Many people feel satisfied with their religious atmosphere. They are happy and content with this world plus the church atmosphere (not the presence of God); they are content to be a church activist member, to chair a church event committee, they are satisfied with their busyness in church activities, and this happens everywhere. Churches are busy providing breakfast for scavengers or lunch for the homeless. With that busyness, they already feel they are serving God and feel satisfied. Many people are merely deceived and not empowered by such activities, which ultimately become image-making for the church or pastor. It is not forbidden to engage in ministry activities and social service, but these do not yet constitute true service to God.
Jesus desires that believers have the kind of life He had in mind in the Beatitudes. Essentially, the Beatitudes Jesus presented are a call for believers to have a mindset, a spiritual taste, and sensibilities aligned with God. Therefore, there must absolutely be action to put on that truth, not merely learning and understanding it, but a firm commitment to be doers of that truth. In this matter, there must be complete surrender to what Jesus teaches. Like a parent telling their child to jump: even if the child is afraid, he still jumps.
When the Lord says, “Blessed are you,” it is the same as saying, “You are fortunate.” That phrase is like a congratulation, and at the same time a declaration to those who have the condition the Lord describes. This certainly takes time; it cannot be instant and must go through a process. Besides understanding, we must learn to put on that truth. When we honor the Word and do the Word, that Word will enter our life as intended in the Beatitudes, and the Holy Spirit will surely welcome the struggle we undertake.
Worldly thinking resists truth, so we must be poor before God—aware of our shortcomings and eager to grow. Those who realize that the Holy Spirit guides this experience of God’s reality respond appropriately.
Christianity is not a religion but a way of life. Other religions may also claim to be a way of life; that is true. However, their way of life is guided by law and statutes, unlike Christianity, which is guided by the Holy Spirit rather than law or statutes. Christianity does not recognize laws or statutes like other religions that have very detailed rules—this is forbidden, that is permitted; you cannot do this, you cannot do that. Compared to other religions, Christianity may seem unclear or abstract—whatever people think—but Christianity is indeed a real experience. The Holy Spirit Himself guides how we can be poor before God, teaches us what meekness means, what it means to make peace, and, of course, all this is inward and not in the realm of law or statute.
Thus, if Christians do not know the truth and do not live under the Holy Spirit’s leading, they can be more damaged than those of other faiths. God wants our quality of life or truth to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. They were religious leaders who possessed greater holiness, piety, and a more devout religious life than ordinary people; they were even regarded as half-angelic. We must not be ordinary. The Beatitudes raise us to have a spiritual life greater than that of most people; that is, we are called to live extraordinarily. Therefore, we must learn to understand what meekness means, because no matter how great religious figures are, they only understand rules. At the same time, the inward life has immeasurable depth, and only God can measure its depth.