One of the principles I learned growing up was two kingdom theology. I am grateful for having this doctrine instilled in me throughout my early years because few American Christians understand the difference between God’s Kingdom and the kingdoms of this world.
However, as I’ve gotten around more, I’ve noticed a few significant errors in many who subscribe to “two-kingdom theology.” Particularly, those who view God’s kingdom as being an upside down one.
God’s Kingdom Is Not Upside Down
Some will tell you that “in God’s kingdom, up is down and down is up,” insinuating that what makes sense to our minds is not right in God’s kingdom and what is right in God’s kingdom doesn’t make sense to our minds.
They get this thought from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus tells us that when someone slaps us on the right cheek, instead of slapping them back (as the world would do), turn the other cheek to them so they can slap it also. If someone takes our outer coat, instead of grabbing it back and yelling at them (as the world would do), Christ tells us to give them our sweatshirt as well. The Sermon is full of these paradoxical instructions calling us to do things differently than what comes natural in the heated moment.
But it gets taken out of context.
An example of this is how some groups came to have the black jacket as a standard of dress. They weren’t going to be worldly by wearing sports coats, so they decided to simply wear a straight, black coat. Some churches still require it, even though “people of the world” don’t necessarily wear sports coats anymore. If we are not of this world (because Christians are apart of a heavenly Kingdom in Christ) then we should not dress like the world, right?
Another example is the approach to preaching and learning communication skills. “The Gospel is not preached by the eloquence of man,” they say quoting Paul. So, there’s no attempt to understand what makes a story intriguing to an audience or how to make a Sunday message more relevant to a group of people thousands of years removed from the culture and times of the Bible. To become “relevant” or to tap into the psychology of men is looked at as depending upon our earthly minds to bring about the work of the Holy Spirit. The assumption is that God’s Kingdom doesn’t do that.
A capella music is lifted up as holier than contemporary music. One is traditional, “natural,” and constant. The other changes with the times and culture, and that is not of God’s kingdom because in His Kingdom what is up to human thinking is actually down, and what is down to human thinking is actually up.
The fundamental flaw in this mindset, though, is that there lies a subtle belief that the world was created by someone other than God.
To say that God’s Kingdom is “upside down,” means that someone created a “right-side up” kingdom—and it wasn’t God. But that completely ignores the book of Genesis. God created the world. It isn’t like there was a created world, and then God came along and flipped everything upside down.
He created how people work, what turns them on, and how they think. He created music and the arrangements of chords, notes and rhythms. And when He created all this, it was good.
It still is.
The point is not to do the opposite of the world; the point is to align ourselves with how God designed things to be. And, yes, sometimes that leads us to do what feels backwards to our finite minds. But not always.
We don’t have to look at music and see it as evil, thinking we need to sanctify it. God made music and it is good. The same is true for sexual desire. We tend to look at it as dangerous and dark, but God gave us sexual desire. He sees it as very good. Because of sin there are many perversions of music and sex being spread around the world, but we should not look at those perversions and try to do the opposite.
Taking a style of clothing and doing the opposite is just as earthly and humanistic as trying to keep up with the latest fashions. Assuming God’s Spirit only works when we are dry and boring and simply quote scripture is to overlook the gifts and calling of God upon members of His body—the Church.
Jesus tailored his message to the audience He spoke with, whether it was the woman at the well in John 4, or the hypocritical Pharisees in Matthew 21. Paul, on Mars Hill, made the Gospel relevant to a culture who had many gods by introducing them to the “unknown god”—Jehovah. The simple fact that the four Gospels vary in style illustrates that these men knew how to make their message more understandable to the audience they were addressing. Were they being earthly? I don’t think so.
God made people. He designed our psychology. He knows that unless a message makes sense in light of the context we are living in, we won’t seek to understand it.
Why is it that people say God’s Kingdom is “upside down”?
Albeit mostly unintentional, I believe it is more a form of manipulation than actual truth. Not necessarily the kind of manipulation a spoiled child uses to get his way, but the kind a chiropractor employs when correcting dislocated vertebrae. We want to see people actually living as if we are not of this world, so we teach that God’s Kingdom is backwards from what we see. That gives us a clear visual as to how we are to live.
The problem is, the world we live in now isn’t another being’s world. It’s God’s world with sin in it.
Trees are still green, the sky is still blue and apples still fall to ground when let loose from the branch. What is beauty to us is so because God made it beautiful. What is pleasurable to us feels pleasurable because God made it.
But we have this tendency to view the beauty and pleasure as essential to meeting our needs and so we become dependent upon them, developing a drive to have them outside of the context God designed them to be.
Consider the dangers of concluding that because fallen people have this pervading tendency inside them to not do things God’s way, as Christians, we need to do the opposite of what non-Christians do. To figure out the Christian life by doing the opposite of what the world does is to live a life empty of worship. God made the world and our goal is to come into alignment with how He made it. That’s worship.
When we look at the world and determine our way of life by doing the opposite of them, we are creating another earthly kingdom, not cultivating a belief and worship of Jesus Christ. Following Christ doesn’t mean we do everything backwards, it simply means we follow exactly in His footsteps whether it feels safe or not.
How People in God’s Kingdom Live
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful. It needs no help. I’m afraid we water it down by trying to establish boundaries to keep people under a spiritual control. It’s hard work to teach truth and strive in prayer, and it’s much easier to simply require certain standards that people must follow. But we are not transformed into the image of Christ by dutifully living right. When rightful living is born out of a self-disciplined approach to the world around without a deep worshipful belief (beholding the glory of God), it is not commendable; it is condemnable.
We are transformed by gazing on Christ and beholding His glory. As we worship Him, our lifestyle changes from one of self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Our desires are made holy. Our minds are being sanctified and we are freed use them for His glory. We want His will and we don’t want what is not of God. We don’t have to couch it with extra-biblical standards. It becomes a reality of our hearts and we passionately pursue intimacy with Christ.
God created cultures, and his design is to create worshippers of Him within each culture. The music will be different. The dress won’t look the same. How we share the message of Christ with each one will fluctuate with the context of their situations and experiences.
But the goal will still be the same: worship of Jesus Christ.
People in earthly kingdoms worship their organizations and institutions. They set up laws and regulations to moderate behavior. People in God’s Kingdom live as God designed because of a deep belief and worship of Jesus Christ.
God made the world. Up is His up. Down is His down. And we live accordingly by gazing on His glory.
Question: how does your lifestyle change when you worship Jesus as opposed to just doing the opposite of the world. Leave your comments here.
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