There will be messes, but that don’t let that stop you from carrying on with what needs to get done.