Have you ever had one of those moments when a truth you learned as a kid ... and always kept with you ... suddenly becomes new again? What about a Bible verse you've always known but never fully understood until now?
Over the past year I've been wowed by the makeup of the kingdom of heaven. The first shall be last, the poor shall by rich, the meek shall overcome the proud, turn the other cheek, pick up your cross, etc. Jesus came and turned the known world upside down. He said all the wrong things and, as N.T. Wright famously wrote, He "blessed all the wrong people."
He flipped the world's concept of righteousness and in the process revealed the true way of righteousness. The true way doesn't seem glorious. But the true way is the only way to pure glory.
Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are those who mourn...
Blessed are the merciful...
Blessed are...
As Christians living in a hostile culture, we often want to play by that culture's rules. We want to fight back when attacked. We want to boast of our accomplishments. We want to have a church building that's way bigger than the other church buildings. We're not looking at the world from an upside down perspective. We want to interact with the world right side up. But in doing so we are becoming like the world and not like our Lord. He stayed upside down and called you and I to do the same.
I know I'm not doing it as well as He'd like. So I keep on trying. How are you doing?
Be God's.
0 comments:
Post a Comment