by Rev. Eric Van Meter*

Photo: Rev. Junius B. Dotson preaching at the opening worship at the 24th seesion of the Dakotas Annual Conference in Bismarck.  Photos by Dave Stucke, Dakotas Conference Communications.

In Rev. Junius B. Dotson’s opinion, the world needs to be shaken up. And it’s the church that needs to do it.

Rev. Dotson, the General Secretary of Discipleship Ministries, told the Dakotas Annual Conference on Thursday that the problems of our time are clear to see. Every day, we live in a climate marked by extreme polarization, a new “war on drugs” that is disproportionally impacting people of color, growing income inequality, and numerous threats to the poorest and most helpless among us.

In response to these and other very real threats, the church needs to lean into its prophetic witness. If ever there was a time to shake up the world as the early disciples did, it is this time.

“Imagine it,” Rev. Dotson said. “Leaving annual conference and getting back to your community to have them say, ‘Hold it, hold it! Don’t let them loose in our town. They’ve been turning the world upside down.’”

According to Rev. Dotson, the story of Paul and Silas in Acts 17 depicts the kind of leadership necessary for such an upheaval. These early disciples helped bring to fruition a living example of the teachings of Jesus set forth in Luke’s gospel.

Like Paul and Silas, modern church leaders who hope to turn the world upside down must be confident risk-takers, secure in their identity as children of God. They must be willing to leave places of security and stability in favor of becoming a church on the move.

“Our DNA is one of a ‘go’ paradigm,” Rev. Dotson said. “Methodism at its core is a going church, a going faith, a going movement. We are on a journey of going and growing.”

Such movement will also require leaders who are courageous and resilient. Rev. Dotson acknowledged the difficulty of ministry, the inevitable obstacles that come with turning the world upside down. Any leader who hopes to address big problems can expect adversity.

Finally, Paul and Silas demonstrate an unwavering commitment to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. At the center of every movement, Rev. Dotson insists, is one person who is wholly committed to and reliant on the Spirit of God.

Despite the size and scope of the problems before us, the church is called to live into the responsibility to address them. Churches and individual leaders may seem under equipped to address these big issues, but that has always been the case. Paul and Silas had nothing but the gospel, and yet found themselves before a judge because they were such a threat to the powers in place.

The call to turn the world upside down is no less present in the Dakotas Annual Conference. Rev. Dotson encouraged attendees to begin living into it, starting immediately.

“Let’s go with a fresh expectation, my brothers and sisters, that we can go back to our churches and in the power of the Spirit—that we can turn the world upside down.”

*Eric Van Meter is the campus pastor at Dakota Wesleyan University.