In Love for us, Christ calls us fight for the vulnerable.

I understand the sentiment - that we as progressive elites have done our part, and we should avoid losing too much sleep over this.  Let them fail, so to speak.  But my heart tells me that this response is a luxury of the old (at best). As life draws down, there is less and less to lose, at least from  the individual's perspective. As someone of such privilege myself, I also have the luxury of walking away to watch some birds, garden, take a hike, or play a round of golf, if the fight gets too hard.

There's complexity to this, of course.  Because too many efforts to pass enlightenment on race, gender, multiculturalism, and LGBTQ status to others have drifted from inspired teaching and discipleship towards shame-based evangelism; Because there has been too much eagerness to look out our windows in disgust at "bad people" without noticing the pale reflections of the onlooker standing right beside them; Because judgement is quick and humble love is too uncomfortable (because we don't want to be like THEM, do we?) - because of all of these things and more, we have become divided against ourselves. And this division will result in very real suffering.

What I can tell you, is that I have work to do.  I like being comfortable, in a place where my time at the barricades are more to legitimize my ego-drive ideology or whitewash my guilt than anything resembling necessity.  It's certainly not a matter of survival, unlike others. I have been guilty of hiding behind my words I learned on that test I aced in college, so that I might not have to acknowledge my own very real fears, biases, xenophobia, idolatry, exceptionalism, and privilege.  I am not so different than those we shout out to in disgust.  We are a very Matthew 7:5 kind of people, quick to judge, slow to humility.  I include myself among those, which is my sin.

Though it's only my belief, I wonder if many people misunderstand the reason Christ taught what he did, which was - in a nutshell - Humble yourself before God; and Love each other, including your enemies, but especially the poor.  If Christ indeed loved us, why did he want us to seemingly do things that exhausted our own resources simply for the benefit of someone else.  What did such willing poverty ever do for anyone, really?  Is there some karmic trade-off between being diminished now and being exalted in the hereafter, or vice versa?  Is there a net zero sum game at work in our material and spiritual lives, in the context of eternity?

Or, was Christ trying to teach us something about the nature of happiness?  Consider the 12 steppers who have come back from the near-death of their addictions, or the Bangladeshi children frolicking in the brickyards behind Dhaka, or any of those blessed with the freedom of knowing there's nothing more to lose.  Is it possible that he was simply trying to connect us with the true happiness of meaning, and the joy of an authentic union with God  - not in the next lifetime, but in this one?  In a sense, the Kingdom of heaven is available in the now, not just the not yet?

What is happiness, meaning, and connection with God then?  How, then, shall we live?  This is what Christ had to say about all of that, and I think he said it not because he just cared about the poor, but because he also so deeply loved his disciples:

The Beatitudes
(Psalm 1:1-6; Matthew 5:3-12)

20Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

21Blessed are you who hunger now,

for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

22Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

Woes
(Amos 6:1-7)

24But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

25Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

26Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

Love Your Enemies
(Leviticus 24:17-23; Matthew 5:38-48)

27But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do Not Judge
(Matthew 7:1-6; Romans 14:1-12)

37Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

39Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

41Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 42How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and its Fruit
(Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 12:33-37)

43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, people do not gather figs from thornbushes, or grapes from brambles. 45The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The House on the Rock
(Matthew 7:24-27)

46Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them: 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.b

49But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it collapsed—and great was its destruction.”