In 2011 the US based Barna Research group conducted a study on how Christians defined spiritual maturity.[1] The study found that “Most Christians…four out of five (81% in fact)…equate spiritual maturity with following the rules” – things like reading the Bible, prayer, going to church, being moral. I can identify with this. For a good part of my Christian life I would have said the same, although I would not have said rule keeping, I would have said “holiness”.
Holiness sounds more biblical. But it may come as a surprise – at least to eighty-one percent of us – that rule keeping, or even holiness, is not God’s highest goal for us. Jesus is clear about this: God “seeks…worshippers” (John 4:23). What this means is that God is not first and foremost after our obedience but our hearts.
The heart, writes Don Carson, “is the center of the personality, embracing mind, emotions, and will.”[2] The heart is like the control tower at an airport. The heart, whether we know it or not, like it or not, governs everything. One commentator writes, the heart is “that place from which we feel and think and determine our actions.”[3] Thus, according to Jesus, “out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt. 15:19).
So what makes the heart such a control tower? The answer is in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This verse highlights a very important principle. The heart may govern how we think, feel, and act but it is treasure that governs the heart. Treasure moves the heart and it does so effortlessly. Don Carson articulates this point so well: “the most cherished treasure subtly but infallibly controls the whole person’s direction and values.”[4]
But according to Jesus, treasure comes in two forms: one earthly, temporary, visible, and evil, the other heavenly, eternal, hidden, and good (Matt. 6:19-20; 12:35). The Rich Young Ruler is an example of someone who is influenced by earthly treasure. Jesus tells him to sell all he has and give to the poor. But he can’t. Why? He has kept all the commandments (Matt. 19:18). But he can’t keep this one. Why not? The reason is because for all his Jewish life he’s lived in relationship with God evidently oblivious to the fact that God was after his heart before his obedience. Without the heart he had produced a life that looked pretty good by all appearances. But for all this time his heart had been where the heart will always be, with its treasure. Which in this case, was wealth.
The Pharisees provide another example of misplaced treasure. Fastidious about holiness, Jesus chided them for honouring God “with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matt. 15:8). Like the rich young ruler, they had lived in relationship with God oblivious to the fact that God was after their hearts before their obedience. Without the heart they were able to honour God with their lips but their worship was “in vain” (Matt. 15:9). Meanwhile their hearts were where all hearts will be, with their treasure. Which in the Pharisees’ case was their “traditions” (Matt. 15:3-6).
Now contrast these two examples with a man who found some “treasure hidden in a field.” Notice how the man he responds:“then, in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matt. 13:44). This man’s heart had found heavenly treasure and as a result he is able to do what the rich young ruler could not do, sell everything.
He experiences what the Pharisees never experienced, a heart ruled by heavenly treasure and, therefore, genuine worship.
Where is your heart? There is no question that it will be where all hearts are, with its treasure. But where is your treasure? Jesus is the only treasure that will change the heart and thus change lives. No worldly treasure can claim to be “gentle and humble” (Matt. 11:29). No worldly treasure will die for anyone. But Jesus does just that. He comforts those who mourn their sin, satisfies those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, draws near to those who repent, and dwells with those who are broken. He is what every heart is searching for.
[1] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/264-many-churchgoers-and-faith-leaders-struggle-to-define-spiritual-maturity?q=sermon+mount 29/11/2011.
[2] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 177.
[3]John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: a Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 205.
[4] Carson, 177.
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