“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20 NIV)
I started off in my Christian life attending a denominational church that I learned, after being involved in this church for a while, was far too legalistic. There were lots of “don’ts”. Don’t dance, don’t play cards, don’t do this, don’t do that. I am not knocking the church. There were a lot of good people in the church that I loved dearly. At the time, the strictness and discipline appealed to me, and I needed it because I had come out of a wild, self-destructive life-style. I believe that is why some people are drawn to the military. They need the discipline. In this respect, discipline is a good thing. Self-discipline is a means of breaking bad habits, and establishing good ones. I advocate healthy self-discipline. It is beneficial for leading a healthy, productive life.
There is a problem however, when the discipline merely controls the what, and not the why. The what is the action. The why is the reason behind the action. Take the two examples I have given regarding the church I mentioned. There is nothing inherently sinful about dancing. If I want to dance around the house while I am cleaning up, what is the sin in that? If I want to dance with my wife at a party, am I harming myself or anyone else? (Well, maybe her if I step on her feet!) The question is my motive for dancing. If I go to a bar and dance with a woman, with the motive of picking her up taking her home for sex, then the motive for my dancing is wrong. (Newsflash, God is not pleased with casual sex, despite what you may have seen on TV, just an FYI. And God is not pleased with sex between two consenting adults who feel like they love each other, if they are not married. This is not my opinion, it is the Word of God.)
If my friends and I want to play a game of cards recreationally, what is the difference in that and playing chess, or basketball? It is just a game. There is nothing more sinful about playing cards than backgammon. However, if we are playing poker for money, we are being financially irresponsible, and that is a destructive behavior, so it is sinful. All the money and material possessions we have do not really belong to us. It all belongs to God, and He gives us the task of managing it, either for the good or the bad. Gambling and wasting money wantonly is not pleasing to God. It is poor stewardship. Think of owning your own business, and putting another man in charge of managing it, who wasted your money and cut into your profits. I imagine you would not allow that man to keep his job very long once you found out what he was doing.
When we look at the words of Jesus quoted above, they initially seem harsh, and make it seem like no one can be good enough. After all, the Pharisees were known for following the Law to the letter. They dotted all their i’s and crossed all their t’s. In all their diet, dress, habits and rituals, they followed strict discipline. How could anyone be more righteous than that? But, like all of Jesus’ words, we must look at the context.
Matthew 5-7 is what is traditionally referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. It is the first, lengthy public discourse that we have a record of after Jesus started his public ministry. Matthew 5:20 is couched right in the middle of a lot of other things we need to understand rightly before we can understand what He means by these words.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cuts to the “why” of what we do. If we don’t get our “whys” right, all the “whats” don’t ultimately matter. What are the qualities that set our “whys” right?
- Being poor in spirit. This means we see our own need. We desire to be pure, and yet we see how far short we fall. You cannot see your own shortcomings, and be proud in heart at the same time. You cannot see your own shortcomings and be judgmental of others, because you realize you are no better than they are.
- Being able to mourn, or be sorrowful. This does not mean you walk around being depressed all the time, and being a “Debbie Downer”. It means that when you see sin and destruction, it pains your soul, because it pains God. He did not create us to live like this. If you have a callous attitude about sin, death and destruction, something is wrong with you. This attitude is the breeding ground for becoming a sociopath, one without a conscience.
- Being meek. This is probably one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Depending on who is using the word, and how it is being used, it can represent weakness, easily imposed on, submissive, or it can mean humble, teachable and patient. Jesus uses the word to basically mean the same thing as what we consider being humble. We don’t think too highly or too lowly of ourselves. We look at all things with sound judgement, motivated by neither pride or self-abasement.
- A hunger and thirst for righteousness. This does not mean to be thought of as righteous, or to appear righteous to others. This is what motivated the Pharisees, whom Jesus spoke to in the most scathing language to condemn their hypocrisy. To a degree, all of us have a built-in sense of justice that desires to see wrongs made right, to see justice served. This is tainted in us, however, because of Original Sin. The perversion of a right sense of justice is revenge. Someone does something bad, either to us, or someone else, and we desire to see them punished. We want them to suffer for their wrongs. This desire exposes in us a wrong bend in our hearts. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness does not desire more evil to punish evil, it simply wants things to be set right. It desires a world in which human beings do not take advantage of, and mistreat each other.
- Being merciful. If we show others mercy (forgiveness), we will be shown mercy (forgiven). Jesus plainly says elsewhere that if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. If we do all the right stuff, and yet remain unforgiving towards others, we will be lost in the end. There is no way to dance around or explain away that hard truth with fancy sounding words Being merciful also means that you do what you can, when you have the means and the opportunity, to relieve the suffering of others.
- Being pure in heart basically sums all these things up. It means your “why” is right. You are motivated by a desire to see good for all, and not motivated by your own self-interest.
- Be a peacemaker. Live at peace, as much as it is in your ability to do so, with everyone. Don’t argue with people. There is nothing wrong with discussion, but arguing doesn’t solve anything, because in an argument, both sides are trying to prove they are right, and not listening to each other. If someone wants to argue with you, tell them that unless they want to engage in a civil discussion, that you are not going to participate. If you have offended anyone, and you are aware of it, admit it, and seek to make things right. If someone has offended you, let them know, in a civil manner. You cannot control how another person interprets what you say, or how they react or respond to it. If you have sought to engage in a civil discussion with someone who refuses to do likewise, you have done your part, so just drop the matter, unless it is doing harm to someone.
Jesus then touches on murder. Murder is the act of killing someone, but murder starts in the heart. The actual act of murder is the “what”, but the anger that is birthed in a person’s heart that leads them to murder, or the desire to murder is the “why”.
Adultery is the “what” of engaging in sex with another person’s spouse, but the desire that leads to adultery is the “why”. Take care of the “why” and the “what” will not become an issue.
The bottom line to all of this, and I could give many more examples, is that God is the judge of our hearts. The human heart can be a wellspring of life, or it can be a manufacturer of lies, and lead us to wrong desires and motives. Always ask “why”. Why do I think this way? Why do I feel this way? Why am I allowing this evil thought to take root in me? This is all you can control. You can do all the right “stuff”, but if your heart is impure, and your motives are all wrong, all the “stuff” doesn’t matter in the end.
Danny's Stump 