Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 9
Sam said the book *The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down* forced him to “count the cost” and realize following Christ “is going to cost me everything,” and he also said he hoped for “a halfway” but “there isn’t”; what parts of your life are still organized around the hope of a “halfway kingdom,” and what would it look like to bring those under Christ as King?
Another way to ask: Sam said following Christ will cost everything, and there is no “halfway” option. Where are you still hoping for a halfway life with Jesus, and what would it look like to fully put those areas under Christ as King?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript presses this question: a “halfway kingdom” is wanting Jesus’ benefits without full submission to His rule, but Sam says counting the cost exposes that the kingdom demands everything. Bringing life under Christ as King means reorganizing daily choices around allegiance to a real kingdom, not personal comfort or minimal compliance.
- Sam says the book “shook my view… of the kingdom… of the Christian life.”
- He testifies that for the first time he “actually counted the cost,” realizing, “this is going to cost me everything.”
- He admits internal resistance: “there was a little bit of me that still wanted to believe… there might be a halfway… and obviously, there isn’t.”
- He describes the kingdom as concrete: “two kingdoms… a real kingdom established by God with Christ as our king.”
- He says the key difference is responsibility: “I was responsible to Christ as my king for the things that I do and the way that I live.”