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The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down  /  Chapter 9, But What If  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 1
David Bercot compares the “intruder threatens your family” scenario to being commanded to deny Christ or sacrifice to Satan; what does that comparison reveal about how he believes Jesus ranks family protection, national loyalty, and obedience to His commands?
Another way to ask: Bercot compares defending your family from an intruder to being told to deny Jesus or worship Satan. What does that say about what he thinks matters most: protecting family, being loyal to your country, or obeying Jesus?

Direct Answer Bercot’s comparison shows he believes obedience to Jesus’ commands ranks above protecting one’s family by sinful means, and above loyalty to any nation. For him, the hard choice is not “family vs. doing nothing,” but “Christ vs. everything else.”

Support from Transcript:

  • He treats the home-intruder scenario as a temptation to “break the commandments of Jesus,” not as an exception case.
  • He asks what you would do if the government demanded you “deny Jesus Christ and offer a sacrifice to Satan” to save your family—implying Christ must come first.
  • He cites Jesus: if we “love our families more than Him, we cannot be His disciples,” and “Whoever denies Me before men…”
  • He parallels national loyalty: many would let family be harmed “before betraying their country,” then asks, “how is the situation any different” with loyalty to Jesus.
  • He frames it as “either denying Him or denying my family,” and says, “I already made that choice when I gave my life to Christ.”
Discussion Follow-ups How does this hierarchy challenge common Christian language about “family first”? Where do you see yourself tempted to treat Jesus’ commands as flexible in emergencies?

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