My favourite episode of The Office (US) is when Dwight lights a fire to jolt people out of their laxity towards safety procedures in the workplace. “Today smoking is going to save lives”, he says smugly, as he ditches a cigarette into a nearby bin and watches smoke billow in among the desks. Naturally, chaos follows. Kevin loots a vending machine. Stanley has a heart attack. Michael, the branch manager, starts shrieking and swearing for people to just “Calm the [insert expletive] down.”
There is something admirable in what Dwight does: his goal is disruption. He wants to unwind complacency and shift the status quo. And that raises a question for us as believers: what are the things in our day to day which have the power to do the same?
Disruption and Stability
Stability is our bread and butter. It looks like routine and rhythms and feeling like you actually know what you’re doing. Stability lets you get things done, think clearly, and look ahead unfrazzled. In the Christian life it looks like church on Sunday, prayer and Bible each morning and growth group mid-week. It’s vanilla, and that’s kind of the point. Stability is repeatable and doable and that’s why it’s good.
Disruption on the other hand is coming to work and finding out your role has been replaced by a robot. Disruption is Covid or an unseen illness or a break up. The buzz words here are change, flux, and why is my life exploding? But seen from the right angle, disruption can also be good. Disruption can be the sound of a new door opening. It can be a way of raising a different set of questions or seeing things in a new light. According to the Bible, we mature through suffering and trials (Rom 5:3–5, Jas 1:2–4).
Too much disruption can be wearisome and never lands us anywhere permanent. But pure stability is unproductive as well; we’re never challenged. 100% disruption is like living in a nightclub. 100% stability is like living in a factory for things coloured beige.
Conferences as Self-Inflicted Disruption
Which brings me to Christian conferences. Going to a Christian conference is a form of self-inflicted disruption.[1] Christian conference can be overwhelming. Long days full of conversations with new people, lots of new information, large crowds, loud music, and so many books you could buy from the bookstall.
But therein lies the blessings: hearing fresh perspectives from a fellow believer, stirred by communal singing, even your time at the book stall has opened you up to the possibility that you might spend less time staring at your phone and more time dwelling on the things of God. A conference is disruptive, yes. But it’s the right kind of disruptive. Sometimes a day or two out of our usual habitat isn’t such a bad thing.
There will be many Christian conferences in your neck of the woods this year: men’s conferences, women’s conferences; kids, music, young adults; work, uni, and pastor’s conferences. That’s not to mention national conferences! Going to one of these will likely engorge your brain, and overwhelm your soul. But it’s a good opportunity to add one new thing to your walk with the Lord. A chance to be challenged from the Scriptures, to reassess your direction, to take a beat to think seriously about something hard and deep.
For all the disruptions life could possibly throw up for you this year, this self-inflicted disruption isn’t half bad. For all those status quo spiritual months, what could be better than a few days of fellowship, word and prayer?
[1] Thanks to Sam Chan for the genesis of this idea: from his material on the relationship between disruption, stability, and mission weeks in local churches.
