The Upside Down Kingdom: Why We Need This Book
Author: Stan Guthrie
August 31, 2023
On July 18, Crossway published Pastor Chris’s latest book, The Upside Down Kingdom: Wisdom for Life
from the Beatitudes. He first preached on the subject two years ago and used it in the discipleship of men at NCC. Then, with a lot of blood, sweat, prayers, and tears, he turned his growing vision for the
Beatitudes into a book. I love this timely and insightful volume and heartily encourage you to buy copies
for yourself, your friends and loved ones, and your growth group. It just might change your life.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Dr. Kent Hughes, senior pastor emeritus of College Church,
says: “Chris deftly guides us through the inverted glories of the Beatitudes in The Upside Down Kingdom.
His beautifully written exposition invites these eight compressed theological H-bombs to graciously
detonate within our hearts. The Upside Down Kingdom is not only a treasure trove of wisdom; it’s also a
bracing call to deeper devotion to Christ and the gospel.”
Here is an interview Chris and I did about The Upside Down Kingdom:
Why did you write this book, Chris?
The Beatitudes define our deepest needs and calling in Christ. The Beatitudes dig beneath the surface,
exposing the longings of our heart. To satisfy our hunger for wealth, Jesus offers poverty. He commends
meekness over hostility. Instead of personal pleasure and glory, he proposes patience and a commitment to justice. Instead of lust and greed, he offers purity of heart.
The Beatitudes thus expose the pernicious lies we have internalized while portraying the life God
intends for his people. In them Jesus is not, as many suppose, offering a religious ladder to be climbed,
at the top of which one finds a smiling Deity who rewards our religious effort. Nor is it an ideal moral
system reserved for an elite group of chosen disciples. Rather, Jesus is describing the man or woman
who belongs to his Father’s kingdom and therefore lives according to God’s heart.
The Beatitudes talk a lot about those who are blessed. What does this word really mean?
Some suggest “fortunate” best conveys the idea, for it describes a valuable gift that cannot be earned.
Others have translated it as “happy,” because it satisfies the soul with inexpressible joy. But no single
English word captures its beauty, depth, and nuance.
The full-orbed, biblical conception of blessedness offered to us in the Beatitudes, and the loving God
who so freely blesses, point us to God’s heart—full of steadfast love and faithfulness—and to the weak,
the vulnerable, and the awkward. “Blessed,” therefore, is the tangible gift of God’s loving embrace, an
identity in Christ that experiences life as it ought to be.
You say in the book that the Beatitudes are full of unexpected turns. How so?
When Jesus described his kingdom, he consistently emphasized its humble trajectory. His followers,
despite their many weaknesses and flaws, are “salt of the earth” and “light of the world”—servants who
enrich others and offer illumination. They express sincere prayers to their heavenly Father so that his
will is done “on earth as it is in heaven.” When facing conflict, they first seek to remove the log from
their own eye, before trying to remove the speck from their brother’s eye.
All of this highlights the surprising, countercultural impulse of the kingdom. The Beatitudes reveal our
sin, pretense, and how short we fall of divine perfection. The Beatitudes set the moral and spiritual bar
so high that we cannot possibly live up to them—and in our best moments, we know this. As John Stott
put it, “Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated
views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary.”
You say the Beatitudes challenge our idols—our functional saviors, pleasures, ambitions, and false
securities. How?
As a pastor who spends most his waking hours considering how to equip the church to stand against the gravitational pull of the world—the contention, partisan strife, and idolatry of self—I regard the
Beatitudes as crucial to pry our fingers loose from the wheel of power in favor of poverty of spirit. This
means recognizing our need for God’s grace, rather than relying on our wealth and possessions. They
call us to embrace meekness, which means submitting to God’s will and serving others, rather than
seeking to dominate and control them. They call us to embrace purity of heart, which means seeking
after God’s will and righteousness, rather than gratifying our own desires. As Calvin said, “The real proof
of spiritual poverty is to patiently endure the loss of worldly goods and without any regret when it
pleases our heavenly Father.”
How do the Beatitudes rebuke popular, consumerist Christianity?
Our culture’s commitment to live in the moment—where there’s no talk about death, eternity, or
judgment—is accelerating the decline of contemporary Christianity. It is, as H. Richard Niebuhr
memorably put it, “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment
through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.” Not so for disciples of Christ. Like Abraham, they
look forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (Heb. 11:10).
Where can we purchase copies of The Upside Down Kingdom?
You can find it on Amazon.com or wherever you normally purchase books. If a small group of the church
would like to purchase several copies for a study, please let me know and I’ll happily talk with Crossway
Publishers about a getting a quantity discount. The book was written from New Covenant and for New
Covenant, so I hope, more than anything, it is a source of encouragement and inspiration to the
individuals and families of our congregation.
Stan Guthrie is minister of communications for New Covenant Church.
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