These Beatitude Attitudes are so contrary to the conventions of our culture that anyone who possesses them will be branded a freak. Rife with paradox, Jesus’ way catches us off guard. He suggests, for instance, that the wealthy are poor and the poor are wealthy. Winners lose while losers end up winning. Conventional wisdom suggests …
What’s In It For Us?
“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.” (Matthew 6:1 -The Message Bible) “It is possible for a man to be self-centered in his self-denial and self-righteous in his …
Jesus’ Third Way
Jesus does not urge stoic passivity, which can be a cloak for weakness. He summons us to the kind of active resistance rooted in love that reveals pure strength of character. Anyone can strike back. It doesn't require great strength to retaliate. Jesus’ third way is not for the weak, but exclusively for the meek. …
The Collective “Ouch!”
Blessed are those who mourn. Jesus neither instructs us to drown in our sorrows in perpetual melancholy nor to drown our sorrows in the intoxicants of happy thoughts and positive confessions. Many, while failing to weep with the Father over his broken beloveds, buoy themselves by singing victory choruses and filling their pockets with promise …
Is Meekness Weakness?
The meek live to serve and long to bridle their lust for power. “The ‘politics’ of the Kingdom, says Scott Bessenecker, “has more to do with meekness, submission and dying to self than it does with exercising authority to increase my share in this life (emphasis mine).” Some outside observers evaluate all these counterintuitive commands …
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