Pursuing Christ

“Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.”

- Matthew 5:8

Between the two denominations that have formed me into the person I am today, arise two concepts key to this verse. From the Wesleyan Church comes the emphasis on personal Holiness, that it is possible in this lifetime to lead a perfect life, one that is closely intimate with God. I have also grown up in the Missionary Church, which is rooted in the pietist traditions (like Mennonite), where the emphasis is on shaping one’s life in obedience to the scriptures and will of God.

Personally, I am fond of both these views and take on the Christian life; however, I hope I am not blind to their potential weaknesses. That being, both can lead to a religion without pureness in heart. Often times, traditions like these can fall into creating rules and standards of living, of what it looks like to be Holy and Pious, but easily slip into legalism and self-righteousness. While come can be fully sold into this form of religion, it can dangerously skew us from being pure in heart and following God. For there will be a point where obeying those standards of living splits from Jesus, but because we see the standard as obeying Jesus, we do not even realize our hearts are leading us elsewhere.

The Mask of Authenticity:

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from religious holiness and piety is the world’s value of authenticity. Now to clarify, I love the idea of authenticity, it is a personal value of mine, and is a genuinely good way to live. It is the idea that you are just being you; it's an authentic individualism where you are honest with others. On paper, Authenticity is an amazing trait to have.

However, it has become such a standard value in America that it feels it has become a mask. At least from what I have observed, people throw on a mask so frequently, that they are not truly being themselves, yet we see this stage like personality and the warmth of their charisma and say, “Wow, they are so real with me.” We begin to pretend to be something we are not, so that we may be accepted and approved of, but deep down we know those affirmations are off base, not because of the person giving it, but because we have put on a mask.

I know, it sounds weird to say that because we value authenticity so much that we are the least authentic people in the world. I can be wrong about this too, but I have observed and seen my generation (Gen Z) say they value authenticity, and yet we are the masked “Youtube” culture. We bend over backward for likes and acceptance. We will sell out who we are so we can feel affirmation. This is not purity in heart, even though the concept of authenticity gets so close to it.

Pure in Heart:

Here, I would like to view purity in heart as cleanliness of inner motivations. I do not want to jump too quickly to say and teach that a pure heart is without sin, though I believe these are correlated I struggle to view this strictly as living without sin. For Jesus might as well say, “Blessed is the one who is perfect, or fully Holy, or completely pious.” Jesus even taught against the outward notions of holiness and piety when it came to the Pharisees. The Pureness of Heart is much deeper than living without sin.

I would rather think of this purity in light of some of Jesus’ other teachings:

“You cannot serve both God and…” - Matthew 6:24

Purity, in this sense a true Christian authenticity, is serving God alone. The heart can be motivated to go various different directions, even in religious pursuits. In the verse above, Jesus is specifically talking about money as the opponent to our desire for God, but our opponent to true dedication to God can be our personal salvation, outward holiness, and the glory in a frugal lifestyle. Purity here is humble service and dedication to God instead of any holy act we can do to get us noticed.

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one.’” - Luke 10:41-42

Purity of heart looks like sitting on the feet of Jesus, time dedicated to Him and Him alone. Perhaps in everything we do, we can check out hearts and see how we can be with Jesus in it. This builds one’s relationship with Jesus, even if our hearts are getting pulled in different directions.

Allow me to propose this, that purity in heart is about one’s motivation to pursue Jesus. I believe that the natural outpouring of pursuing Jesus would then become obedience, holiness, and piety, but it is detrimentally rooted in Christ.

In all, Sincerity:

While authenticity begs us to be real with those around us, we ultimately hide, so we get likes and affirmations. Yet, from Christ, there is no place to hide; in Him, we can find the purest of desires, the pursuit of God. I wonder what a life could look like if lived with such sincerity of faith. I think that is what John Wesley would call Entire Sanctification, or in a pietist tradition what is hoped for in gaining from a pious life. Yet, all our human ways of living in sincerity (authenticity, holiness, and pious aspirations) can all fall short of what it really is the goal of such living, closeness to God.

Perhaps that is why the blessing of purity in heart, which is the pure pursuit of God and Christ, is to see God. When one pursues God so diligently, there is nothing else they could possibly want than to see God, so of course, they are blessed with that opportunity. In all things, we can be living in sincerity, letting Christ shape our faith rather than our trivial pursuits, which only distract us.

Final Blessing:

I do not think we need to be bogged down by trivial actions to lead a sinless life, or endlessly seeking affirmation from others. An honest pursuit of Christ will lead to both of those and more. How beautiful it is then to have a pure heart, for such a desire to have Christ alone, no other master or task. Just an honest pursuit of God.

May the Lord of life and redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat. Be messengers of the Good News and Peace friends!