Jesus once said ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God‘ (Matthew 5:8). This can also be translated ‘Blessed are those who don’t have hidden agenda’s.’
This statement is taken from Jesus teaching called ‘The Beatitudes’. These are essentially ten values which reflect the culture of God’s Kingdom. The one quoted above is so completely contrary to the flow of selfish thinking that it could easily cause a shock to the system. It means serving without the expectation of receiving anything in return. It’s about doing what’s right, even if it goes unrewarded.
The thing is, everyone loves the idea of serving….until they have to serve. But what about when it comes to serving the rude person? Or the arrogant person? Or the unappreciative person? If we only ‘serve’ when it suits or when it ‘feels right’, then this is not serving at all. It merely becomes a form of self-congratulatory egotism, a convenient good deed for which you can applaud yourself and look down on the world from a self-righteous perch. But it’s nonsense. Servants just serve, no-matter what. They go the extra mile. They do whatever it takes. They’re low maintenance people, expecting nothing in return, irrespective of who they’re serving. Tall order hey? Well maybe this is the ‘shock to the system’ I mentioned earlier?
Serving is not a means of promotion or of gaining some kind of platform. Sadly in church life, the ‘platform agenda’ can often subtly creep into noble deeds. But serving without any other agenda than to please God is actually the purest form of worship, the kind that God absolutely loves. Jesus even defined servanthood as the ultimate example of what it means to be ‘great’ in God’s Kingdom (see Matthew 20:20-28).
‘Blessed are the pure in heart’ is not a statement of perfection. Purity is a state of heart. It’s about humility. It’s about motive. It’s about consistency. It’s about overcoming the impurity of selfishness and personal ambition with the pure desire to live for God’s purpose. This is what God is REALLY looking for…a pure heart, without an alternative agenda. By the way ‘blessed’ means happy. Think about it….’Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ‘. Selah.
