“Live so that when your children think of fairness,
caring, and integrity, they think of you.”
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
When it comes to important financial investments, we like to spread financial risk across multiple types of investments in order to reduce potential loss. We call this “hedging our bets”, which is another way of saying we want to minimize our risks and reduce our chances of losing money. In conventional wisdom, hedging our bets as investors is viewed as a wise way to protect against big losses.
But when it comes to faith, “hedging our bets” doesn’t work so well. Jesus warned that “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” In the 9th century BC, Elijah the prophet called out the people of the northern kingdom of Israel for hedging their bets religiously: ““How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” Loving God with all our heart, soul, and strength means we’re not giving our highest loyalty to any other ultimate concerns.
Our English word integrity is related to its mathematical cousin, the integer, which is defined as a whole number that can be written without a fractional component. The connotation of integrity of faith, then, is to have one’s heart wholly committed to its highest cause, to be undivided in one’s loyalty, to have no fractional components that are given to other loves. In Jesus’ beatitudes, “purity of heart” describes complete devotion to the one true God. “Purity of heart” means we don’t place side bets on Baal, Mammon, the principalities and powers, or any other so-called gods.
Jesus gives three negative examples of how our purity of heart can be disrupted in Matthew 6:1-18. He warns us to beware practicing our piety so that others can see us, for such performative faith betrays its true motive: seeking human respect and honor. Thus, practices such as giving to the needy, praying to God, or fasting for reasons of faith, need not be pointed out for others to see and be impressed. They are to be kept between God and us, as much as is possible.
The “pure in heart” whom Jesus blesses understand they are performing for an audience of One. Their hearts’ affections and deepest loyalties are in pursuit of loving and serving God, not hedging their bets or burnishing their reputation with the grade-givers of our world. May God bless each of us as we seek to live with such purity of heart.
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