Adapted from a sermon taught by Brad Watt
A perfect biblical example of the “opposites” embedded within Christianity can be found in the Beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Most Christians have read through the Bible at least once—or at the very least, through the Sermon on the Mount. But I’d venture to say that 85% of us don’t fully grasp its significance. This wasn’t Jesus offering reminders or mimicking the teachings of others. No one had ever heard anything like it before… and no one has since. It wasn’t just countercultural—I don’t think that word even does it justice. It was revolutionary, absolutely insane. And the people who heard it weren’t just surprised, they were flabbergasted!
Why? Because everything Jesus said that day stood in direct opposition to what naturally lives in the human heart. His message wasn’t just a moral code; it was a declaration of the coming Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that flips our world upside down. A Kingdom that calls the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, and the justice-hungry blessed. In a world that prizes power, wealth, and status, Jesus calls us to embrace humility, compassion, and a longing for justice. Opposites, everywhere you look.
Have you ever stopped to think about just how revolutionary this sermon really is? Jesus doesn’t want to be part of your life. He doesn’t want following Him to be just one more thing you do. He wants to turn your life upside down. So, let me ask: how radically do you follow Christ? As radically as He calls you to in Matthew 5? Or only as radically as you feel comfortable with? This sermon demands transformation. It demands that our lives be the complete opposite of what they’d be if we had never met Jesus.
For a while, early in my walk with the Lord, I had a rule of thumb: whatever I naturally felt in response to life’s circumstances—no matter what—I’d do the opposite. There’s a 90s sitcom called Seinfeld, my favorite comedy of all time. In one episode, a character whose life was dominated by bad luck, decided to do the opposite of every instinct he had. His luck changed instantly, and hilarity ensued. That was me, for a time. Of course, that approach wasn’t flawless, and eventually, I realized that asking the Holy Spirit how to respond usually works better than simply doing the opposite of what I want to do. But still, the idea stuck with me. And I want to share two personal examples that I think illustrate this upside-down Kingdom Jesus describes in Matthew 5.
Last summer, I was in the U.S. for a fundraising trip. In eight weeks, I drove through six states and covered about 5,000 miles, raising awareness, as well as prayer and financial support for our ministry. I lost count of how many drivers cut me off—different people, different roads, different times, different speeds. Each time, the Holy Spirit nudged me to pray for them instead of reacting in… other ways. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.
Six months ago, I was sitting in a food court in the Doha airport, working on my laptop. A young, highly emotive, and rather aggressive employee kept harassing me to buy food if I was going to sit there. I explained, in a loving tone, that I was waiting for the obscenely long line to go down. But for whatever reason, I became his target. He kept coming back, each time more sarcastic and annoyed. My natural desire was to excoriate him right there in front of everyone. But the Holy Spirit prompted me to do the opposite. I waited in that long line, bought a meal, handed it to him, hugged him, and told him that Jesus loved him. Now, I know that may not have been the most culturally appropriate move, but I believed it was what Jesus was asking me to do. And following Him is often countercultural. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
These examples aren’t shared to boast. They’re shared to show what happened inside me because I chose the “opposite” of what I naturally wanted to do. In both situations, things became beautiful. These outcomes were completely different from the nasty run-ins and bad moods I used to have before I met Jesus in 2001. God’s Kingdom calls us to see the whole picture and experience the peace and fulfillment it brings. But to do that, we have to live opposite to what feels natural. And what comes naturally? Sin. But what Jesus wants from us in His upside-down Kingdom is exactly the opposite.
The Beatitudes demonstrate this eight different ways. Next time, we’ll explore one more defining feature of the Sermon on the Mount—irony—and what it reveals about life in the Kingdom of God.
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