“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” What does “pure in heart” mean? Most of the Christian conversation around purity focuses on sexual purity. While this is of great importance, I think that this passage purity of heart probably has more to do with motivation. Sexual impurity would be a subset of the overall idea of impure motivation or what James calls selfish ambition (v. 3:4). John tells us the world is motivated by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, or you could say appetites, appearances and accomplishments (The Three A’s – 1Jn 2:16).
This is what makes the world go around, but this worldliness produces a kind of blindness. Disciples are motivated by something else. As we have seen, most of the beatitudes deal with the heart. Jesus wants to transform the inner man, and he wants to be Lord over the desires of our heart. Why? Because He is making the kind of people motivated by sacred ambition and kingdom desires – a people who can see what He is doing. Heart motivation impacts vision!
Jesus embodied all the beatitudes, including this one. He said, “I do only those things I see my father doing.” How does this relate to our work life? The Lord wants a group of people He can take into his confidence. A group of people who know His agenda, who have Kingdom perspectives, can see God in their work, and can be trusted with His plans – in a word, world-changers!
Jesus said it this way: “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14-15 NIV
A servant and a friend will both do what you ask them to do, but the motivation is different. The friend does what is asked from a pure heart of love, whereas a servant may comply from obligation or fear. God’s love is unconditional, but intimacy is not. Jesus is saying I want friends who I can share my business with.
If Christian leaders don’t intentionally teach believers to approach their work life with a Kingdom vision, then they are likely to borrow worldly models, methods, and motivations (the 3 A’s). What if we taught believers to have a Kingdom vision in the workplace and pursue their careers with pure hearts and from a foundation of sacred ambition?
Adapted from Blessed2Bless: Applying the Timeless Wisdom of the Divine Entrepreneur to Your Life and Business.
