“John, you jerk! You always go looking for trouble! Why do you stir the pot? Why bring up controversy?!! Why can’t you BE MEEK AND HUMBLE LIKE JESUS AND ME?!!!!”

Perhaps God has called you to stand meekly on the cultural sidelines, wringing your hands and clutching your pearls. It may be that the Holy Spirit is telling you to avoid controversy. It’s possible that God only equipped you to be a silent observer in the war between good and evil. If meek humility is what you’re supposed to bring to the fight…then why are you stirring the pot by scolding me?

How to properly engage the culture is a controversial subject and you’re jumping into it with both feet. That’s not how the Spirit has gifted you. God doesn’t want you to offer your opinion. You’re supposed to be quiet…like Jesus.

God has equipped me to make noise…like the apostles. I’m called to meet the controversies head on, trusting that God will give me courage, wisdom, and strength to proclaim the truth, especially when it ruffles feathers. Stirring pots requires a boldness that God (apparently) did not give to you. I serve a different function within the body of Christ.

So if you truly believe that dodging controversy is what God wants from you, then do it. Notice that I am encouraging you to obey the Lord? You should do the same for me.

(1 Corinthians 12:17) If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.