A New Operating System, Part 2
As we said in Part 1, These first four Beatitudes describe an inward process of transformation. The reason is that transformation doesn't happen without brokenness. It requires us to look inward, like taking inventory of our stock pile of our life experiences, abilities, and attitudes. It's this process of brokenness that leads to yield-ness, which in turn leads to readiness.
Transformation can't occur because we simply add God to our existing lives and expect him to make us into different people. The inward journey requires examination, confession, surrender, and accountability. It forces us to confront, and not sidestep, our brokenness knowing that we're already known and loved by our Heavenly Father.
The second part is the outward Journey:
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." People who are merciful show mercy as a natural expression because they've already experienced it!
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Like getting a new lens or outlook on life, the 'Pure in heart' see God in poverty, in crisis, in suffering and willingly insert themselves. We become pure in heart when we identify AS & WITH a fallen one.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Peacemakers are an expression of God, just like children are an expression of their parents. It's not because peacemakers are pushovers, weak, or scared but because they're at peace with God. It means we can let a lot of things go of need to 'win' by serving.
"Blessed are the persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". This is one that feels most problematic because transformation feels like defeat, like I'm losing.
In the outward journey, we become counter-cultural, disruptive in a good way. Righteousness will always feel that way. The outward journey goes beyond changing behavior or doing things out of a sense of obligation. It becomes a product of the inner life work, an overflow of the condition of our heart. In other words, brokenness never has to be the final word in our lives.
This transformation process was first highlighted to me by my dear friend and Thought Part, Dr.Harv Powers at the Redimere Group in Denver, CO.
