“These that have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
The scene of this text is in the city of Thessalonica because of what Paul did in a synagogue. What did he do? He preached Jesus to those present. Some of the people believed, but those who did not believe staArted a riot. The KJV says that they “took of them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar: and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.” They took Jason and other Christians to the “rulers of the city” and that was when they accused the Christians of "turning the world upside down.” What this meant was that the Christians were trying to get them to change. What a compliment! When was the last time a group of unbelievers accused your church, or mine, of trying to turn their world upside down? This might be understandable, since the Christian faith is not as revolutionary now as it was then, but we need to consider that we might be a little more revolutionary. The county that I live in, in the Bible belt of Georgia, is eighty-five percent unchurched. What would it mean if we began to “turn the world upside down”? First, it would mean that our own world had been turned upside down. Do you think that the main preacher, Paul, had not had his world turned upside down? He went from being a critic of Christians to a champion for Christ overnight. The world of all of the Christians of Thessalonica had been turned upside down. Maybe our world needs to be turned upside down too. Perhaps, then, we could be more serious about our faith in Christ, and in our dedication to Him. In a way this would turn our worlds upside down. It would mean that we were spending more time in prayer and Bible study, which would mean that we would have to give up some of the other things that we enjoy doing. It would mean that we begin to act in love towards other people, and not always so attentive of ourselves and our petty concerns. It would mean that we would have to give up some of the entertainments that we enjoy so much. Though it was different, all of these things happened in the lives of early Christians like Paul, and in this case, in the lives of Christians in Thessalonica. If their worlds had not been turned upside down, they would not have been accused of turning the world upside down. Second, it would mean that instead of turning the world upside down, we would be trying to turn the world right-side up. This was what those early Christians were trying to do. Remember, the accusation of “turning the world upside down” was made by unbelievers. It was not bragging by believers. They were trying to get people out of their pagan religions to Christ – which would turn their world right-side up. Trying to get people to believe in Christ and give their lives to Him is a noble purpose, and anyone who has turned from unbelief to belief will readily admit that their world has been turned right-side up. Turning the world right-side up is the daily task of every Christian. First, we should rejoice that our world is right-side up and live so that others could see how good that is. Second, we should tell others about what it means. One of the greatest joys of a Christian is to see the changed life of someone to whom he or she has witnessed. This means that this person’s world has been turned right-side up. We rejoice when we see someone turn from drugs, alcohol and worldly living, because we know that something wonderful and positive has happened in their lives. Obviously, I am not advocating starting a riot in our communities. I am advocating that we be about the business of telling the world about Jesus as the Christians in this text were. We will have to admit that our world certainly needs "turning right side up." It has to begin with His church - and that it us! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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