Spiritual Poverty
Matthew 5:3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Many Christians today have one problem - we keep thinking we are the blessed one. We often think that being a Christian makes us somehow more blessed than another, and those who do not believe in Jesus are inferior to us. Don't think so? Then what drives us to organise mission trips saying that we want to help the poor? The truth is, only one who think that they are superior would say so.
Being wealthy is our disadvantage. In one of his very famous sermon, Francis Chan said so. But I'm saying, being a Christian makes us feel spiritually wealthy. That's why we hear feedbacks from non-believers that Christians are pretty nasty. Simply because, sometimes the way we tell people about Christ, makes them feel inferior to us. We talk as if we are holier than them, like we can fix them, like our ways is higher than their ways. But hey, the truth is, no one needs a fixing from another person, but EVERYONE NEEDS A FIXING! That is why Jesus came for us, because we all need fixing, believers and non-believers alike.
In John 8, we see the familiar story of the adulterous woman being forgiven by Jesus, how the people turned away from judging her and stuff. We all get cheesy about how we are like the adulterous woman, how God forgave us and stuff. But had it ever crossed our mind, "Hey, what if we are like the Pharisees and the Jews?" Very often, we come in a dogmatic manner, thinking we are spiritually superior, holding the Bible as our highest moral code, telling people that they sin and must be stopped, that we should not accept such practice and things. Doesn't that make us one of the Pharisees and Jews. Sometimes we are so focused on what others are doing, we forgot our own. (And come to think of it, I think I'm doing the same thing, LOL!)
But what did Jesus do? He dealt with her what she needed most - LOVE. The kindness and love Jesus showed her was what she needed. This love, who stood before her forgave her, and she is ACCEPTED despite the fact that her community rejects her. And when all is fixed, He told her, "go, and from now on sin no more." John 8:11
There's one thing I learn about Christianity, God doesn't treat the symptoms, He treats the core of the problem, our nature. Lust, adultery, covet and etc, these are symptoms. Core of the problem is our nature, and Jesus knows it and knows it well. That is why He doesn't condemn, but fix a sinner from the inside and naturally, one will sin no more eventually.
However, we are too proud, we would never admit that we need fixing. We think being a Christian we have all spiritual nutrient that makes us spiritually wealthy and superior. But the Bible says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
What does it mean to be poor? In Jesus' time, to be poor was unlike being poor in today's context. At that time, to be poor means to need to rely on the mercy of others to get through each day. So to be poor in spirit is to rely on God's mercy each day. But with all our wealth, would we admit that we are truly poor in spirit? Our refusal to admit this simple fact prevent us from relying on Him daily and instead rely on ourselves.
Many Christians today have one problem - we keep thinking we are the blessed one. We often think that being a Christian makes us somehow more blessed than another, and those who do not believe in Jesus are inferior to us. Don't think so? Then what drives us to organise mission trips saying that we want to help the poor? The truth is, only one who think that they are superior would say so.
Being wealthy is our disadvantage. In one of his very famous sermon, Francis Chan said so. But I'm saying, being a Christian makes us feel spiritually wealthy. That's why we hear feedbacks from non-believers that Christians are pretty nasty. Simply because, sometimes the way we tell people about Christ, makes them feel inferior to us. We talk as if we are holier than them, like we can fix them, like our ways is higher than their ways. But hey, the truth is, no one needs a fixing from another person, but EVERYONE NEEDS A FIXING! That is why Jesus came for us, because we all need fixing, believers and non-believers alike.
In John 8, we see the familiar story of the adulterous woman being forgiven by Jesus, how the people turned away from judging her and stuff. We all get cheesy about how we are like the adulterous woman, how God forgave us and stuff. But had it ever crossed our mind, "Hey, what if we are like the Pharisees and the Jews?" Very often, we come in a dogmatic manner, thinking we are spiritually superior, holding the Bible as our highest moral code, telling people that they sin and must be stopped, that we should not accept such practice and things. Doesn't that make us one of the Pharisees and Jews. Sometimes we are so focused on what others are doing, we forgot our own. (And come to think of it, I think I'm doing the same thing, LOL!)
But what did Jesus do? He dealt with her what she needed most - LOVE. The kindness and love Jesus showed her was what she needed. This love, who stood before her forgave her, and she is ACCEPTED despite the fact that her community rejects her. And when all is fixed, He told her, "go, and from now on sin no more." John 8:11
There's one thing I learn about Christianity, God doesn't treat the symptoms, He treats the core of the problem, our nature. Lust, adultery, covet and etc, these are symptoms. Core of the problem is our nature, and Jesus knows it and knows it well. That is why He doesn't condemn, but fix a sinner from the inside and naturally, one will sin no more eventually.
However, we are too proud, we would never admit that we need fixing. We think being a Christian we have all spiritual nutrient that makes us spiritually wealthy and superior. But the Bible says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
What does it mean to be poor? In Jesus' time, to be poor was unlike being poor in today's context. At that time, to be poor means to need to rely on the mercy of others to get through each day. So to be poor in spirit is to rely on God's mercy each day. But with all our wealth, would we admit that we are truly poor in spirit? Our refusal to admit this simple fact prevent us from relying on Him daily and instead rely on ourselves.
Truth is, those who rely on God's mercy are truly the blessed ones. The Chinese old saying "Punch our face until it get swollen, and pretend to be a fatty." We can continue to pretend that we are rich, and refuse to feed on God'd Word daily, but we would be at disadvantage. Truth is, we are not any more superior. Romans 3:22b-23 says "For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Admit it, WE ALL NEED GOD.
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