Flourishing In an Age of Crisis
We are in an age that desperately needs to know how to determine good from evil. Without this moral discernment, we’re unable to move toward human flourishing. How can this crisis be resolved?
We must retrieve the ancient meaning of crisis—to go back to the Garden of Eden, so to speak, to rediscover what is good. This is urgent, not only because of the moral calamity “out there,” but also because of the crisis “in here,” in our hearts.
Moral calamity respects no power. No person is off-limits. Just turn your finger around—look inward—and you’ll find the crisis inside you. Lust, greed, power? Check, check, check. The seed of every crisis exists in every one of us. No one is immune. But if we can get a handle on our moral turbulence, we can contribute not only to our own good but also to the good around us.
Wouldn’t it be nice to live on an earth filled with humble, virtuous people? Just think of the impact on traffic, conflict, and the headlines! Who doesn’t want to live satisfied forever?
In the Beatitudes, Jesus promised the world we all want, where the just, the true, and the good saturate everyone and everything. He offered a vision of true and total human flourishing. So each time you read the word blessed at the beginning of a beatitude, think of the glorious possibilities of living the way Christ taught.
SECULAR BEATITUDES
Of course, the good life doesn’t come without hard work. The requirements are steep: a modest life, a humble heart, and righteous character—not exactly a piece of cake. Although the sermon inspires with a glorious vision of reality, it also intimidates with real-life expectations.
“Quite honestly, the Beatitudes can seem otherworldly—not merely because of where they originate, but also because of how we operate down here on earth.”
Quite honestly, the Beatitudes can seem otherworldly—not merely because of where they originate, but also because of how we operate down here on earth. I mean, how would the Beatitudes read if we rewrote them to reflect the way we really live? What would a brutally honest list of “secularized” beatitudes look like?
If you could cut one or two beatitudes, which would you drop from the list? Perhaps the ones about the righteous or the persecuted or those who mourn? What might you add? “Blessed are the driven, for theirs is the kingdom”? “Blessed are those who are true to themselves, for they will be happy”? I like “blessed are the comfortable, for they will never have to sacrifice.” And to borrow a line from rapper Kendrick Lamar, “Blessed are the liars, / For the truth can be awkward.”
FUNCTIONAL BEATITUDES
Before we can leap into the Beatitudes’ promise, we have to evaluate our functional beatitudes—how we really think and live. To do this, let’s consider each beatitude in its secular context—in a way of living that functionally removes belief in God from everyday actions and replaces it with ingrained cultural patterns of thinking and behaving.
For instance, in the secular context, mourning is an unwelcome but unavoidable part of life. How do we handle that sadness? When faced with disappointment, heartache, or suffering, we often opt for escape—take a trip, go to a movie, train for a marathon, or binge Netflix. But when we choose to escape, we don’t cease to believe. We simply believe as though God has nothing to offer us, and in his place, our chosen escape does. We mourn in an age of distraction.
“Before we can leap into the Beatitudes’ promise, we have to evaluate our functional beatitudes—how we really think and live.”
This secularizing impulse removes God from his place of power and substitutes the self. When the self is center stage—even if it’s poor old me—meekness becomes just about impossible. It’s hard to be humble when no one stands taller in our thoughts than ourselves. In the Age of the Big Me, righteousness is an off-putting word because it suggests narrow, dogmatic thinking. We prefer to sort things out for ourselves, to be open-minded. As a result, our functional belief is that we’re satisfied, not by being righteous, but by being ourselves. We think, Be true to your values. But righteousness often works against the policy of personal values with the aim of being like God, not our natural selves.
In this secular climate, we tend to prefer tolerance over mercy and self-expression over purity. In theory, we all like the peacemakers, except when we’re called on to make the peace. Most of us would rather avoid conflict or escalate it.
Then there’s persecution. Not a lot of volunteers for this one! But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). How do we embrace persecution when what we love is ease?
MAKING GOOD
Virtue is an uphill battle in the age of the big comfortable Me. So it’s easy to see how individualistic, self-centered, secular beatitudes could lead to a moral unraveling, a crisis of the good. If everyone is out for themselves, who helps the marginalized? If we’re true only to our desires, how do we build and maintain a just society?
Jesus guarantees the kingdom of heaven: the just, true, good world we all want, where beauty saturates everyone and everything. Of course, it won’t fully arrive until the King returns, but it can begin with being poor in spirit.
Is it possible to avert a moral crisis in a secular age? Can we reap the benefit of Jesus’ stirring promises now? I believe so. If not, Jesus is a fraud. This single sermon, admired by secular humanists and Christians alike, is central to averting catastrophic and moral failure. It’s also the key to human flourishing.
So let’s get to work in making good out of our good crisis.
Adapted from Our Good Crisis by Johnathan K. Dodson. Copyright (c) 2020 by Johnathan K. Dodson. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com.
Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv, ThM) is the founding pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Our Good Crisis, Here in Spirit, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, and The Unbelievable Gospel. He enjoys listening to M. Ward, smoking his pipe, watching sci-fi, and going for walks. You can find more at jonathandodson.org.