Jesus' Gospel Of An Alternative Lifestyle
Jesus summarised the Contrast between the World's View of Happiness vs God's View of Real Blessings as shown in the table below.
THE WORLDY WEALTHY |
THE SPIRITUALLY RICH |
|---|---|
Material-minded, spiritually poor |
Materially poor, spiritually rich |
Happy-go-lucky party-goers |
Grief-stricken by sin & suffering |
Proud owners of the world's riches |
Own little
but have everything |
No interest in going God's way |
Seek God's will & way to live |
Cruel, merciless to others |
Kind & merciful to others |
Sensual, pleasure-loving lifestyle |
Pure, innocent, seeking God's holiness |
Competitive, rat race view of life |
Cooperative, peace-loving |
Unforgiving, seeking revenge when hurt |
Forgiving, bless persecutors |
The crowd listening to Jesus must have applauded the way he turned all the usual assumptions about life upside-down. He seemed to be preaching an alternative lifestyle based on knowing what real love is - love God and people, use things; don't love things and use God and people to serve your own selfish ends.
Jesus went on to tell his followers they were to model this alternative lifestyle to a dark and rotting world.
You are the salt of the earth. So you need to make sure you flavour the food and keep it from rotting. You are the light of the world. So don't hide your alternative lifestyle under a bucket. Let your light shine out so people can see your good deeds and praise your heavenly Father. MATTHEW Chapter 5 verses 13-16
You might enjoy reading Brennan Manning THE RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL which demonstrates some of the practical implications of living out The Beatitudes.
You will find more about Jesus' alternative lifestyle in THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM.