Beatitude Series, What Is A Disciple?

1. Poor in spirit.

Disciple:   A person that subjects himself to the disciplines of another.

There are many religions in the world today, and all of them have specific beliefs, and practices that make up all of their own disciplines that they must adhere to in order to achieve what they seek.  In this series we are primarily concerned with the disciplines of Jesus Christ, so we will not list all of the false religions, and their disciplines.  We are going to explore the disciplines of Jesus Christ, which are the primary principles that a follower of Christ must adhere to in order to be considered as a true "Disciple of Christ".     Matthew 5:1 is the beginning of Jesus' explanation of the key attributes that He considers as essential components for Believers that are endeavoring to be His disciples:

"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him."  Matthew 5:1

Because of the miracles that He was doing, and the things that He was saying, news of Him spread quickly, many people were curious, and came to see Him.  Also there were many who wanted especially to hear what He was saying, because they wanted to be His disciples, and they drew near to listen.  We are going to do that in this series, we will examine the Beatitudes, and see exactly what He was/is saying.

"He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:2

There are those who would have you think that this statement simply means that a disciple of Jesus should not be "spiritually arrogant".  But as we are going to see, it means much more than that.  First of all we have to remember who we are listening to.  Jesus was/is God, and when you are listening to God, you must listen closely, even though He is speaking to us as a Father would speak to His small children, we still must listen very closely, and that is what the disciples were doing when they drew near to Him that day.  So we must do the same.

In the spiritual context, what does "poor in spirit" mean?  We must examine both words to understand all that He was/is trying to convey.  The spirit of a man is the very core of his being, by definition it is the activating or essential principle influencing a person, and the word "poor" simply means "poverty".  So we can see that a true disciple of Jesus Christ needs to be like Christ in the sense that He laid down all of His possessions, and wealth, and embraced poverty in order to help us, and show us the prime example.

He is showing us by His own example, that we must walk as He walked in order to be considered one of His disciples.  His example of being "poor in spirit" is demonstrated by three obvious key components namely:  Self sacrifice, self reduction, and self minimization.  Self sacrifice is giving up something of value in order to help someone else and gain something of greater perceived value.  Self reduction is taking something that is complex and reducing it to its simplest form.  Self minimization is when one purposely views others as being more important than himself.  

Solomon said:

"There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches."  Proverbs 13:7

And James says:

"Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"  James 2:5

And John says:

"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 

1John 2:6

And the Lord Jesus Himself says:

"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."  Luke 14:33

So we see that being "poor in spirit" means much more than people would have us believe,  it means having a "spirit of poverty", or rather making oneself poor in order to become rich.  

Jesus also says:

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12: 32 - 34

This is the very core of Christianity. It should be the very heart of the disciple.  That's why this principle is the first beatitude, because the entire spiritual well being of the disciple hinges on this extremely mature spiritual principle.

Even natural physics shows us this simple yet profound principle:  What is the first thing that men do when the ship is sinking, or the plane is too heavy to reach a safe altitude? 

Is Jesus saying that we must immediately jettison all our possessions and walk around naked?  Of course not,  what He is saying is that He wants us to be wise in this present time, and utilize self sacrifice, self reduction, and self minimization in order to remove stumbling blocks from our lives so that we may achieve spiritual strength and clarity.  Only then will we be able to order our lives correctly, and we will not neglect the ones that need our attention.  This is the motivating factor why people were selling their homes and other possessions in the story in the book of Acts.

A man that is forced to be poor considers himself cursed, but a man that makes himself poor for Jesus' sake will gain eternal wealth (spiritual wisdom and power), that benefits himself and others now, and in the age to come.

So in conclusion to this beatitude we can safely say:  A wise believer will endeavor to make himself poor,  and a foolish believer will seek possessions and wealth.

Self sacrifice, self reduction, and self minimization is what walking in the Spirit means.

This is one of the main reasons why the religious organizations are inherently false.

No man can serve two masters.