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As we begin a new year, and in fact a new decade, it is worth recalling what Jesus said is to be our top priority in life as his followers.
Therefore, said Jesus, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt 6:31-33).
We are to seek first the reign of Christ’s kingdom on earth. As Christ brings the kingdom of righteousness to earth, that kingdom is first manifest in the transformation of the human heart. So, Jesus began his portrait of kingdom life, the Sermon on the Mount, with a cameo of eight, character qualities of kingdom members, i.e. what the human heart looks like when King Jesus rules over our attitudes. These are a summary expression of what human heart attitudes look like when the heart is restored to “rightness”—the way we were designed to respond to life. That is why Jesus calls us “blessed” when we express these attitudes. They embody the wholeness that God originally designed us to experience. That wholeness is described by the Greek word, MAKARIOS, which is translated “blessed” and was the term used to describe the island of Cyprus, known as “The Happy Isle” because it was thought that Cyprus was such a paradise that one would never have to go beyond its coastline to find the perfect, happy life. So, Jesus begins his sermon, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3).
There are two Greek words for poor: PENIKROS, which means ordinary poverty. This is the word used for the poor widow who had just two copper coins to put in the offering. The other word is PTOKOS which describes one who is utterly destitute, i.e. one reduced to begging. This is the word used for poor in spirit. The root means to crouch. The picture behind the word is that of a beggar crouching in a corner holding out his tin cup with one hand, covering his face in shame with the other.
The abject poverty described here, though, is not material, financial poverty, but spiritual poverty. The poor in spirit person recognizes his utter spiritual bankruptcy. Jesus spoke about this heart attitude and its opposite in Luke 18:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (vs 9-14).
To be poor in spirit is to recognize one’s total depravity, meaning not that we are as evil as we could possibly be (we are still made in God’s image) but that evil has spread to every part of our being. We recognize that our sin deserves God’s just punishment; we have a moral debt that we can’t pay. We do not have a record of doing right that can commend us to God. We must trust Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sin. Recognizing our spiritual poverty is the foundation for our salvation. That is why Jesus said, “to the poor in spirit, belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
But being poor in spirit is the key to receiving kingdom blessing throughout all of life, not just the requirement for salvation. The great paradox is that those who recognize their spiritual poverty are those who become spiritually rich. How does this work in the everyday life of believers? The poor in spirit person 1) humbly recognizes his spiritual poverty (crouching posture) and 2) asks for God’s help (holds out his cup). He does not blame others for that spiritual poverty, but cowers, owning his moral failure. But neither does he passively remain impoverished, just learning to live with his destitute moral condition. He holds out his cup. He asks for moral power to be a transformed man.
In our everyday lives, poor in spirit people humbly recognize that they are spiritually destitute when it comes to the ability on their own to 1) produce spiritual fruit, 2) make morally right decisions, 3) defeat temptation, 4) sit in judgement on other’s behavior, 5) understand how the pain God brings into our lives can be for our good. So you find them regularly holding out their cup, asking for God’s power to bring about the fruit of the Spirit, his wisdom for making right decisions, empowering from Christ to defeat temptation. In humility they dare not sit in judgment upon another, when they realize their own need of mercy. When God brings disappointment, suffering, and trials into their lives, they steadfastly refuse to doubt God’s goodness, realizing they do not have the wisdom to sit in judgement upon God. Let’s observe 6 facets of the poor in spirit heart attitude.
A. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE LOVE GOD MUCH. In Luke 7, Jesus explains this truth:
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little” (vs 38-47).
When Satan, who is called the accuser of the brethren in Scripture, tries to shame a believer who has mastered this poor in spirit attitude, the believer will answer, “Yes I sinned AGAIN. That is one more sin of mine that Jesus suffered to pay for, which makes me love him and want to please him even more!”
B. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE SPEND MUCH TIME CONNECTING WITH CHRIST. Just as the beggar must beg daily for physical sustenance, poor in spirit people are often found on their knees at the gate of the king, begging for spiritual sustenance. Poor in spirit people have come to believe Jesus’ words in John 15:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (vs:4-5).
Poor in spirit men realize they can’t love their wives well, disciple their children well, or represent Christ well to their neighbors and work associates unless the Spirit is producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control in them. Such fruit does not come from their own strength but by abiding in Christ. They believe Jesus statement, “Apart from me you can to nothing (that matters eternally).”
C. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE ARE CONNECTED IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. When you truly recognize your spiritual poverty, you will never again try to live the Christian life without some brothers walking with you to love you despite your failures, encourage you, lean on for accountability, and have your back. One of God’s most significant provisions for spiritual strength is connection in the body of Christ. You cannot ignore this provision and be poor in spirit. Scripture is clear that we grow spiritually through connection:
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Eph 4:15-16).
God never intended a Christian to fight his spiritual battles alone. No matter how inspirational the music and powerful the preaching, unless believers connect with each other in groups small enough so that everyone is discussing the intersection of God’s truth with their everyday lives, their spiritual growth will be stunted.
For those who are new to the blog, I want to mention a book I wrote to help Christian men get out of isolation and into connection with some brothers. It is entitled, Got Your Back: Helping Christian Men Forge the Connections They Need, available at Amazon in print, e-book, and audiobook format through audible.
D. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE TRUST GOD AND NOT THER OWN UNDERSTANDING. They realize their mental horsepower is limited. They do not expect to always make sense out of what God ordains, especially the pain, trials, and suffering that he says are for our good. They don’t give up trying to understand—we are called to love God with all of our mind as well as our heart—but they are experts in the wisdom of Prov 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
We need to remember that one of Satan’s primary tactics in enticing us to sin is causing us to doubt God’s goodness. He tried to convince Eve that the restriction on her freedom to eat any fruit she wanted was selfish of God and intended to keep her from becoming wise, like God is. Again, I want to say that God wants us to fully engage our mind and understanding in the radical pursuit of him and his kingdom. But we must do it with a huge caveat: When our mind leads us to doubt God’s goodness (e.g. causing us to complain about circumstances or be envious of others), we must recognize the limitations of our finite, mind, (which is darkened by our sin). At this point, our calling is to follow the Psalmist who writes in PS 131,
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a toddler with its mother; like a toddler is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
E. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE MAJOR IN GRATEFULNESS AND CONTENMENT. If you are poor in spirit, you keep in the forefront of your mind that the treatment you deserve from God is hell, eternal punishment for your treason and high crimes against your maker. According to true justice, just one sin, one act of rebellion against the High King of Heaven is treason and punishable by death. Once I commit sin, every remaining breath I take is the result of God’s grace towards me. The problem is that we get so used to grace that we forget what we really deserve.
R.C. Sproul tells a story from his days of teaching freshmen at a Christian college to illustrate this point. He required 3 written papers, due Sept 15, Oct 15, and Nov 15. On Sept 15, 10% of the class had no paper. Sproul said, “Okay this is a Freshman class, you are not used to college, you can turn it in late.”
Oct 15 came and 25% of class had no paper. Sproul said, “This was Homecoming weekend, you can turn it in late.”
Nov 15 comes, and Sproul starts through the grade book, “Anderson?”
“I don’t have it done yet” Sproul answers, “Ok, ZERO!” “Baker?” No paper—ZERO”
Baker says, “That’s not fair.”
Sproul says, “So what you want is justice?”
Baker says, “Yeah”
Sproul says, “Okay, Your September paper was late, I’m changing that to zero. Your October paper was late, I’m changing that to zero.”
You get the point: We get so used to the grace of God that we lose sight of what we deserve. But not a person, who is poor in spirit. When you keep in mind what you deserve, it results in a heart that is more grateful to God and more content with the blessings we have received.
F. POOR IN SPIRIT PEOPLE FOCUS ON PLEASING GOD INSTEAD OF THEMSELVES. One who is poor in spirit recognizes that he is not the center of the universe. Life is not about him. God is not there as a cosmic coke machine in the sky whose job is to make life taste sweet and to refresh and energize me to do what I want. God is not there to please me. I was put on planet earth to please HIM. He is the creator, I am the creature. He made ME for HIS pleasure. Human beings were created to worship God, to exalt him, to serve him, to glorify him.
To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge the glory, the weightiness of God. As our creator, he has the right to impose obligation on us. He deserves our adoration, love, gratefulness, and obedience. We are on planet earth for HIS GLORY. It happens that whatever is to His glory is also to my eternal benefit. But my motivations and decision making become not, what do I want, but what will honor Christ and glorify God. To be poor in spirit is to gladly accept my role as creature, placed on earth to glorify God instead of thinking that I am the center of the universe. Such a heart attitude is about as counter-cultural as it gets!
For Further Thought:
Give yourself a grade for each of the above six facets of the poor in spirit heart attitude. Then be intentional this week about focusing on the one that needs the most attention.
