“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8
A couple of years ago, McDonald’s had to pull salads off of their menu in 13 mid-western states due to a microscopic parasite that made several people sick. That was right after a romaine lettuce threat that impacted 36 states due to E. coli that infected numerous people putting some in the hospital and killing five others. These and other contaminated food issues make us glad that efforts are taken to keep such threats to a minimum. We understandably want the food we eat to be safe.
According to Jesus, we need to have a similar commitment to developing a purity in our hearts if we want to live in the middle of God’s blessing. He put it this way, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” That statement reveals yet another pathway that must be taken in order to live an extraordinary life – the pathway of inner purity. Those who walk it have discovered an important truth.
People who live extraordinary lives want their inside life to match their outside life. When you read the gospels, it’s amazing how compassionate Jesus could be with people who had done all kinds of sinful things. Remember Zaccheus? He was a cheat and a traitor, but Jesus went to his home and helped him turn his life around. Then there’s the woman at the well with her multiple failed marriages and inappropriate current living arrangement. Yet He offered her a new start on life. Pretty amazing stuff.
But Jesus’ attitude toward the Pharisees was a different thing altogether. He referred to them as a brood of vipers. He exposed their corruption telling them that they were like whitewashed tombs that looked clean on the outside but were full of death on the inside. That’s strong language and for good reason. According to Jesus, the Pharisees were hypocrites. They were pretenders who were only interested in looking spiritual on the outside not in being genuinely spiritual on the inside.
Here’s a modern example. Several years ago, there was a meeting of Christian leaders who were discussing a delicate issue for their group. However, instead of working through it in a Christlike manner, tempers started to flare. After about 45 minutes of debate, it became so ugly that some of the members were about to come to blows over it.
However, before the issue could be resolved, it was time for the next item on the conference schedule – a worship service. So the leaders joined the remaining conference attenders in a different room. It was then that the chairman of the group, who had been one of the most hateful of all, grabbed a microphone and while grinning from ear to ear said, “Scripture says that one of the marks of true Christians is their love for one another. Let us stand together then and join hands while singing, They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.” One observer called it his introduction into the world of inauthentic Christianity.
We may shake our heads at such a thing, but that’s exactly what Jesus is concerned with here in this beatitude. He isn’t calling us to merely look righteous outwardly but to be authentic inwardly. Again, authentic not perfect. Jesus knows full well that even sincere Christians can sometimes loose their cool and act inappropriately in all sorts of ways. Obviously, He wants that to change but not just outwardly. He’s looking for a change of heart so that what’s seen on the outside matches what is true on the inside.
People who live extraordinary lives understand this. They’ve claimed their poverty of spirit, have grieved over its presence in their lives, and have humbly sought the righteousness presence of God and his mercy. Because of this, they have a purity of heart that while not perfect is in fact genuine. That makes it possible for them to live in the middle of God’s blessing.
There’s not a believer who hasn’t struggled with being authentic from time to time. We’ve all had moments when we pretended on the outside what wasn’t true on the inside. Part of developing a purity of heart is the willingness to admit that and then to follow the example of those who live in the middle of God’s blessing for the answer to it.
People who live extraordinary lives keep on seeking spiritual cleansing from God. It’s important to understand that dealing with the tendencies toward hypocrisy is not a matter of will power. You don’t just buck up one day and say to yourself, “Well, I’ve had it with being a hypocrite. I’m going to live the Christian life the way it’s supposed to be lived no matter what” and then go about trying to fix all of your external behaviors. Why? Because the outcome simply leads to failure and frustration. Even if we are able to clean up certain outward behaviors, it’s only a matter of time before we have a lapse of some kind. What’s more, as soon as we take care of one outward behavior, we turn around and find 10 more that need the same attention. After awhile, we just can’t do it anymore. Therein is the problem. We haven’t been asked to create our own pure heart.
Take the story of David in the Old Testament. He was king of the nation who in great faith defeated a giant in battle and led his people to overcome their enemies. But he’s also the same guy who committed adultery, murder and then instigated a huge cover-up of his crimes. However, when David was confronted with what he did, he didn’t start on some kind of outward religious self-improvement program. Instead he saw his true spiritual poverty and in great mourning, turned to God and offered this prayer, “Create in me a clean heart O, God and renew a right spirit within me.”
Do you see the difference? The issue is the condition of the heart not the outward behaviors, and only God can deal with the heart. People who live extraordinary lives understand this. They don’t want to just look pure; they want to be pure. That’s why they keep coming back to God with renewed confession, staying open to the working of the Spirit within them who bit by bit transforms them from the inside out.
So following Christ isn’t about having to be pure. It’s about developing a heart that wants to be pure. That is the difference between living in oppression and defeat and living in the freedom of developing a growing relationship with God. Those who do that are in a position to experience the promise Jesus made to those who walk the pathway of inner purity.
