POVERTY THAT COUNTS FOR SOMETHING
Our age, unlike any other, is fascinated with stars, celebrities and fame. TV shows such as American Idol, the Voice, America’s Got Talent, etc…are all built on the opportunity of instant stardom. Every “heart-warming” montage is designed to make you connect with a “nobody”, and pull for them, so they can be a “somebody.” Also this same desire, for fame or recognition, has seeped into the culture of “church USA” and helped create an entire wave of “superstar” ministries, ministers and Christian musicians. But have you ever stopped to consider the Bible notices things which, from our standards, do not seem to count? “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” literally—Blessed are the paupers— is an everyday reality for most Christians. The facts still remain for every “successful” ministry the majority of the Gospel message is still carried on the backs of the poor and unnoticed.
The preaching of today is apt to emphasize strength of will, beauty of character and the cosmetic changes people can quickly notice. Even in our sharing, of the Salvation message, the phrase we hear, ‘Decide for Christ,’ is an emphasis on something Jesus never trusted. Jesus never asks us to decide for Him but to surrender to Him. This is a very different reality from how many live, preach and hope for today!
“At the basis of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is the unaffected loveliness of the commonplace. The thing I am blessed in is my poverty. If I know I have no strength of will, no nobility of disposition, then Jesus says—Blessed are you, because it is through this poverty that I enter His Kingdom. I cannot enter His Kingdom as a good man or woman, I can only enter it as a complete pauper.” (Chambers)
True character, of those in love with the Biblical Jesus, speaks for the King and Kingdom in way that never exalts self over Jesus. The Father must always rise above even the glitz and glamour we want to use to speak of Him. Let me provide a brief example: Every 4th of July there are parades, cookouts, fellowship and most of all fireworks. But how many people really stop to think about why we are celebrating this holiday? Sadly many are so enamored with the festivities they miss the truth of the day while believing they have celebrated the event in good fashion. Likewise, this can happen in our churches today. Millions can attend church in love with the lights, music, buildings, outreaches, missions, pastors and even personal relationships but miss the point of why they are gathered in the first place.
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Who are the people that have influenced you most? Not the ones who thought they did, but those who had not the remotest notion that they were influencing you. In the Christian life the implicit is never obvious, bold or even attention grabbing, if it is, it ceases to have this unaffected loveliness which is the characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces, in the commonplace, something that is very inspiring.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” (Matthew 5:3)
Blessings – JOSHUA