Turning the World Upside Down

“And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.” Acts 17:6-7

The purpose of the Church is to Glorify God and proclaim Christ as the true king: King of Kings and Lord of Lords! In doing this it is definitely going to turn the world upside down! Does that mean that the world is on its right side then? No! The world is nothing like God intended it to be and Christ came to start making all things new. We as his disciples, continuing in the things he both taught and did, with the expectation of being able to do greater things because He went away so that the Holy Spirit would come and do these great works in us, are commissioned to change the world, one person at a time.

Paul had made great strides in Thessalonica and Berea. He had a convert by the name of Jason in whom was an effective disciple of Christ. He began to win many to the faith and the Jews were being threatened by him. They sought to have them imprisoned because they refused to recognize Caesar as Lord, proclaiming that there is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews were so threatened that they felt that this group of people were so influencing the world that it would change it forever. What an indictment!

Jesus said that the “The world would hate you because it hated him first.” (John 15:18) The world system and ideology is contrary to the teachings and will of God. Because we are followers of him our lives should not reflect those of the world, but those of the kingdom of God. When this happens it draws a line in the sand and the worldly man or woman sees the church as a threat to its agenda. So it is the mission of the church to spread the Gospel and in doing so, furthering the kingdom of God, quenching the darkness of the kingdom of Satan.

The challenge for us today is to have them same impact. We must see ourselves as God’s ambassadors sent forth to correct those things that have gone wrong. Our purpose to the right the wrongs through the message of reconciliation found in the proclamation of the Gospel. We should strive to be witnesses as people witness the change that has been wrought in us through the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation and sanctification. The new creation always begins in us. It is only when our upside-down lives have been turned right side up that we can begin to change the world around us. Either we are influencing the world, or the world is influencing us. As we walk upright in and upside-down world, the world should see us different. The way that we know how we stand is if sinners are seeing our feet instead of our head. “And how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)

Pastor Robby