Not for the Proud

In 1942, Clarence Jordan established Koinonia Farm in Georgia as a pacifist, interracial “demonstration plot” for the kingdom of God. Jordan understood the gospel as something Christians must consciously choose to live out. 

The kingdom of God on earth is Jesus’ specific proposal to humanity. While the Sermon on the Mount is not a complete statement of the proposal (it takes all four Gospels for that), it does contain many of the major points. So it is quite natural at the very beginning for Jesus to deal with the question of how to enter the kingdom, or how to become a citizen of it.  

The first seven Beatitudes [Matthew 5:3–9] do just that. They are steps into the kingdom, the stairway to spiritual life…. These are not blessings pronounced upon different kinds of people—the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and so on. Rather, they are stages in the experience of only one class of people—those who are entering the kingdom and who at each stage are blessed. The kingdom, of course, is the blessing, and each step into it partakes of its blessedness. This blessedness comes with the taking of the step, and is not postponed as a future reward. Jesus said, “Blessed are…”.  

The first step in becoming a son or daughter, or being begotten from above, or in entering the kingdom, or being saved, or finding eternal life—whatever term you wish to use—is stated by Jesus as:  

“The poor in spirit are partakers of the divine blessing, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” [Jordan’s translation]. 

What does Jesus mean by “poor in spirit”? In Luke’s account it is simply “you poor.” What kind of poverty is he talking about? If you have a lot of money, you’ll probably say spiritual poverty. If you have little or no money, you’ll probably say physical poverty. The rich will thank God for Matthew; the poor will thank God for Luke. Both will say, “He blessed me!” Well, then, who really did get the blessing? 

Chances are, neither one. For it is exactly this attitude of self-praise and self-justification and self-satisfaction that robs people of a sense of great need for the kingdom and its blessings. When one says, “I don’t need to be poor in things; I’m poor in spirit,” and another says, “I don’t need to be poor in spirit, I’m poor in things,” both are justifying themselves as they are, and are saying in unison, “I don’t need.” With that cry on their lips, no one can repent…. 

It is neither wealth nor poverty that keeps people out of the kingdom—it is pride.  

So the poor in spirit are not the proud in spirit. They know that in themselves—in all people—there are few, if any, spiritual resources. They must have help from above. They desperately need the kingdom of heaven. And feeling their great need for the kingdom, they get it.  

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NOV 5, 2025 No Rest for the Weary. Skye Jethani

Christ has called pastors to care for his sheep. That’s what the word pastor means—a pastor is a shepherd. The metaphor certainly includes feeding, leading, and protecting the flock of Christ, but we often overlook the shepherd’s role in providing rest. “He makes me lie down in green pastures… He restores my soul,” David said of his Shepherd in Psalm 23. Looking back on my years as a pastor, I will confess that providing rest for God’s people never registered as part of my calling. Instead, I thought my job was to extract more labor from them. Often, I functioned more like a plowman, yoking and driving oxen to accomplish my work, rather than a shepherd creating space for God’s people to rest from theirs. After leaving my full-time pastoral role in 2008, I discovered what life was really like among the sheep. I began keeping track of my time in a journal. What I found surprised me. Between my work, my family, and the responsibility to maintain a home and a body, I estimated about 12 percent of my time was flexible. With this 12 percent, I could read a book, volunteer at the homeless shelter, or take a nap. This 12 percent was also targeted by my church.It was often indirect and subtle, but from the moment I entered the church building on Sunday morning, I felt like my 12 percent needed constant protection. Whether it was the children’s ministry seeking volunteers, or the upcoming missionary dinner, or the new property committee—everyone wanted my time and energy. Between the songs and Scripture, the morning was crammed with ads. Sometimes they were even cleverly embedded in the sermon itself. In the contemporary ministry world, R&R doesn’t mean “rest and relaxation,” but “recruit and replace.” There is a never-ending need for new church volunteers to replace those who’ve burned out. I was now seeing—and feeling—the unsustainability of the system from the other side.Ultimately, it was my responsibility to say yes or no to these service opportunities, and I can’t fault the church leaders for making me aware of the important work happening in our community. After all, I preached for many years, pushing the very same activities with the very same good intentions, but after a few months in the pews rather than the pulpit, I felt exhausted. After a challenging week at work, there were some Sundays when attending a worship service brought more stress than sabbath into my life.I wonder if our culture’s addiction to work, including within the church, is contributing to the church dropout rates. Based on conversations I’ve had with former church attenders, I think it is. Of course, the work we’re calling people to in the church is good, godly, and important, but when neither the culture nor the church models a redemptive pattern of work and rest anymore, eventually the sheep will leave to find a pasture where they can lie down—even if it’s in front of a television on Sunday morning.  WEEKLY PRAYER. From Richard of Chichester (1198 – 1253) Thanks be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits you have won for me. For all the pains and insults you have borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know you more clearly, Love you more dearly, And follow you more nearly, Day by day. Amen.

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