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The Upside-Down Kingdom
In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His disciples a little prayer which has become one of the most well-known prayers in Western civilization. We all know it as the “Our Father.” It starts off simply enough, “Our Father, which art in heaven.” Then it takes off from there to reveal something deeply profound.
Jesus gave us this simple prayer as a glimpse of the heavenly modus operandi for enjoying a quality of life here on earth. He meant to have us look outside of ourselves and beyond our circumstances to God’s heavenly kingdom as the focal point for understanding earthly existence. Basically, we can experience now on earth the same kind of relationship with God that is experienced in heaven. They are one and the same.
Stop and think about that for a minute. In effect, earth becomes the temporal training ground for the eternal.
Jesus says that heaven is the frame of reference for earthly living, best exemplified in two ways: One is through forgiveness and the other is to flee temptations that emanate from the evil one.
Forgiveness is a central theme because it’s integral for entering and enjoying God’s kingdom. We get a glimpse of it on earth and see it fully in action in heaven because only the forgiven and those who forgave will be there (Matthew 6:14-15). When put into practice, forgiveness has power to transform.
What impedes forgiveness like nothing else? Temptations. They blur our vision of the eternal because they focus solely on the temporal to satisfy our natural desires.
That’s why Jesus focuses so strongly on forgiveness and temptation. There is no resisting of temptation without forgiveness, and no forgiveness without resisting the efforts of the evil one, who uses temptations as cataracts of our heavenly vision.
Jesus points us to a way of life upside down from this earthly kingdom in order to get us right-side up with God. He reminds us that our earthly lives ought to be an expression of the heavenly kingdom...exemplified by forgiveness for others and ourselves, and the will to stay away from the temptations that seek to derail our journey to the heavenly kingdom.
Question: How are you doing? Are forgiveness and avoiding temptation hallmarks of your life here on earth?
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About this Plan
Much of what Jesus taught and stood for clashes with popular politically correct notions that want to redefine and reinterpret the person and teachings of Jesus—and ultimately the Christian faith—so that neither step on anyone’s sensitivities. Jesus, however, calls us to be salt and light, not chameleons. If we are Christ’s representatives, changing colors may allow us to blend in, but it will be at the expense of our integrity and Jesus’ admonition for us to follow his words, which are life. We need to grasp hold of a faith that is THE center of our lives and meets us in the trenches of life. That faith acts as a filter for what we experience daily—in media, entertainment, politics, relationships, and yes, even in the church. The Politically Incorrect Jesus addresses issues and ideologies in our current cultural climate, juxtaposed with the clear teachings of Jesus, so readers can embrace being who God designed them to be—men and women of counterculture faith, making a difference in a counterfeit world.
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