We’re stepping into a new year, hoping that purchasing a planning calendar won’t be as futile an exercise as it has been for the last two years. The global pandemic wreaked havoc on all our plans—the ones already in process and any attempt to make new ones. Some have described COVID-19 as the greatest disruptor ever seen by this generation. We’ve witnessed the impact of this disruption on so many areas of our lives, on our families, friends and the communities of our world.

Disruption usually carries a negative connotation. No one wants to sit next to the disruptive child on an airplane. Who wants to hear that television coverage will be disrupted just before the Super Bowl kickoff? In recent years, however, disruption has taken on a new connotation. In his book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen introduces the concept of “disruptive innovation.” He describes how a small company with limited resources can enter the business market and displace large, successful companies that had previously been the dominant provider of products or services. 

The word disruption then has a positive connotation, at least in the eyes of the emerging company. Disruption of this nature is more than change or transformation. Innovative disruption is the unexpected that establishes a new and often uncertain path, leading to an eventual outcome that is even more than could have been anticipated. 

Christmas could well be described as this type of disruption. Jesus entered our world, breaking into the routines and normal patterns of life, offering a path that leads to more than could ever have been dreamed. For Mary and Joseph, life’s path was dramatically altered from the very moment of the angel’s announcement. With all their wedding plans yet to be finalized, Mary and Joseph prepared to welcome the Messiah into the world. The outcome would be more than they could have ever asked for or imagined, as the lyrics outline: “Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you.”

Throughout his life and ministry, Jesus stepped into the routines, established patterns and expectations of people with a disrupting message. It was a message of grace, hope and invitation to embrace dynamic faith. His is a message that leads to abundant life. Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10 The Message). 

Peter was one such individual who encountered Jesus and had more than his fishing plans disrupted. The call to follow Jesus was a disruption to his normal routine and business. It was an invitation to make Jesus’ business, his business. Jesus’ business was people experiencing the love of God and his kingdom. From that moment, life would never be the same for Peter. Following Jesus, walking and working with him and seeing lives forever changed, was more than he could have ever asked for or imagined. 

Jesus’ call disrupted what may have been on Peter’s agenda for that day, perhaps even the plans he had for the years ahead. It was a calling that Os Guinness describes in his book, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, as “not only a matter of being and doing what we are, but also of becoming what we are not yet, but are called by God to be.” He goes on to remind us that “God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.” 

Following two years of COVID-related disruptions, have our efforts focused on finding new balance and equilibrium at just the time that we, like Peter, could use a little “holy disruption” in our lives? Before we settle too soon, are we watching for the moments, the circumstances and the people that God is using to break into our lives once again with a disrupting message, a calling? Let’s be open to listen. Let’s be ready to respond, discovering a life that is more than we could ask for or imagine and better than we could have dreamed. 

Commissioner Floyd Tidd is the territorial commander of the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

Photo: freshidea/stock.Adobe.com

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