The New Beatitudes
when did both directions start seeing themselves as "the way"?
I always love to look at the opposites in order to better understand a thing.
Today I’m doing that with the Beatitudes, their opposites, their shadow operations, their modern rewrites. Or, as I’m calling them for now:
The New Beatitudes (What the World Calls Blessed).
Blessed are the morally impressive
the ones who trust their own rightness and mistake certainty for holiness.
Blessed are the unbothered
those who refuse to feel anything that might expose their need.
Blessed are the dominant
the ones who mistake force for strength and control for wisdom.
Blessed are the self-satisfied
those convinced they have nothing left to learn or confess.
Blessed are the exacting
the ones who never release a debt and believe justice begins and ends with them.
Blessed are the compartmentalized
the ones who keep their loyalties in separate boxes to avoid choosing a single master.
Blessed are the self-appointed
those who disrupt peace, convinced they’re defending truth.
Blessed are the applauded
the ones who blend in so completely that Christ becomes unrecognizable in them.
Sit with those for a moment.
Now listen again to Jesus.
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Look back at the New Beatitudes, and suddenly, real poverty of spirit becomes a beautiful thing.
Meekness feels sane.
Mercy strong.
Real purity is relief.
Peacemaking holy.
And persecution becomes meaningful.
As Augustine said, “Two loves have made two cities: the love of God to the contempt of self, and the love of self to the contempt of God.”
The world blesses self-sufficiency, dominance, applause, and control. And it rarely persecutes those who reflect its values. But resistance comes when people start to resemble Jesus. Jesus, who blesses surrender, repentance, mercy, and costly allegiance to Him and Him alone.
Two kingdoms with two different value systems. Two visions of the good life. But only one leads us into the kind of life our souls were made for.
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If you appreciate the use of opposites, I explore all the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit in my new book, Fruitful. A small taste: the opposite of love is selfishness, and the opposite of joy is complaint. If you’d like more, you can find the book on Amazon.
