The Last 6 Weeks: Upside Down

Last week, during a time of prayer with some fellow missionaries, a friend of mine mentioned that, as Christians, we live in an upside down kingdom.  What he meant by that was that if the way this world operates and what the people of the world strive for is our default (and it is-- Romans 3), then the way God operates and what he expects of us is the opposite of the default--its upside down.  I loved that imagery, so I decided to do a little research.  I began to scour the Bible for evidence of our kingdom being an upside down one.  What I found was that no part of God's kingdom operates the way our world does.  What is valued in God's kingdom is scorned by the world.  Likewise, what is held highly by the world is seen by God as polluted garments. 

For example, take a look at a few people that God used in Scripture that, in today's world, would not be considered the best and brightest: 

• God used a doubting murderer in Moses to lead His chosen people out of bondage in Egypt and eventually to a promised land.
• God used Abraham, a liar and a doubter, to be the father of many nations, out of who's bloodline would come the savior of the world. 
• God used Rahab the prostitute in the line to bring about the savior of the world. 
• God strips down Gideon's army to 300 men to defeat the Midianites with an army of tens of thousands. 
• God used an adulterer and murderer in David to be the king of Israel and to be included in the line of Christ.
• Jesus build his church on Peter, the rock.  A prideful, ignorant, wishy-washy rock. 
• Jesus spent his entire 3 year ministry with 12 ordinary, obviously flawed men.  12 men who, after repeatedly being told of Jesus' coming death and resurrection, were shell-shocked when he died and resurrected.  Jesus then left the advancement of the early church in their hands to either succeed or squander. 

Read these saying from Jesus and take note at how upside-down they are:

• "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
• "...unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven."
• "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
• "...for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
• "...follow me, leave the dead to bury their own dead."
• "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life..."
• "But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
• "If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak"
• "...love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

The life of Jesus itself--upside down:

• "...foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
• "...even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve..."
• "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone..."
• The savior of the world enters Jerusalem triumphantly…on a donkey.
• Jesus, a Jew, as he is passing through enemy Samaritan territory, stops and ministers to a provocative Samaritan woman.

Perhaps the most upside down about the Kingdom of God is that he himself would become flesh and subject himself to the evils of a world he created so that we could commune with him eternally:

• "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
• "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ..."
• "Christ redeemed us from the law by becoming a curse for us..."
• "...Christ Jesus, though being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped..."
• "...he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant..."
• "...being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross."

If the kingdom of God is truly as upside down compared to our world as Scripture makes  it out to be, then there are huge implications for our lives.  It's clear that since we are a part of this world and naturally bent toward it, we must make conscious decisions each day to pursue the upside down.  If we pursue things of this world, we scorn what God wants.  If we do not daily pick up our cross and follow Christ, then we will pick up our pride, our checkbook, our corporate ladder, or our trophies and follow the world. 

It's not easy, it's not popular, and it's certainly not natural, but God operates upside down.  Jesus lived upside down.

And if we want to be a part of his kingdom, we must be upside down too.