Lysdexic: We Get It Backwards

We live in a world where everything often feels reversed. Up is down. Right is wrong. Good is mocked and evil is paraded. The things God says are wise, the world calls foolish. The things He calls foolish, the world celebrates. It’s not just confusion—it’s inversion. We get it backwards.

And maybe that’s why the title resonates: “Lysdexic.” The ironic misspelling of dyslexic pokes at the way we twist even the most basic truths. This isn’t about reading disorders—this is about a spiritual disorder, a worldview where even Christians can start living as if the Bible is upside down.

The Kingdom is Backwards—on Purpose

Jesus turned everything on its head. In the Beatitudes alone, He claimed that the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourners, and the persecuted are the truly blessed (Matthew 5:1–12). He said the last will be first and the greatest will be the servant of all (Mark 9:35). He told His disciples to love enemies (Matthew 5:44), bless those who curse them, and not to store up treasures on earth.

To the world, that sounds like failure. But to the believer, it’s the wisdom of God. The cross itself is the most backward thing imaginable. The eternal Son of God, beaten, mocked, crucified like a criminal? The One who holds all authority dies like a slave? And yet Paul says, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).

If you want to follow Christ, you will have to go against the flow. You will look “lysdexic” to the culture. That’s the cost of discipleship.

Getting Church Backwards

We also get church backwards. Many think the church exists to serve them—good coffee, nice music, encouraging messages, no demands. But Scripture says we’re not consumers of faith; we’re participants in it. We are the church. It’s not a building or a product—it’s a people on mission. We gather to worship, to be equipped, and then to go.

Hebrews 10:24–25 reminds us: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together… but encouraging one another.” We’re meant to spur one another on—not coast quietly until heaven. We aren’t saved to sit. We’re saved to serve.

We Get Identity Backwards

Another reversal is in how we view ourselves. The world says, “You are what you feel. You are what you do. You are what others say about you.” But Scripture says, “You are who God says you are.” Your identity isn’t based on your past, performance, or popularity. It’s rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 declares, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” You’re not a mistake. You’re not forgotten. You’re not defined by failure. You were created on purpose for a purpose.

When we believe the world’s view of identity, we’ll chase significance and never find it. When we trust God’s view, we live out significance even in unseen ways.

We Get Success Backwards

We assume success means platform, praise, money, and impact. But God’s measure of success is obedience. Faithfulness. Surrender.

Remember Jeremiah? By most ministry standards, he was a failure. No revival broke out. People didn’t listen. He was imprisoned and mocked. But God never criticized his results—He commended his faithfulness.

Or think of the widow who gave two small coins (Mark 12:41–44). No one noticed her. No one praised her. But Jesus did. Because in God’s economy, a surrendered heart outweighs flashy deeds.

Galatians 6:9 reminds us not to “grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” That’s success: doing what God asks, even when it doesn’t seem to “work.”

We Get Grace Backwards

This might be the greatest inversion of all. We think we earn God’s love by being good enough. But that’s the opposite of the gospel. Grace isn’t earned—it’s given. Romans 5:8 says, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still sinners—not when we cleaned up, not when we improved. Now.

You can’t do enough to deserve God’s love. And you can’t mess up enough to lose it. That’s the scandal of grace. It’s not a reward for the righteous—it’s a gift for the broken. And those who receive it are changed, not because they must, but because they’re overwhelmed with gratitude.

We don’t obey to get love—we obey because we are loved.

Living the Right-Side-Up Life

In a world flipped upside down, Christians are called to live right-side-up. That means our values will clash. Our priorities will look strange. Our goals won’t always match the culture’s.

We believe the greatest among us is the servant (Matthew 23:11). We believe the way to life is through death to self (Luke 9:23–24). We believe weakness is strength, mourning brings joy, and suffering produces hope (Romans 5:3–5). We believe the rejected Messiah is the risen Lord. It’s all backwards—and it’s all true.

Don’t Get Comfortable Being Backwards

Paul warned in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” The world will always try to re-shape you. It wants to mold you in its image, not Christ’s. But we’re called to live differently. Not just think differently—live differently.

Yes, you may be misunderstood. Yes, you may be mocked. But you’ll be walking with Jesus. And one day, when He returns, the world will see what was truly right-side-up all along.

Final Word

Being a Christian will look backward to the world. But it is the only way forward. The only way to peace. To truth. To God. We must embrace the strangeness of our faith because it’s not built on human wisdom—it’s founded on the cross.

So let them say we’re backward. Let them call us foolish. Paul already did: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Don’t fear the inversion. Live boldly in the truth. The world says we’ve got it backward. God says we’re finally getting it right.