The Good Life: Flourishing as Exiles

The last couple of months I have been doubling down on Matthew 5. I was reminded of something Dallas Willard said years back when asked by a Pastor what he should be reading. His reply, ‘read the gospels over and over and over, and then read them again.’ Good advice!

I’ve been reading commentaries and watching more talks and people unpacking the Sermon on the Mount than I can recall. Mostly, I’ve been sitting in it thinking, listening and talking to the Lord about the beatitudes. And, asking questions like where in my life, in my own heart, am I blocking peacemaking…..as we come to know as we get older we need to be careful what we ask. It uncovered some ugly stuff coming up and being removed, and by God’s grace led to healing and growth. As we have written about before, the process of our spiritual formation can be messy and non-linear and Jesus is most interested in forming us in the places where we are most unlike him. Easy to write and harder to do and definitely not for the faint-hearted or to be done in isolation. It needs the input and presence of trusted ‘others’ along the way.

Other reflections have been about the events and the current state of the world around us. That’s a big topic but we don’t have to go far to see that what Jesus is teaching us (then and now) in Matthew 5 seems to be in short supply.

You and I know too well that we live in a world obsessed with searching for “the good life.” We look for it in career success, individual freedom, mental wellness, and personal peace. Yet, despite all our searching, anxiety and fragmentation remain at an all-time high.

If you and I want to know what the truly Good Life looks like, look no further than Matthew 5.

The Sermon on the Mount is arguably Jesus’ greatest exposition and teaching on the Good (Tov) Life – the ancient Hebrew word and concept for holistic, purpose-fulfilling, God-designed goodness. In Matthew 5, Jesus isn’t giving us an impossible list of moral rules to earn God’s favour. He is declaring what human flourishing looks like when the Kingdom of God takes root in a person’s heart.

He describes a life marked by mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, and courageous righteousness. Then, He sums up this Tov life with a striking visual metaphor:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden… In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Notice the connection: Your light IS your Tov life. Your shine IS your Tov deeds.

From Internal Goodness to City Flourishing

This is where Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 connects directly to one of the most profound mandates in the Old Testament: Jeremiah 29.

When God’s people were swept away into Babylon, confused and grieving in a pagan culture, the prophet Jeremiah sent them a letter with shocking instructions. He didn’t tell them to isolate themselves, start a culture war, or compromise their faith. He told them to live as resident aliens:

“Seek the peace and prosperity [flourishing] of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it flourishes, you too will flourish.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

This is our playbook for today.

We cannot seek the flourishing of our cities if we are spiritually hollow, emotionally burnt out, or driven by fear. We can only seek the flourishing of our city from the position of a Tov life.

When we embody the Tov life of Matthew 5—living with the courage of Heaven’s royalty and the compassion of a royal priesthood—we naturally step into our neighbourhoods as Jeremiah’s exiles. We start businesses that treat workers with dignity, we build healthy families, we serve the vulnerable, we practice generous hospitality, and we stay committed to the common good.

The Paradox of the Resident Alien

As Tim Keller frequently pointed out in his teachings on exile, living this way creates a fascinating paradox. When Christians truly live out the Tov life of Matthew 5 in an exile setting, the culture will find us both deeply offensive and deeply attractive:

• We are offensive because our loyalty to King Jesus challenges the self-centred idols, moral relativism, and individualism of our age.
• We are attractive because our Tov deeds offer what a lonely world starves for: unshakeable hope, sacrificial love, emotional safety, and genuine community.

We don’t need to fear a shifting culture. When the surrounding world grows colder and darker, a community living out the Tov life becomes an irresistible beacon on a hill.

Royal Priesthood: The Engine of Courage & Compassion

There is a striking harmony between the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and the words of Peter to the early persecuted church.

Jesus declares: “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Peter echoes this identity: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…” (1 Peter 2:9)

These are not separate callings; they are the blueprint for how we live as Joyful Exiles in a changing world.

To shine a light that actually points people to salvation, we need two qualities that rarely coexist in the world today: Courage and Compassion.

