Blessed--from the Intro to our book: Eight Steps to Emotional, Relational, Spiritual Wholeness: The Healing Power of the Beatitudes

Blessed – to be envied, - wealthy – fortunate – happy. Yes! This is what we seek in our life. But after 40 years of preaching about the most famous “Blessed” passage in the Bible, the Beatitudes, I feel strongly that what the Lord says leads to “blessings” and what the World means by “blessings” are almost diametrically opposed.

We have lived a rich and full life:

Four years at a children’s home in SC

Four years at a school for missionary children in Quito, Ecuador

Three years at a Christian teacher training college in rural Zambia

Four years setting up a psychiatric day treatment center for adolescents in Hazard, KY

Seven years at a school for moderately mentally handicapped, and then a school

          for missionary children in Taiwan.

Two years setting up a psychiatric day treatment center for adolescents in Salisibury,

 MD

Six years at a school for severely emotionally disturbed boys in Hagerstown, MD

Seven years at a school for missionary children in Dakar, Senegal

Six years at a Christian international school in Panama City, Panama

Two years at Peking University in Beijing, China.

With each culture, one needs to weigh the Christianity of that area against Scripture. In doing so, one also comes to view one’s own cultural slant on biblical interpretation. Most missionaries have to do this with their own culture and one other. We have been forced to reexamine much through the lens of South America, Africa, and Asia. This very uniquely prepares us to reflect on the relationships necessary as listed in the Beatitudes.

Blessed

So….Christians. Missionaries.

Forty-four years of Christian service, 28 of them as overseas missionaries. Did the Lord use us? I pray so. Did we learn? Oh, yes. Have we been blessed? Very definitely.

“Blessed!” We throw this term around all the time. “Bless you.” “The Lord bless and keep you.” “Blessings on your birthday.” But what is the scriptural meaning?

Remember that introductory statement about blessed and about it being “diametrically opposed” to the World’s system?

Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, opens with: blessed are the poor in spirit; those who mourn; the meek, etc. As stated this is the very opposite of what people in today’s world often spontaneously think of the concept of blessed. The world says: blessed are the proud, the pushers in life, those who climb to the top, and those who say they have it all together. Wealth, power, prestige: the gods of this present world system. Even if we feel that the true spiritual life of the Bible is not demonstrated by these worldly desires, we still often thirst for what this world gives. The statements in the Beatitudes are either insane, or amazingly insightful.