Upside Down Kingdom

Re-Arranging During Lent

“It’s a kingdom upside down; You’ve got the servants at the top, and the rulers on the ground.” ~ Brian Duncan

If Lent teaches us anything (and it teaches us a lot!), it’s that the Kingdom of God ushered in by Jesus is the ultimate countercultural movement. For instance, according to Jesus, power is not about the accumulation of personal benefits, but about increasing the ability and scope of our service to others. Wealth is not for gaining “insider” influence, it is about finding more ways to expand assistance and care for others. According to Jesus, influence is not something we seek from the powerful, but it is something that can happen as a result of — in the words of the Apostle Paul — “considering the needs of others even above own comforts” (cf., Philippians 2:3-4).

So, Jesus comes along and builds a kingdom in ways that seem “upside down” to the leaders of the rest of the world. Jesus comes first to those in need, knowing they won’t be able to “reward” him with money or positions of power (see Matthew 5). Jesus confronts those in power, instead of just “going along to get along,” as the saying goes (see Matthew 23, for instance, where Jesus calls key leaders of his day “blind guides”, among other things). Jesus refuses to utilize the full power that comes with being “God in the flesh,” by actually divesting himself of those assets in order to live, work, and interact among those on the margins (Paul calls this kenosis, or, “self-emptying” in Philippians 2). Not only does Jesus do all of these “upside down” kinds of things in the introduction to and building of his kingdom, he has the audacity to call all who would follow him to do the same.

In fact, as a foreshadowing of his own earthly demise, Jesus calls followers to “take up their cross” and follow him (Matthew 16:24). Jesus’s actions from the beginning to the end of his earthly ministry demonstrate this consistent “upside down” approach to building this kingdom - the Kingdom of God.

How easily we modern Christians have forgotten!

Many of the most visible “Christian leaders” — left and right — tend to seek accommodation to the wealthy, the powerful, and the “plugged in,” justifying their actions by claiming that this will “further the work of Christ in positions of power.” However, Jesus’s way, though a bit slower than the shortcuts of modern Christian influencers, demonstrates that entire nations can become influenced by an authentic Christian witness that grows throughout time. It’s slower, but it lasts longer. Instead, contemporary Christians look for ways to place political and financial ideologies contrary to the ways of Christ at the forefront, as if to say: “Jesus, your ways are nice to think about, you just don’t understand the way things REALLY work; we’ll take it from here.”

Sadly, both the Bible and history show us that the shortcut approach, even when championed by those who publicly claim Christianity, leads to a distorted witness that ends up being little more than old-fashioned hypocrisy. It’s as if many key leaders think their ultimate calling is to be internet or TV “influencers”, pundits, or financial gurus FIRST, and then throw in some Christianity later, if they get around to it. What Lent, Holy Week, and Easter teach us is that this shortcut approach is actually “upside down” where Jesus is concerned, and that real followers of Jesus are called to let the ways of Jesus by the leadership of the Holy Spirit turn us “right side up” again! Those of us seeking this re-arrangement of priorities should test our own motives, speak out against misrepresentations of the faith, and pursue by God’s grace the long road of faithfulness.