The Beatitudes Reimagined for the Unchurched

A writing for a time when Christ-Denying Christians worship fascism and reject the teachings of Jesus

Unchurched Sunday Series

Welcome to the Unchurched Sunday Series, a weekly space for those walking a different path—for the spiritually independent, the sacred wanderers, the seekers of meaning beyond walls and steeples. These writings are for anyone healing from what church may have taken, distorted, or silenced, and who are now reclaiming their faith, their voice, and their connection to the Divine in ways that feel more honest, more whole, more true. May these words be a soft place to land, a spark of inspiration, and a reminder that your journey is sacred, too. You’ll find a new reflection here each week, shared exclusively with my Substack subscribers.

The Beatitudes.

They’re hung on walls in churches throughout America. I don’t recall a time when I didn’t see them—in the church parlor, Bible Study rooms, or the pastor’s office. For years, they were held as the pinnacle of Christian love.

Tragically, that is no longer true. As Baptist minister Russell Moore shared in an interview, pastors across America are being threatened by Christians to stop preaching sermons on The Beatitudes. “They no longer matter,” they say. Behind their eyes is a blind rage that has been building since Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had the courage to stand at one of the nation’s most revered landmarks – the Lincoln Memorial – and declare, “I have a dream.”

The truth is, it goes back much farther and burns much deeper. We don’t need to rehash it here. We’re living it every day. Many of us who sat in the church pews, watching a pastor dance around the stage with the Bible shaking vigorously in his hands, succumbed to that dogma.

Many of us did not succumb. Some stayed to fight the battle from within. From where I stand, that battle is looking increasingly futile. Some of us walked out of those church doors, deconstructed, and never looked back. Every day, my tether to my Christian heritage weakens as I witness the destruction of that religion from the inside out.

This writing isn’t to debate American Christianity’s ability to survive fascism. I believe it will, but not in the form of a patriarchal structure that contributes to the oppression of the marginalized. That is a writing for another day.

Today is a writing for those of us who still long to find comfort and meaning in the words of Jesus, because – and let me say this with every fiber of my being – Christianity does not own Jesus.

Christianity has hijacked Jesus.

That statement will offend some. If so, this message simply isn’t for you. The unchurched and deconstructing deserve a seat at the table to study, admire and it our own unique way be inspired and led by this mysterious man whose very short ministry changed the trajectory of humanity.

For those seeking a Jesus connection this Sunday morning…

Let us reconnect with then reimagine the Beatitudes, the words of Jesus being openly rejected by Jesus' betrayers. Let us clip the binds they have placed on his hands and feet. Let us remove the tape from his mouth. And then let us invite him to sit beside us and teach us from his point in history that still has relevance to ours. Whether you believe he is a savior, a prophet, a warrior, a conscious-disruptor, a zealot, a mystic – Jesus belongs to the ages.

The reimagining of the Beatitudes isn’t to dismiss the sacredness of the original words. It is to expand them beyond the confines of organized religion, inviting them to this time when the world is a different place. A time when those of us on the outside needn’t feel as if we are less-than because we reject what broke our hearts – what we walked away from.

So today we return, not to the Beatitudes as they’ve been printed on church walls or sanitized into platitudes, but to their deeper spirit. What might they sound like if spoken from the margins today? What if Jesus sat with us now, in our grief and our clarity, among the marginalized and questioning, the deconstructing and healing, the ones tracing justice back to its sacred root?

Let’s hear them again. Not to replace the originals, but to remember why they mattered in the first place.

I hope this is a balm for your soul this Sunday morning.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12 NIV)

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

He said:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Beatitudes Reimagined for the Unchurched

• Blessed are the unchurched, the spiritually untethered, the seekers and skeptics,
  for mystery still welcomes them and curiosity grounds them.

• Blessed are those who had the courage to leave what harmed them,
  for their no was the beginning of a new yes.

• Blessed are the ones who reject toxic masculinity and internalized patriarchy to do inner work,
  tending old wounds with courage and care,
  for they are restoring the world from the inside out.

• Blessed are the LGBTQIA+ among us, the joyful, the grieving, the out and the still-hidden,
  for their being is Holy and their love is truth.

• Blessed are those who honor the Black womb of origin,
  the mitochondrial memory that roots us all in Africa,
  for they are remembering what the world tried to forget.

• Blessed are the justice-bearers, the advocates, the ones who hunger for equity,
  for they are already building the kin-dom of heaven.

• Blessed are the boundary-setters and the peace-seekers,
  for they are reclaiming sacred ground.

• Blessed are the bridge-builders, the ones who show up, speak out, and stand beside the marginalized,
  for their solidarity is a prayer in motion.

• Blessed are those disentangling from the comforts of whiteness and the lies of supremacy,
  for their unlearning is an offering, and their journey a path toward collective healing.

• Blessed are you—unchurched, deconstructing, spiritual-not-religious, or not spiritual at all,
  for you, too, are the salt of the earth, the light of the world,
  and this table was always big enough for you.

So go now, not in fear…
but in fierce tenderness.

Let your questions lead you deeper, your healing speak louder, your justice burn brighter.

Be the blessing this world aches for.

You don’t need a pulpit to preach, a pew to belong, or permission to live as sacred.

You are already part of the great unfolding.

Walk on.
The Divine walks with you.