Turning the world upside down

Rory and I were recently blessed to have found a fantastic church family here in Tennessee, and to date, the lessons and sermons being taught have been incredibly thought-provoking. Who would have thought about a thought-provoking lesson from the Bible, right? 😉

At any rate, the lessons lately have really hit home, probably due more in part to our current change in perspective of a lot of things. On Sunday nights, we've been studying about the journey's of Paul, and tonight was the second lesson on his second missionary journey. One specific passage has always been interesting to me for a different reason, though. 

So some quick background: Acts 17 is where Paul and Silas have been teaching in Thessalonica and are greeted with less than a warm reception by some of the Jews there. First, I think about how the Jews have been taught and been teaching one thing since, well, pretty much the beginning of time. Now they're being told that the old law has been fulfilled by this Jesus, whom they killed btw, and that now there's a new law to be followed and taught. I'm not ganna lie, it would be REALLY hard for me to accept someone coming to me and telling me that what I believe and teach is no longer relevant. In this case, they aren't mad just because they feel their beliefs are being undermined - they're jealous (verse 5). What in the world could they be jealous of?! Well, if you have been the "top teacher" for most of your life and everyone listens to you, most people tend to develop an ego. It's kind of human nature. So think of these Jews as having super egos that are now being popped by the disciples. But not just any disciple...one who used to be the Top Dog in persecuting Christians! Talk about salt in an open wound 😕

So what do these egocentric men do next? Why, get rid of the current distraction! They don't want things to change. They want to stay where they are, the VIP of the village, town, or wherever else they live. This is where verse 6 always intrigues me - "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also..." Basically, these guys think that up to this point, the world has been all hunky dory and everyone has been happy with the status quo. Now, these Christians are coming in and messing it all up!

I find myself almost laughing at the irony of these men's statement. If they had been able to put aside their egos and focus on what really mattered (the truth), they would have seen that these men were not, in fact, turning the world upside down, but instead turning it right-side up. The Old Law was no longer relevant to follow in the way that it had been because it had been fulfilled. The teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees was wrong. People were living in a state of being lost because they didn't have the truth. Everyone was in serious need of an introduction of how to save their souls! To me, this sounds like a world "upside down". 

Another ironic observation - how is this different than the world we live in today? Are there not people searching for truth and purpose? Are there not false teachers doing everything they can to stroke their egos and stay "top dogs" even at the expense of lost souls? Are there not people who are just living in a state of ignorance because they don't know any better? 

And what are we doing as Christians? Are we trying to turn the world right-side up again? Honestly, I could do SO much better in that department. I'm still not where I should be in my knowledge of the Bible, but also honestly, what more is needed in an initial conversation with someone other than the basic gospel truth? Hey, God loves you because he created you and he wants you to be with him in eternity when you die. Do you want to know how you can be there with him? Jesus. Jesus is God's son, sent to earth because he loved ALL of us in such a way that he had to die for us to even have a chance at getting to heaven. Don't you want to go to heaven and live with God for all eternity? This life is short but the next one won't be. Isn't your soul worth saving? God thinks so. Do you want to know how your soul can be saved?....

I know there are going to be people who refuse to listen and even get angry enough to try and silence the spread of the gospel, even today. It's becoming harder (or should I say, less popular) to stand up for the truth, but that makes it all the more world-turning when someone obeys the gospel call! 

Sorry, but not sorry, for the long sermon post, but this was weighing on me tonight. I pray that I can grow my courage to turn the world right-side up and continue to learn and live God's way so that I can be standing there in heaven with all the other world-turners!

God bless!