The Upside Down Church

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The Upside Down Church

These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also-Acts 17:6

How would you describe your church? Is it a church that is turning the world upside down (a NT church) or is it a church that has been turned upside down by the state (a modern church)? Let's put the question a different way: Are you attending a government approved church today . . . or are you attending a church that sanctions the government? That is, is your church right side up or upside down?

In the first century, the apostles turned the world upside down by preaching the gospel (Acts 17:6); that is, they set it right side up by proclaiming Christ was king and that all men, including kings and civil rulers, are

required to arrange themselves under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, however, we are living in an age where the government has turned the world wrong side up . . . again . . . that is, government has reversed God's law order by returning to the pagan tyrannical schemes of the pre-Christian world (Acts 17:30). By requiring churches to be state-approved organizations, Congress demands the church submit to the will of the state . . . and to make matters worse most pastors are totally compliant with the state will . . . meaning . . . . they are now hostile to God's will.

Scott Latourette in his monumental work on church history, volume one, explains that pastors of early Christianity did not believe they needed the approval of the state to conduct their mission; rather, the pastors saw the state as needing the approval of the church to conduct state business!! Selah! What a concept–the state needing the approval of church leaders!! Bishops in the universal church (catholic) believed they (ecclesiastics) would have “to give an account for kings in the day of judgment, and that the Emperor must submit to prelates[1] in divine matters. Consequently, civil rulers were begging bishops for forgiveness and acceptance rather than the bishops begging for recognition by the state! (Latourette, p. 187).

Ambrose of Milan (339-397) “remonstrated with the Emperor Theodosius for a massacre which the latter had ordered in Thessalonica and excluded him from the Church until he had proved his repentance by the acts prescribed for penitents” (Latourette, p. 184).

When is the last time you have heard of a church sanctioning (or excommunicating) a president or senator or representative for the slaughter of innocents or discharging godless policies? Imagine with me a church commanding a president or senator to repent! The right side up church is the conscience of the state and demands the state acknowledge the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Law-word. The wrong side up church remains silent on the political issues of our time and bends over backward to be totally compliant with the Lord-state. What?

So, are you attending an upside down church turned upside down by the state . . . or are you attending a church that is turning the world upside down by demanding the civil rulers surrender to God's law order?

By way of application, think what would happen if Christians demanded their church stop surrendering to the state and started demanding both church and state surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Ten Commandments!

. Kenneth Scott Latourette (1975): A History of Christianity, Volume I, Beginnings to 1600, Revised Edition. Harper Collins Publishers.

"Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God."
[Prov. 30:7-9, Bible, NKJV]

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