Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3–10
There are all sorts of self-help books out there these days. There are books to teach you how to fix your obnoxious and rebellious child with scripted responses and prescribed consequences. There are programs you can buy to learn a language in just ten days without a textbook or any of the memory work that makes language learning so frustrating. You can lose 6 inches off your waist in 6 weeks without exercising or changing your diet. We have hopefully been conditioned well enough to spot snake oil and resist the urge to buy. The trouble with so much of the self-help literature is that it recommends an outside-in approach to solving our problems. If your child constantly argues with you and won’t listen to a word you are saying, maybe you just aren’t using the right words; try new ones. If you are failing at learning a language, it isn’t you; it’s the technique. The idea is that you can manipulate your environment and the people in it that are bringing you down so that you can finally meet your full potential and let others see just how great you really are. This was the paradigm of the scribes and Pharisees, and Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount is basically a refutation of this flawed approach to life: effective change doesn’t happen from the outside in, but rather from the inside out.
Instead of trying to simply control our outward behavior, we must change the heart that produces that behavior. It is not enough to refrain from murdering a brother with whom I am angry; I need the kind of heart that moves me to go to him and seek reconciliation (Matthew 5:21–24). It is not enough to abstain from adultery; I need the kind of heart that will not permit lust in the first place (5:27–30). It is not enough to keep oaths that I make; I need to live the kind of life before others that makes them trust me without swearing an oath (5:33–37). It is not enough to do no harm to any who haven’t harmed me; I need the kind of heart that is open to abuse (5:28–42). It is not enough for me to force myself to love my neighbor; I need the kind of heart that demonstrates love for my enemy (5:43–48). Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). It is not that our outward demonstrations of righteousness will exceed those of the scribes and Pharisees (that would be hard to accomplish), but rather our motives for righteous living would compel us to do these works for God’s glory instead of our own. Such exercises will produce a healthy heart and, by extension, healthy faith and religion.
When the heart is healthy, the body will show signs of wellbeing. We will do good deeds, but not for man’s recognition (6:1–18). Thus our prayers and our charity will be done in the shadows, and although we might not receive the recognition that others enjoy, we receive our recognition from God. We will not worry about things beyond our control since we have entrusted our hearts already to the one who rules over all (6:19–34). Although we seek to help one another with our weaknesses, we will not judge one other unfairly, seeing that we all have weaknesses of our own (7:1–5). When our hearts are healthy, the rains and winds will still come, but we will be able to weather the storms of life (7:24–27).