countercultural

The very core of Jesus’ teaching was the Sermon on the Mount. Together with his parables, many of which are about losing and then finding (the lost son, the lost coin, the lost sheep). All of these teachings call us to win by losing, which is so countercultural and so paradoxical that Jesus finally had to live it himself to show us it could be true.

The Beatitudes are characterizations of a mature human person much more than edicts for spiritual salvation. They offer something astoundingly new to human consciousness, which is a lifestyle based on vulnerability, mutuality, service—and thus a willingness to be usable for God, history, healing, and one another.

Matthew 5:1-12

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A1-12&version=NLT