I once heard Christianity referred to as the “upside down kingdom.” The phrase stuck. I’ve learned to see Christianity as being in that odd group of illogical truths such as pruning (cutting off life so that you get more life), exercising (stressing your heart so that it can better withstand stress), and peanut butter banana sandwiches (who would have thought those could go together?). Christianity is illogical because you are asked to die so that you may live. You are asked to seek the happiness of others that you may be happy. You are told to be humble that you may be worth something.

In the end, Christianity is a huge gamble on something counter-intuitive. It’s putting all your chips in the middle and betting on God. If God delivers, you win. If God fails, you lose. Paul articulates this aspect of the faith in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The upshot of his argument is that Christianity only makes sense if it is true – and if it is true, it is the only thing that makes sense. The real bugaboo, however, is that unlike pruning trees in fall, the stakes are higher and you have to wait a lot longer to see the strange logic unfold and experience the deliverance God promised. This means a long and hard-fought obedience. It means that you really have to trust and have faith. Doing this means that not all the answers or outcomes can be known or accounted for ahead of time. Faith and safe rhyme, but they are not synonymous.

What doesn’t work in this faith gamble, is for your chips to stay in your corner while you watch the dice bounce. Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”¹ You are either in or out, but there is no middle ground. In another place Jesus warns a church community, “because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” ²

Antioch church recognizes the absurd yet sober reality of the life of faith. As such we seek to be fully committed, fully hot and fully leaning on a God who we trust will vindicate and restore us. Faith is a gamble, but it is a gamble we sincerely believe in. We are willing to risk all to follow our God; and in a paradoxical way, we expect to find nothing less than fullness and joy in the process. It is counter-intuitive to die in order to live, but as Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”³ Jim Elliot, a missionary who was killed in Ecuador paraphrased Jesus’ words saying “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

It is an upside down kingdom. It is not a self help program that offers band aids to a broken soul. The kingdom of God beckons us to gamble all, to radically trust, to come and let the broken self-centered soul die so that it can be resurrected.

1. Luke 11:23
2. Revelation 3:16
3. Matthew 16:24-26