“…provoke unto love and to good works…”  (Hebrews 10)

“A man of wrath stirs up strife…(Proverbs 29)

“Fathers do not provoke your children unto wrath.”  (Ephesians 6)

 

Should a loving Christ-ian provoke another?  As the Macho Man Randy Savage would say,   “OOHHHH! Yeah!!!”

God wants us to enjoy our Christ-ianity.  Most catechisms ask the question, What is the chief end of man?” and the answer is Glorify God and Enjoy Him.  We are to enjoy the fruits of Christ’s blessed merits, we are to enjoy all things richly.  Provoking others is part of the fun.  Yeah! i said fun…one can have fun provoking others, I do it all the time.

Of course this has to be controlled and cannot become a source of pride and a reason of existence. We do not provoke children, we do not provoke unto evil, we do not provoke God, we do not provoke the devil, but we can provoke others unto good works and we can stir up the spirits of others by provoking them thereunto.  And we can provoke the enemies of God unto speechlessness, folly, humility and sometimes to consideration and maybe even belief.

One (1) thing is for sure the saints of old, by their very existence and Christ-likeness provokes others. Noah by his righteous life, condemned others around him.  Noah dud this simply by living a godly life.  Moses did nothing if not provoke Pharaoh. David provoked Saul just by his presence. Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and all prophets provoked unbelievers and those disobedient and un submissive unto the LORD God of Israel.  John the Baptist certainly provoked the religious and political sinners of that day.  It is said by Christ Himself, He came to draw a sword and cause division.  Christ was the Provoker of provokers. Just by walking into a city, a synagogue, a home, the world He provoked every aspect of existence.

Christ provoked the religious crowd, they wanted to stone Him and throw Him off a precipice. Christ provoked the political crowd so much that they even became friends with the religious crowd.  Christ, by His Presence stirred up demonic energies.  Christ even provoked nature, the winds, the waves, and the storms were provoked by His peacefulness, (s)atan was provoked by His Presence.

I confess, I enjoy the task.  I look to provoke others unto holiness and right thinking. I look to provoke unbelievers into corners they cannot fight out of.  I enjoy provoking persons to come to a point where they realize their position is not one (1) of that can be supported and is really a position others put them up to.  We do this not from pride, but from a desire to provoke others to think independently, critically, logically, and clearly.

The most dangerous and provocative person is an independent thinker. The weaker person is one that, “joins hand in hand,” and they will not go, “unpunished.” The independent thinker standing with God or rather God standing with him is the majority. The independent thinker cause the group-thinkers to go crazy.  Some might think the Christ-ians are all group-think and brainwashed.

Christ-ians are mind and spirit cleansed, but nor mindless. Christ-ians do have a like-mindedness, “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ,” but each Christ-ian has a world of their own and in this world they stand independent from the world-group-think crowd.” The Christ-ian is like minded and the Chris-ians heart of believers are knitted together into one (1) love and one (1) focus to God’s glory when they are together, but as they are in the world but not of the world, they stand fast and steadfast in the liberty where with Christ hath made them free, but they stand as independent-from the world-group-thinkers.

The disciples/Apostles were like-minded and of one (1) spirit when fellowshiping together, where Christ is in the midst, when in the world, but not of the world, they stand alone, independently, steadfastly, “though the Lord stood with me.” That is a paradox of the Christ-ian faith; We all stand alone in the world, yet never alone.  We stand independently from the world, while being in the world, but ever dependent upon the strength that is of God.

Something we enjoy doing is provoking Bible believers in coffee stores and other places and Christ-ians wearing witness shirts.  We approach them, ask them if they really believe in “that stuff.” We begin to insult their intelligence and foolishness. At the right time we reveal our-self to be like-minded with them.  We do this for a number of reasons:
*So these believers, that i am bullying can give God glory in their stand for Him.
*Others in the area see and hear what is going on and hear a Christ-ian witness and testimony from those involved in my “subterfuge.”
*The provoking also encourages those that we invoked because they had the opportunity to give a public testimony to God.
*The question is answered which asks, “Would I be able to stand up for the faith if persecuted and provoked (somewhat).”
*It’s fun and edifying and a positive and memorable event for all involved.
*It’s good to provoke someone into a corner which they must fight out of, if they can.

Some may question my place in doing this but, God has given me a filling, that is precious and sacred and that is between He and i alone, and it is with the filling that a bold provoking is made even possible as I have always been a reserved, quiet man.

In summary, The Christ-ian by living an openly Christ-ian life provokes (And condemns) unbelievers. If read thoughtfully and prayerfully, the Scriptures present all of God’s people and persons to be provocative simply by being. As the Christ-ian spirit within each of us witness to us and each other, so does our spirit condemn, provoke, and oppress to madness the unbeliever and the militant atheist.

In today’s political environment, which was always present but latent, the leftist and demonically oppressed liberal is provoking right and fair-minded persons.  Their mouths must be stopped.  While we cannot return evil for evil, we certainly can speak up and out, rebuking the unbeliever in his pride on the spot and for his wicked free-will expression. I find opportunity at flea markets, in stores, and on the street.  If the emotionally possessed and (s)atanically-oppressed political left is going to be provocative, my goodness, shall not the people of God not provoke each other unto good works and the enemies of Christ unto madness. Again, I say, Oh! Yeah!!!

Godspeed.