People who live extraordinary lives experience an intimate sense of God’s presence. The promise Jesus makes to the pure in heart is pretty remarkable. He says that they will see God. We need to be careful about pushing the imagery here too far. He isn’t suggesting that we will physically see God at the local shopping center or floating across the sky in a cloud. Instead those who are pure in heart will have a clear sense of God’s presence around them. Because their heart isn’t cluttered with hypocrisy, there’s nothing in the way that keeps them from seeing God as He reveals himself in some pretty powerful ways.
Pastor Craig Groeschel discovered this himself as he had to come to terms with the hypocrisy in his own life that was keeping him from seeing God. Listen as he tells his story.
From my earliest memories, I remember “playing the game”: try to say the right things at the right times to the right people. When the people or circumstances changed, so did I. As a young child, I tried to please my parents. In school I made sure my teachers got my grandest act. There’s nothing terribly wrong with that, but looking back, I see that those were just practice runs for what would come later.
As a teen I did almost anything for acceptance from my buddies. I partied, swore, lied, cheated, and stole. By the time I got to college, I was playing so many different roles that I began to lose track of the real me.
Honestly, I began to wonder if there was a real me. At nineteen I became a follower of Christ. And the parts of my life he changed, he changed miraculously. He cleaned house. But in a darkened corner here, a locked closet there, I continued to believe I was better off putting up a front. It was a new front, a spiritual one. But still the same old game, just played on a different stage.
Within a few years, I became a pastor. You’d think that would have shaken the deceit right out of me. But as a young pastor, I simply turned pro. My church members observed my finest performances. I fooled many of them, but I didn’t fool myself. And I didn’t fool God.
I was not living with gross, unconfessed sin—at least not the kind that gets pastors fired. And my motives weren’t bad. I loved Jesus and his people. Every bone in my body desired to make a difference for God in this world. I poured my heart into ministry, enduring long hours, boring meetings, temperamental people, and plenty of good, old-fashioned church conflicts—all for Jesus.
After a few years, I became good at being a pastor. Ministerial words flowed from my mouth. I learned what to say and what not to say. Weddings were a breeze, and funerals were becoming easier. Preaching came naturally, and my counseling skills improved. People said I was an “up ‘n’ comer” who’d rise quickly through the ranks to a bigger church. From the outside, everything looked good. But God doesn’t look at the outside.
One Sunday, after another week of performing, I stood to preach. As I approached the pulpit, the truth hit me squarely between the eyes. I hadn’t prayed. Not that day. Not the day before. To the best of my knowledge, I hadn’t prayed all week.
That’s when it dawned on me: I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ. Stepping onto the platform that morning, I admitted to myself that I was not a pastor first, but a regular, scared, insecure, everyday guy whose life had been touched by Jesus. And if Jesus really loved me as I was (I knew he did), then why should I go on trying to be someone I wasn’t?
I stumbled through that sermon, forcing the words to come out. The message was superficial, plastic. I drove home that day ashamed of the role I’d played, but cautiously hopeful I might learn to be honest. All week I agonized, praying as I hadn’t prayed in months: God, what if I tell them who I really am? What if they know I’m terrified? What if they reject me? Fire me? I swallowed hard. Then I ventured a step further: Is this what You want me to do? I thought I sensed God’s assurance, but I wasn’t sure. Desperately I hoped it was him leading me, and not just my own whacked-out thoughts.
The next Sunday I walked to the platform uncharacteristically unprepared—not one written note. The only preparation was in my heart. My throat dry, nervous beyond description, I stared at 200 committed churchgoers. They stared politely back. Silence. Finally I spoke. “My relationship with God is not what it should be.” My voice quivered. No one moved. I plunged ahead. “I’ve confessed to God, but now I’m going to confess to you: I’ve become a full-time minister but a part-time follower of Christ.” You could have heard a communion wafer snap.
I opened my heart and invited everyone inside…. I held nothing back. It was the biggest public risk I’d ever taken. It was also my first authentic sermon, the first time the real me made a showing. But in the middle of my talk, something happened, something new … God made himself known.
His presence is hard to describe, but it’s even harder to miss. Some people cried quietly in their seats. Others sobbed openly—not so much for my sins, but for their own. Before I had finished my confession, many gathered at the altar to repent along with me. God’s peace replaced my fear. His assurance pushed away my doubts. Christ’s power invaded my weakness. In that moment, Jesus became as real to me as he had ever been.
That is what happens when people have a pure heart. They are able to see God. As I read that story, I found myself wondering how many times I’ve played the role of pastor rather than just being a follower of Christ. I must admit, sadly too many times. And it’s always robbed me of seeing God.
Can you relate with that? Is there a part of you that longs to see God, I mean really sense His presence? Most of us do. But for that to happen, you and I have got to quit wearing the good Christian mask and let go of the stubbornness that keeps us from coming clean with God. If we will, our vision will become clear again and seemingly out of nowhere, an amazing thing will happen. We will see God which will empower us to live extraordinary lives.