Heckler or Gamechanger?

My wife and I went to a comedy show one time when we were first married.  We were living in Nashville, Tennessee and I won tickets from one of those radio morning shows.  While we waited for the main comedian to arrive, we noticed that there were a group of folks up front that were having a little “too much fun”.  Alcohol has a tendency in some folks to conjure up more courage than they normally would have, and this was no exception.

When the main comedian hit the stage, one of the men who was drunk began to heckle him.  This went on for two or three minutes.  (Side note:  good comedians are extremely smart.  The last thing you want to do is trade word-punches with them.)  Finally, the comedian on stage took off the gloves and began verbally abusing the man to a point of tears.  Needless to say, the drunk shut up and didn’t utter another word the rest of the evening.  I am ashamed to say, but it was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen!

In Matthew 21:23-27 we see a similar story take place.  Jesus is teaching in the temple and the chief priests and elders begin to question Jesus’ authority.   They came to Him and said “By what authority do you do these things?” and “Who gave you the right?”  Immediately Jesus quiets the hecklers by asking them a question too hard to answer concerning John’s Baptism.  Finally they admitted “We don’t know!”

Here are a few points that stood out to me when reading this scripture:

• Jesus was doing His Father’s will and teaching those around Him. 

• This wasn’t the first time Jesus had done this sort of thing.  (Luke 2:41-51)

• The Elder’s and the Chief Priests were supposed to be on His side.  They were a part of the temple.  Instead of listening, learning or encouraging Jesus, they decided to be jealous of Him and heckle.

• If you are doing the Lord’s work and following God’s will, those who are jealous (Christian or not) will mock and ridicule you, even though they have no authority to do so.  When this happens, roll with it.  You don’t answer to them, you answer to God.

• Anytime you are doing God’s will (especially something radical) there will always be those on the sidelines saying “You can’t do that!” or “You shouldn’t be doing it that way!”  Those that are sitting on the sidelines will always heckle someone who is a gamechanger for Christ.

• Encourage those who are doing God’s work.  They have plenty of hecklers and are in desperate need of an encouraging word!

• Never expect Non-Christians to act like Christians.  They won’t, so don’t get your feelings hurt when they heckle you.  They are lost and it’s our job as Christians to obey God so they can see Christ in us.

• In the previous passage in Matthew 21:22, we see Jesus encouraging His disciples stating “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer!”  What would our walk with Christ look like if we REALLY believed?  No amount of heckling could hold us back!

It’s time to make up our minds!  Are we going to do God’s thing and be gamechangers or are we going to sit on the sidelines and heckle those who do?