There are only two kingdoms.
You realize that, right? There’s the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of Hell on earth. That kingdom is completely divorced from God and rejects His standards, no matter what it tells itself.
Because there are only two kingdoms, there are only two cultures and two versions of normal – the normal of the Kingdom of Heaven and the normal of the kingdom of Hell on earth.
It’s downright scary when God’s people prefer Hell.
Great numbers of people claiming to belong to God’s Kingdom prefer Hell’s normal and live by that culture.
You know why? Because God’s Kingdom normal is costly. It costs our sin, our lifestyle, our money, our affections, and our fitting in with the culture of Hell all around us. God’s normal requires self-surrender, selflessness, and self-denial, and, for Pete’s sake, who’s signing up for that!?!
Clearly, not us “Christians”! It sometimes looks like what most of us have signed up for is just an eternity in heaven when they die, while keeping the culture of Hell while they live. And that’s not new. God’s people have chosen Hell before:
God rescued Israel out of slavery and the first thing they did after 400 years of slavery was have a drunken orgy.
God brought Israel into the Promised Land and they wanted a king like all the other nations.
Israel wanted to worship God like all the other nations did – with lots of sex on the high places.
Israel kept wanting the world’s culture and their normal. And now it’s 2020 and nothing’s changed. So, are you picking Hell or Heaven?
We can pick God’s normal or the normal around us that’s marked by vulgarity, tribalism, division, anger, hate, drug abuse, drunkenness, sensuality, porn, greed, adultery, profanity, and every other unholy thing or we can pursue the normal of the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom is marked by peace, kindness, self-control, self-sacrifice, holiness, generosity, forgiveness, faithfulness, confronting evil, advocating for people and righteousness, going into the culture as witnesses of the Good News and making disciples of Jesus and His culture, as defined by His Kingdom.
If you choose God’s normal, you’re not going to fit into their normal. But honestly, I think that’s going to work out pretty good for you in the end.