Return To Schaeffer IV

Matthew 5

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a

mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came

unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them,

saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is

the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be

comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit

the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst

after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain

mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall

see G-d.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be

called the children of G-d.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for

righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and

persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil

against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is

your reward in heaven:


We've taken a little sidetrack in order to get a

closer look at the description of man, from the

perspective of how he sees himself in terms of

the modern world. When we look back at times

past, we are amused at the mythologies that were

developed to describe man and this world and its

Creator. But what we find is that modern man has

made little progress since then. In fact, my own

view is that we have gotten even farther from any

hope of discovery because now we have come to the

place where we even deny the level of our own

experience. We've come to the point where we can

comfortably reject the validity of formal logic.

The kingdom of man has entered a modern Dark Age.

(This is where Schaeffers 'Escape From Reason'
takes its starting point.)


What Schaeffer does is to bring into focus the

current position of the kingdom of man in

relation to the kingdom of heaven. That allows

us to get a firm grip on the ways that the

kingdom of man has been able to influence modern

man's perception of the world, of himself and of

his Creator. Once we can see that there is a

subtle yet very distinct difference between the

way that scripture describes these two kingdoms

and the way that the kingdom of man describes

them, we are brought to the point where a debate

and a decision can begin. In other words, as

things are described by the kingdom of man, man's

kingdom describes itself in a way such that there

are no other choices. The kingdom of man is all

there is. Man totally rejects the kingdom of

heaven. But Schaeffer makes the point that based

on our own experience, we find that what the

kingdom of man has to say about itself is just

not true, EVEN at the level of experience.

Remember yesterday's post about the man who

experiences love, but he doesn't believe that

love exists? The reasonable conclusion about the

kingdom of man is that its mythology is full of

holes. The kingdom of man is riddled with

confusion -- about EVERYTHING. And one reason

that the kingdom of heaven escapes this dilemma

is that the kingdom of heaven is about a person,

who we call Jesus.


The kingdom of heaven worships its Creator and

the kingdom of man worships man. That's the

manifestation we see in the homage given to

celebrity status. We worship celebrity status

because we also wish to acheive a place in the

modern pantheon. But Jesus said that the meek

shall inherit the earth. It seems that such a

simple statement wouldn't be so hard to arrive

at. But taking the long way around, is where we

have to confront the situation that we face right

now, as it always was and always will be, the

only question is, Whom will you serve? Or the

terms that Jesus puts it in, Whom do men say that

I am?


Well, since we're asking the question... let's

see what else Schaeffer might have to add about

the kingdom of man. We have the passage of

scripture above, where Jesus fills us in on

certain aspects of the kingdom of heaven. I'd

say that there is a stunning contrast presented

between modern ideas and Jesus' declarations.


Schaeffer published this originally in 1968.

This last paragraph was apparently added in a

later edition. I think he hit the nail on

the head:

"Our culture is largely marked by relativism and

ultimate meaninglessness, and when many in the

1980s 'join the system' they do so because they

have nothing worth fighting for. For most, that

was ended by the 1970s. It is significant that

when 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

was made a Broadway play (1974, Beacon Theatre)

it no longer had the ferment; it was 'camp' and

nostalgia -- a museum piece of a bygone time." p

42.

Jesus gets the last word in. It's a statement

that rings with antithetical truth:


5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit

the earth.