One of my all-time favorite television shows is ‘Family Ties’. In this 1980s sitcom, much of the humor came from the interaction between ultra-conservative republican teen-ager, Alex P. Keaton ( Michael J. Fox) and his former-hippie parents, Steven & Elyse Keaton (Michael Gross & Meredith Baxter). They loved each other but their political views were on the extreme opposite ends of the political spectrum.
I remember one particularly funny episode. Alex was dating a gorgeous feminist who was very active in the National Organization for Women (NOW). To impress this lady, Alex attended the NOW meetings and pretended to be a staunch supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). He even gave a rousing motivational speech at a local NOW convention and became quite popular among the feminist. His guilt, however, got the best of him. After realizing he couldn’t live a lie, he confessed to the girl that he really didn’t support ERA and was participating in NOW just to impress her.
Alex isn’t the only person to do something for the wrong reasons. My motivation has often been less than honorable. In college, I attended the Baptist Student Union (BSU) meetings only because there were lots of lovely ladies attending. During military training, I would attend chapel services in order to get an extra hour of sleep. By attending these events, I appeared pious but, in reality, I wasn’t pious at all. I attended those events with the wrong motivation. I was not ‘pure in heart’.
Jesus stated, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” This is the sixth beatitude and it’s a continuation of the first five beatitudes. With humbled and surrendered hearts yearning to be righteous, we find ourselves committing acts of mercy and doing these acts of mercy for the right reasons. Being ‘pure in heart’ is all about doing things for the right reasons.
When something is pure it is free of all contamination. Pure water has absolutely no bacteria, dirt, grease, or anything else in it. It is nothing but water. Likewise, a pure heart is not contaminated by any sinful desires. A person with a pure heart is motivated by absolutely nothing but an unselfish love for God and neighbor. Love is the only motivating force within a pure heart. If I had a pure heart, I would have attended BSU meetings and Army chapel services out of a love for God. Pretty ladies and extra sleep would have been inconsequential.
As we walk in relationship with God through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit works to cleanse our hearts of selfish, sinful desires. The Holy Spirit replaces these selfish, sinful desires with God’s unselfish love. In other words, the Holy Spirit creates within us pure hearts. As our hearts become pure, we draw closer to God because there’s less of a sinful nature to hinder our relationship with God. This is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Emphasis added)
So, to be ‘pure in heart’, we must continuously ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this? What is my motivation?” We could also ask: Why do I sing in the choir? Why do I remain at this job? Why am I participating in this activity? Am I doing these things for self-glorification? Do I get upset when I don’t get the credit I think I deserve? Do I get upset when I don’t get the compensation I deserve? Do I actively seek recognition for what I’m doing? Do I have an ulterior motive? Am I motivated by unselfish love for God and neighbor?
If your answers indicate selfish or sinful motivation, then your heart is not pure. You must go to God in prayer and repent. After prayerful consideration, you should either stop doing the activity in question or start doing the activity with the right motivation. Conducting an activity with the right motivation (with a pure heart), will change your entire outlook. Gaining personal recognition or receiving just the right compensation will become less and less important. Giving glory to God and demonstrating love while accomplishing your task will become more and more important.
As we humbly submit ourselves to God and seek to become righteous like Christ, we’ll find ourselves committing acts of mercy for all the right reasons. We’ll become ‘pure in heart’ and draw closer to God. As this happens, God will use us to become ‘peacemakers’, which brings us to the next beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” That, however, is the subject of the next article.
