Are these just the nice words of a religious poem or something that we say yes, that is ideal and then go about our regular lives? Or are these the rantings of a poor prophet against the evils and snares of prosperity? Or are these indeed the words of God telling us how to have the kingdom of heaven in our lives?
I believe it is the latter. But if I believe that, I need to apply that. If I believe those words to be truth, then something within me needs to change when I acknowledge that truth. One test of truth is that when one is confronted by and understands truth, there is a permanent change in that person.
Take for example a person who believes in the myth that cats and dogs are always deadly enemies that can not be in the same proximity without violence unless a leash or some other restraint is used to prevent said violence. They may have reason to believe this. They may have heard about people who fight "like cats and dogs." They may have seen dogs chasing cats. They may have seen a cat approached by a dog raise its fur, hiss and spat, then slap at the canine's eyes with its claws. They may have watched too much Tom and Jerry as a child. Then one day they walk into a friend's home and see, much to their surprise, a dog and a cat curled up together on the couch. There is no fighting, and their master is not paying them the slightest attention. Suddenly they are given evidence that the preconceived idea of cats and dogs as enemies is not always true. The truth is that some dogs will kill a cat on sight, and some cats will attack a dog viciously or flee the moment there is a dog in the area. But some dogs and some cats can coexist quite peacefully. Exposure to this truth will change a person who believes otherwise. They will no longer believe that all cats and dogs fight. This of course is a simplistic example, but it illustrates my point.
That point being that if I am exposed to something that is true, and I come to the understanding that it is indeed truth, then something in my thought process, my attitude, my emotions, my actions, or some combination of these should be changed. But if I am to be changed by a simple statement of truth, I need to understand it.
So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? I looked up the word poor in the dictionary. I must admit that I felt a little foolish doing it. I am well aware of what it means to be poor. By American standards, I am quite poor. By the standards of many other geographic locations I am so rich that people envious of my life would risk theirs to sneak into this county to work hard at jobs I would complain about to be as poor as me. But that makes it seem like the meaning of the word poor is subjective, and definitions should not be subjective, but rather definitive. I think we play a very dangerous game when we begin to believe that the truth is subjective.
So to the dictionary I went, and I saw what I expected to, at least at first.
Definition of POOR:
1: a: lacking material possessions b: of, relating to, or characterized by poverty
This is the definition that is most often used, the most frequent meaning of the word, and the one that I understand most. But this can't be the meaning as intended in the poor in spirit shall have the kingdom of heaven. First, every spirit is lacking in "material" possessions. Spirits are not material can not posses material things, hence the saying, "You can't take it with you." And the next part doesn't seem to fit either. A spirit that is characterized by poverty does not have its basic needs met, and it makes no sense that God, who portrays Himself as a loving Father and promises to take care of us, would require those who would have the kingdom of heaven to go through this life in a state of spiritual need and poverty.
So then what is the second definition of poor?
2: a: less than adequate : meager b: small in worth
This doesn't fit either and for the same reason as the second part of definition number one. Every spirit has what is adequate to have a relationship with its Creator, and I believe we have covered why having less than we need spiritually does not make sense as a prerequisite for spiritual inheritance. But what about small in worth? Absolutely not. We humans are all of great value to our Creator. Understanding this about ourselves and about others is the key to understanding the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to understand that we are greatly loved and valued by God and to treat ourselves and live as though we are valuable. Then, having learned to treat ourselves as valuable to God, we are to understand the truth that God values all those we come in contact with, our neighbors on this floating rock, with the same love and great value and treat them accordingly. So no, Christ was not saying blessed are those with no spiritual value.
3: exciting pity
4: a: inferior in quality or value b: humble, unpretentious c: mean, petty
5: lean, emaciated
6: barren, unproductive —used of land
7: indifferent, unfavorable
8: lacking a normal or adequate supply of something specified —often used in combination
The above are the rest of the definitions, according to Webster. Three implies neediness, which has been covered. Also covered are 4a, 5, 7 and 8. It has already been mentioned that we are to love our fellows, so it would seem that 4c has also been covered. After all, I doubt anyone would listen long to any argument which states that Christ said blessed are the spiritually mean and petty, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Our spirits recognize the ridiculousness of that when it is stated so bluntly. Unfortunately, it is often what religious believe as evidenced by their actions.
So what's left? 4b and 6. Well, faith without works is dead and work produces a result. Six is therefore eliminated because the idea that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are unfruitful and unproductive does not fit the equation. Besides, that definition is "used of land." And by process of elimination we arrive at the last definition of 4b: humble, unpretentious.
It seems like I've used a lot of words and wasted a lot of time to get here, when most of us have already been told or figured out that poor in spirit is humble in spirit or unpretentious of spirit. But I wanted to look at it the way I did because I wanted to understand why the word poor is used rather than humble. I think the answer to that can be found in the idea that as much as we have eliminated the definitions of need above, they do fit in a way after all. I find it interesting that the first known use of the English word poor was in the 13th century. That is a long time after these words were spoken in Aramaic. The English word poor is derived from the Latin word pauper and is related to the Latin words paucus, meaning little, and parere, meaning to give birth to and produce.
I have learned that to be humble means to have a right sized ego. If I am humble I will not think too highly of myself, but I will also not think too lowly of myself. And my understanding of how little I can do on my own and of how greatly I am loved and valued by my Creator is related to how and what I produce or give birth to spiritually.
Christ stood on a mountain, effectively saying, blessed are those who have a right-sized ego, who understand how lowly and worthless they are in and of themselves when compared to the Artist who painted all of existence and yet also how highly they are valued by that same artist and what they are worth as precious to Him. Blessed are those who don't puff themselves up with pride to feed their egos or tear themselves down with reverse pride and belittle their true value to God. Blessed are those who understand that without relationship with our Creator we are nothing and then upon understanding the lack and poverty of spirit that comes from not having connection with He who created them, pursue relationship with God with the same desperate passion that a starving man pursues food for his body. Blessed are they, for theirs, those who understand they have value but it's not from anything they have done or deserve and pursue God with the desperate need of the poor, for in their desperate desire to have relationship with God, they shall find what they seek and become spiritually productive, giving birth to the kingdom of heaven in their lives.
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