a guest post by Steve Elliott
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3-11 NIV
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.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
We have saying in our house: you don’t get the life you find, you get the life you build. And if you are a follower of Jesus, you are under construction to be built to resemble him, to respond like him, and to be in this world as He was: fully present to this world’s brokenness and neediness, offering this world His love and compassion. He is no longer here physically to do that but we are. And as His Kingdom people, we are meant to be Kingdom salt and Kingdom light to this world. And what that looks like is found in Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes.
But we need to aware that the Beatitudes are descriptive not legislative … they are be-attitudes not be-haviors. Our ethics come from who we really are not who we try to be. Jesus is saying this is what “gospelized or kingdomized” humanity looks like. So if you bump a Christian Matthew 5 is what spills out of them. These are eight qualities of the same person not eight different options on a divine menu.
So these are not the rules we keep. They are the colors a Christian bleeds if you cut them. And it’s not about being perfectly complete in each one … as if you scored 10 out of 10 on each one. Nor is this about your salvation being at risk if you are behind on #3 or #6. It’s about the direction your life is headed. It’s about making forward progress in our spiritual growth and formation … leaving us with the question: “are you and I growing forward in our Kingdom life, not being perfect, but moving in the direction of Christ-likeness?