Agenda and Motive

I was looking for a C.S. Lewis quote I mentioned in a previous blog post and on the first page of Google results there was a blogger who wrote an expose on the occult agenda of C.S. Lewis in his Narnia books.  The internet is rife with this sort of thing, people who claim to have discovered a "hidden agenda" which may or may not be true.

As I thought this claim to knowledge over, it occurred to me that "having an agenda" often directly corresponds with personal motive.  Because we cannot perfectly know the hearts of men making absolute claims about the motives of others is dicey at best.  Take for instance in western culture the marriage of people who are vastly different in age:  a young woman marrying an older wealthy man could be viewed by some as a gold-digger or some might call the old man a pervert.  But the reality is the couple could very much be in love, regardless of what is common practice in society or our judgments based on appearances and limited knowledge.  Even when we have heard two sides on a matter we haven't heard the whole story.

God is the only One who perfectly knoww the hearts and thoughts of men, something Jesus demonstrated on a regular basis in the Gospels.  Jeremiah 17:5-10 says, "Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. ⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. ⁷ "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. ⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river,and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. ⁹ "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? ¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."  Walking according to sight has many pitfalls, but trusting the LORD keeps us from anxious thoughts and makes us fruitful.  Our heart is naturally deceitful:  if we cannot know the depravity and hidden agenda of our own hearts, how can we be sure we know the motives of others?

Now there are ways hidden motives of the hearts can be revealed by the things we say and do.  But let us examine our own hearts because we are quick to assume we know the motives of others:  quick assumptions and judgments we make say more about us than others.  We are to guard our hearts, to examine our motives, to weigh our feelings and thoughts against the straight-edge of scripture to ensure we are aligned righteously with God and our fellow men.  A heart regenerated and illuminated by God may not be more discerning of others but sees the need for personal repentance and reformation as David in Psalm 51:10-12:  "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."  There is much which may concern us about others, but in our praying let us draw near the LORD for our own sakes in desperate need for revival, renewal, and restoration.