Turning the World Upside Down
It is interesting to me that when the Christians of the early church would arrive in a new area, this is how the unsympathetic unbelievers would describe them: “Those who have turned the world upside down. “
I can assure you that this was not a compliment. This verb literally means “to stir up, excite, and unsettle.” It is used for those who excite tumults and seditions against the state.
And yet, in a certain aspect, it was actually true. They were calling for people who were under the authority of the god of this world (Satan) to switch kingdoms and come under the authority of the God of creation.
And so the people who were serving Satan got angry that the Christians were invading their territory! They really were stirring things up and turning their world upside down.
Now this is interesting to me because it is so different from the way that the modern church attempts to interact with the world.
The modern church tries to pacify everyone and be friendly with everyone. They go out of their way NOT to stir up trouble. They certainly don’t want to be accused of turning the world upside down.
But genuine Christianity does exactly that! It turns the world upside down. It stirs things up. It incites those who are married to the kingdom of darkness to get upset that we are raiding their territory and taking some of their slaves out of their control and setting them free.
There is this modern invention called the “seeker-friendly” church model. But it is so foreign to what is portrayed in the New Testament that one has to wonder who the real inventor of this idea was.
The early church proclaimed the message of truth. Some believed. Some rebelled and rioted against those who were turning the world upside down.
But at no time ever was there a model for coddling unbelievers with pacifist rhetoric and a dumbed down message in order to try to ease in those who didn’t really want to believe.
I admit that the seeker-friendly model attracts large crowds. But it doesn’t turn the world upside down. And so the world and our society is not changed.
When unbelievers are made to feel comfortable in your church meeting, you have left behind the truth of the Gospel.
Truth will always turn the world upside down. And so those who are bent on remaining in the darkness will hate you and what you stand for.
But we do a real disservice to our communities by trying to pacify them instead of turning them upside down.
There is no power in a pacifier.