The story is told of the following exchange in an auto parts store. A lady came in and asked for a seven ten cap.

The men behind the counter all looked at each other and said, "What's a seven ten cap?"

She said "You know, it's right on the engine. Mine got lost somehow and I need a new one."

"What kind of a car is it on?," they asked. They were thinking maybe an old Datsun Seven Ten but no, she said, "It's a Buick."

"OK lady, how big is it?"

She made a circle with her hands about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

"What does it do?," they asked.

She said, "I don't know, but its always been there."

One of them gave her a note pad and asked her if she could draw a picture of it. So she made a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and in the center she wrote "710".

The guys behind the counter were looking at it upside down as she wrote it...and they just fell down behind the counter laughing hard in hysterics.

One guy said, "I think you want an oil cap."

She said, "Seven Ten cap, oil cap, I don't care what you call it, I just need one, and I don't see what is so funny about it."

That story reminds me of the fact that Christianity is an upside-down religion. The apostles themselves were accused of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). It's not surprising that they would be accused of that. In a world where selfishness and arrogance is the norm, Jesus taught humility and service. In a world where power and dominance is the norm,
Jesus taught submission. In a world filled with hate, Jesus taught love.
In a world consumed by greed and materialism, Jesus taught contentedness and sharing. In a world filled with filth, Jesus taught purity of heart.

It's an upside-down religion that will make no sense to many. We are tempted to look around us and regard what we see as the "real world" where the attitudes and actions that are so prominent are necessary to cope. But, if we will let go of the "reality" that we see in the world around us, and allow ourselves to be turned "upside-down", we will discover a whole new world, another dimension to life that we never imagined possible.

"Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: 'Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven."
(Luke 6:20-23)

Have you experienced the adventure that comes from living life upside-down?