“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10)
As I said recently, someone is lying. Either it’s Jesus when He said all the things in today’s passage, or it’s our society, when it tells us that we deserve to be wealthy, we deserve to be comforted, we deserve to inherit the earth (before we are twenty-five years old), we deserve to be filled when we hunger and thirst for something other than righteousness, we deserve mercy unilaterally, and we deserve the kingdom of heaven no matter what.
We were created in the image of God and granted certain rights and privileges, but Adam and Eve made it very clear that they did not deserve those rights and privileges, and they were revoked. We are no better than they, and what’s worse, we don’t learn from their mistake. Someone whispers, “You deserve to have. You deserve to do. You deserve to be like the God,” and we fall all over again.
If we are not unbelievably careful, the moment we proclaim that we deserve something, according to the passage above, we prove we don’t deserve it. If we are not equally careful, when we speak of moral principles, we seek to act on power principles. If we are not careful, we move from “We deserve” (which we may or may not) to “Therefore, you will.” One of the currently popular forms of this in California is “I deserve to be referred to by whatever pronouns I choose.” There may be an argument that can be made for this, but in California, the argument that is made is “And if you don’t obey my wishes, I will get you fired or even destroy you in court.” The claim is that the other person should listen, understand, and acquiesce to “our” demands, though no thought is given to “our” listening, understanding, or acquiescing.
And yes, it’s true that as Christians, we should be prepared to mourn and to be poor in spirit, thirsty for righteousness, merciful, peaceful, and persecuted; while we are called to forgive and not seek revenge, for the sake of those who apply the principles of power in the name (but not practice) of moral principle, we must speak the truth. To tell them what they are doing is acceptable is to be codependent. It tells them the lie that they are justified and that we are wrong, and teaches them the lie that they are like God in our lives.
We must stand firm in our moral principles, without using the principles of power to protect ourselves. Not an easy task.
We were created in the image of God and granted certain rights and privileges, but Adam and Eve made it very clear that they did not deserve those rights and privileges, and they were revoked. We are no better than they, and what’s worse, we don’t learn from their mistake. Someone whispers, “You deserve to have. You deserve to do. You deserve to be like the God,” and we fall all over again.
If we are not unbelievably careful, the moment we proclaim that we deserve something, according to the passage above, we prove we don’t deserve it. If we are not equally careful, when we speak of moral principles, we seek to act on power principles. If we are not careful, we move from “We deserve” (which we may or may not) to “Therefore, you will.” One of the currently popular forms of this in California is “I deserve to be referred to by whatever pronouns I choose.” There may be an argument that can be made for this, but in California, the argument that is made is “And if you don’t obey my wishes, I will get you fired or even destroy you in court.” The claim is that the other person should listen, understand, and acquiesce to “our” demands, though no thought is given to “our” listening, understanding, or acquiescing.
And yes, it’s true that as Christians, we should be prepared to mourn and to be poor in spirit, thirsty for righteousness, merciful, peaceful, and persecuted; while we are called to forgive and not seek revenge, for the sake of those who apply the principles of power in the name (but not practice) of moral principle, we must speak the truth. To tell them what they are doing is acceptable is to be codependent. It tells them the lie that they are justified and that we are wrong, and teaches them the lie that they are like God in our lives.
We must stand firm in our moral principles, without using the principles of power to protect ourselves. Not an easy task.
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