Blessed… Praise Be!

“Blessed…”

That word is so familiar to us that it barely registers anymore.

We hear it and we nod.

We hear it and we assume we know what comes next.

Blessed — we think — means approved.

Comfortable.

Favored.

Safe.

Almost instinctively, the response follows.

Praise be.

We say it quickly.

We say it easily.

Sometimes we say it before we’ve really listened at all.

When Jesus opens His mouth and says, “Blessed are…”

He is not offering a feeling.

He is not offering encouragement.

He is not offering religious language to repeat back to Him.

He is declaring reality.

He is telling us where life with God is actually found —

not where we expect it,

not where we prefer it,

and not where we have learned to look for it.

The danger is not that we reject His words.

The danger is that we receive them too easily.

That we praise before we hear.

That we affirm before we reckon with what He has actually called blessed.

Jesus blesses people we would not instinctively congratulate.

He calls alive those we might quietly pity or pass by.

So before we rush to say “Praise be,”

we need to slow down long enough to hear

whom Jesus has called blessed —

and what that says about God,

about us,

and about the kind of kingdom He has brought near.

(pause)

Part 2 — When Faith Learns to Stay Neutral

There is a kind of faith that looks healthy from the outside.

It uses the right words.

It knows when to nod.

It knows when to say amen.

It is not hostile to Jesus.

It is not embarrassed by Him.

It is simply… untouched.

That kind of faith is far more dangerous than doubt.

Doubt knows it is in trouble.

Neutral faith thinks it is fine.

Neutral faith listens without being addressed.

It hears Scripture without feeling claimed by it.

It allows Jesus to speak — as long as nothing must be decided.

Neutrality is comfortable because it never has to say no.

But it never really has to say yes either.

It treats Jesus’ words as information to be processed,

rather than authority to be reckoned with.

And here’s the unsettling truth:

neutrality is not something people choose consciously.

It is something we learn.

We learn how to listen politely.

We learn how to appreciate Scripture.

We learn how to agree without yielding.

Over time, holy words lose their weight.

They become familiar.

Safe.

Predictable.

Even dangerous words can become harmless

if we hear them often enough without consequence.

That’s why Jesus’ words can be admired

without ever being obeyed.

It’s why people can say, “I love the Beatitudes,”

without ever having to ask

whether the God who blesses the poor in spirit

is the God they actually want ruling their lives.

Neutral faith does not reject Jesus.

It simply keeps Him at a distance —

close enough to quote,

far enough not to disturb.

That is precisely the condition Jesus addresses

most sharply.

(pause)

Part 3 — When Neutral Faith Makes Jesus Sick (Laodicea)

There is one place in Scripture where Jesus speaks with unusual bluntness —

not to persecutors,

not to pagans,

not to skeptics —

but to a church that believes it is doing just fine.

In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus addresses the church in Laodicea.

What is striking is not what He accuses them of.

He does not call them immoral.

He does not call them false teachers.

He does not say they have abandoned His name.

He says something far more unsettling.

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.”

Cold I can understand.

Hot I can understand.

But lukewarm?

“Because you are lukewarm… I will spew you out of my mouth.”

That is strong language — not because Jesus is angry,

but because He is nauseated.

And why?

Because lukewarm faith has learned how to exist

without needing Him.

The Laodiceans say, “I am rich. I have prospered. I need nothing.”

Notice — they are not denying God.

They are not rejecting Christ.

They simply do not need Him anymore.

Their faith is comfortable.

Functional.

Self-sustaining.

Jesus’ response is devastating:

“You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

In other words:

You think you are fine — and that is precisely the problem.

Lukewarm faith is not weak faith.

It is self-satisfied faith.

It hears Jesus’ words

without ever feeling exposed by them.

Here is the connection we cannot miss:

Lukewarm faith is what happens

when holy language becomes reflex.

When “blessed” no longer surprises us.

When “praise be” comes too easily.

When Scripture is heard often

but never allowed to decide anything.

Jesus is not offended by our need.

He is repulsed by our independence.

Not rebellion — independence.