the disturbing savior

that's not the usual word that comes to mind when it comes to Jesus. you'd expect Jesus to be loving, caring, and so on, (which He of course is) but the disturbing and threatening nature of Jesus is often overlooked. not only was He a countercultural revolutionary who challenged the major religious authorities, He created a new reality that reverberated for the rest of history. Jesus said that He came "not to bring peace on earth, but a sword." this institution, this Salvation that He created also came with a side effect of separation between men. time and time again people have been rejected for their belief in Jesus, and even for the opposite action. just like the ubiquitous fish against the flow, those who follow Jesus are heading the other way, and when people are going in opposite directions, they are bound for collision. one prime example of this could be historian Jackson Spielvogel's (and other writers') contentions on the fall of Rome. i was somewhat surprised when i read in my history book that he thought Christianity was the reason for Rome's downfall, but as i kept reading, it began to make sense. the book stated that Rome, like the world itself, was built on principles completely different from those of Christianity. that, and the widespread conversion of Romans lead the the deterioration of an empire. these same differences are still present today. Christianity goes against the grain of the world in every way, and this agitates the norm. a lot of the time, we may feel like what we believe is too harsh or intolerant in some ways, but what we teach is not supposed to be easy to swallow. what we believe is the opposite of what the world thinks to be right. what i'm learning more and more is that when we try to teach someone who doesn't know Jesus, its only natural for them to reject it. this can even be characteristic of believers themselves who think that, because of Jesus' Love, He doesn't want people to change when they come to Him, as long as they have Faith in Him, which is a very faulty way of thinking. Christ made it possible to go the other way, and at the same time started the spark of constant collision.