The Antidote to Online Comparison
#1 Blessed are the Poor in Spirit - The Beatitudes for Online Engagement
This is the first in a series on how “The Beatitudes” ought to shape the way we engage with the online world. You can also listen to this as a minisode on “The Crab and The Cross” Podcast.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the Kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 5: 3
Before we explain what it means to be “poor in spirit,” let us first discuss what it means to be poor in general. One who is poor does not have the money or resources to adequately provide for their own needs or the needs of their family. While there are various degrees of wealth, poverty is not merely a relative state. The difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is the same as the difference between someone who makes $50,000 a year and someone who makes $50,000,000. But, no one can sincerely claim that millionaires are poor, even comparitvely. A truly poor person will go without basic necessities unless they are provided by someone else. The poor must look outside of themselves for food, medical care, and even housing, relying instead on their neighbors, churches, charitable organizations, or the government. Thus, to be poor is to be in a state of dependence. Without material or financial assistance from someone else, the poor will go without.
To be poor in spirit means to exist with that same degree of dire dependence on God. One who is rich can build his own kingdom; one who is poor might be happy with a decent apartment. But, one who is poor in spirit knows that he cannot build God’s kingdom—let alone enter it—without God’s help. However, poverty of spirit does not just pertain to the afterlife; it pertains to the here-and-now. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,
“Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, or what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” (Matthew 6: 25-27).
Perhaps those who are materially poor might have an easier time being poor in spirit because they are used to relying on God and relying on others to provide for their needs; but even those who do not need to worry about food, clothing, or housing still rely on God for their health and lifespan. There are diseases and injuries that, even today, no amount of money can cure.
To be poor in spirit means to be aware of my own inadequacy. I’m not good enough, I can’t do it on my own, I need help. Poverty in spirit does not deny one’s intrinsic value though; saying “I’m not good enough” is not the same as saying “I am worthless.” I’m “inadequate,” but I’m not “nothing”. God gives St. Paul the perfect “daily affirmation” to be poor in spirit; He says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 9). Paul continues, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12: 9-10).
So, what does poverty in spirit have to do with online engagement?
Every time you log on to social media, you will be bombarded with reminders of all the ways you fail to measure up. There are thousands of celebrities, influences, content creators, and even your own friends and family who are better looking than you, have more money than you, are more successful than you, have more followers than you, and are living lives that are far more exciting than yours. You will also be bombarded with advertisements for all the products that will help you become like all of those “better” people: clothes, beauty products, tech gadgets, supplements, home décor, you name it.
What attracts me to The Beatitudes is how opposite they are to the world’s version of blessedness. The world says, “blessed are the beautiful, blessed are the rich, blessed are the popular, the healthy, the successful, funny, charismatic, etc.” But Jesus says, “blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are meek, blessed are the merciful, the mourners, the peacemakers, the persecuted, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” There is no ceiling to wealth: you can always have more. Poverty in spirit flips the script and says, aim lower. Do not try to be more, do more, acquire more; instead humble yourself, and then you will be exalted. This does not mean you give up trying. It is not an invitation to complacency, mediocrity, or indolence. But it is an invitation to step out of the rate race, to stop “keeping up with the Jones’s,” and to instead “build up treasure in heaven.”
Now, what I have said today is not necessarily practical. I have not given any specific “rules of online engagement.” I will be doing that in the subsequent articles, but today, I want to lay the framework which is centered not around actions, but around an attitude or a disposition. Attitudes are practical in a sense, though, because they govern how we interface with the world. An optimist expects good things; a pessimist expects bad things. One who is poor in spirit expects to be reminded daily of his or her own insufficiency, yet can say with complete confidence, “power is made perfect in weakness.” So, they are not disturbed by reminders of what they lack. Perhaps, as a practical step, each time you look at someone who is seemingly more blessed with beauty, wealth, success, etc. you can remind yourself that Jesus says true blessedness is found among the poor in spirit—for theirs is the kingdom of God.