“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Acts 17:6

 What was it that caused the early disciples to “turn the world upside down?”  Basically, it was the love they had for each other and the unbelieving world around them.  Jesus told them, “Where I am going, you cannot come.  A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:33-35.  Love is an action verb!  This was the main distinction of the disciples, loving one another.

In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Julian regretted Christianity because it pulled people away for the gods of Rome.  He said, “Christianity has been advanced through the loving service to strangers and their care for the dead.  The ‘godless’ Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well.”  The Apostle John’s love wasn’t wimpy, his was love in action.  He wasn’t talking about the kind of love that walks by someone who is suffering and says, “I’ll pray for you,” but keeps going and promptly forgets, never lifting a finger to help.  Following Jesus is not a spectator sport, it can be heavy stuff, the kind of agape love Jesus had.  Does it mean loving the unlovable…..people who aren’t always nice…or clean…or moral?  What about facing your fears, hopping on an airplane and going to the other side of the world to help the Body of Christ in need?  Can it mean getting totally out of your comfort zone and turning your world “upside down?”  The Apostle Paul knew what really counted:
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,” Galatians 5:6.  WOW!!  James said, “Faith without works is dead.”  If you think going is the job of the elders and deacons, you will miss a great blessing!

There is nothing quite like helping a brother or sister in Christ in a third world country.  Yes, we have the financial means to help them and often the spiritual food to give them.  Their Biblical knowledge is limited to teachers and the books of ministry given them, but many are too poor for such luxuries.  We have what they need, but we need so much more what THEY have!  They have faith that moves mountains and a prayer life that storms the gates of heaven!  There is nothing quite like going on a medical mission and looking into the eyes of a young mother suffering the ravages of malaria or typhoid fever and knowing you have the power to help her with simple antibiotics.  Children failing to thrive because of pinworms and flukes and knowing you can give them a single dose of medication to enable them to grow again.  Or what about going to a school for orphans, teaching an English lesson and with it a Bible story?  Or teaching a young man to construct a home or church?  There are so many needs we can fill!  If church leaders would attend a pastor’s conference, sit with the native pastors and hear their stories, their lives would never be the same!  These are moments on the field that turn our lives upside down!  Those who go on mission trips come home changed, their lives are never quite the same again!  They acquire a vision for the nations!   “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?’  And I said, ‘Here am I.  Send me!”  Isaiah 6:8.

Your friend, Jean