These two virtues flow directly from our dual identity:

• As Citizens of Heaven (Royalty), we are given Courage. We know where our ultimate home is. Because our security in Christ is absolute, we have the courage to stand firm when the gospel offends cultural consensus. We do not apologise for the truth, nor do we compromise our allegiance to King Jesus.
• As a Royal Priesthood, we are given Compassion. Priests do not stand on high towers throwing stones; they walk into the dirt to bring God to people and people to God. Priesthood demands that we stoop down, wash feet, bear burdens, and extend unmerited grace to a hurting world.

As Tim Keller often observed, if we only exercise courage without compassion, we become obnoxious legalists who only offend. If we exercise compassion without courage, we become timid compromisers who only seek approval. But when courage and compassion meet, our lives become simultaneously offensive to culture’s self-righteousness and deeply attractive to its hunger for true love.

Challenging Times & Opportunity to Shine

Our surrounding culture has changed rapidly. The days of default Christian influence are gone, leaving behind an era marked by intense individual isolation, anxiety, and moral confusion.

It is easy for Christians to react to this shift with anger or fear. But as a chosen people, this is our finest hour.

When society grows darker, the distinction between the darkness and the light becomes unmistakable. The world does not need a church that panics or fights for worldly dominance; it needs citizens of heaven who step into the neighbourhood with courageous convictions and priest-like compassion.

Reflection: We are not called to fight culture, nor to blend into it. We are called to serve it with the courage of Heaven’s royalty and the compassion of God’s priests.

Question: What does being offensive and attractive look like in your life and context in 2026?

When a shifting culture experiences a church that is both courageously distinct and compassionately present, the result isn’t just moral debate—it is salvation. As Matthew 5 promises, when light breaks through darkness, people don’t praise us; they recognise God and glorify the Heavenly Father.

Remember Identity: Rooting ourselves in being God’s image bearers, chosen people and citizens of heaven, rather than seeking identity in cultural approval.

Clear the Glass (Tov & Counselling): Healing the unprocessed pain, fear, and fatigue in the “space between” so our priest-like compassion isn’t blocked by self-preservation.

Embody Courage & Compassion: Standing firm in biblical conviction (Courage/Offensive) while overflowing with radical, practical care for our neighbours (Compassion/Attractive).

The Evangelistic Harvest: The world sees a lifestyle it cannot explain through human effort alone. The light exposes darkness, but the warmth invites them in—leading to genuine salvation and glory to the Father.

Healing the Light-Bearers

Yet, living as a courageous and compassionate exile is demanding work. Between the call to “be light” and the daily reality of living in a broken world, life happens.

We absorb wounds from cultural hostility. We carry unprocessed personal trauma, relational grief, and deep spiritual fatigue. When our internal world is fractured, our natural defence is to withdraw – putting our lamp firmly under a bowl.

This is why holistic care, the pursuit of Tov (ancient wholeness), and professional Christian counselling are essential for this cultural moment:

Counselling offers a safe sanctuary to process the friction of exile, unpack our fears, and dismantle the defensive armour obscuring our hearts.

Frameworks like Abound ensure we nourish our emotional, spiritual, relational, and mental health, keeping our oil full so you and I shine bright – not burn out.

Reflection: Restoration isn’t about striving to produce light through human willpower. It is about allowing God’s grace to heal what is broken inside us so that His light can illuminate the darkness through us.

Question: What does some Spring cleaning of the glass to let your light shine brightly look like at this stage of 2026?

People Will See and Praise the Father

When a healed, courageously compassionate community steps into a dark world, something supernatural happens.

Our courageous truth startles those who are lost. Our compassionate love heals those who are broken. And as Jesus promised in Matthew 5, when people see this kind of light, their defences break down. They don’t applaud our effort or praise our performance—they see our good deeds, encounter the reality of Christ, and give glory to our Father in heaven.

Remember: You are already chosen. You are already a royal priest and a citizen of the Kingdom. Let grace clear the glass, take up courage and compassion, and let your light shine.

Want to go Deeper?

Watch the Human Flourishing Webinar

We unpacked what this looks like in practice – not just the theology, but the practical shape of flourishing in the times and context we live in. In our national webinar;

How to Cultivate Human Flourishing in Your Marriage, Family, Work, Church, and Community, with Sally Simpson, Dr Andrew Menzies, Catriona Wansbrough and me.

It’s a biblical, practical vision for helping the people around you move beyond coping into genuine, tested wholeness. If any of this is resonating, it’s worth the hour: watch it here.

We trust this will be a blessing to you

Nicholas Marks