Anyway, as I reminisce about my dirt caked childhood, I wonder how many of us are guilty of the same thing. On the surface, I was attempting to appear as though I was clean; while the reality was that I was filthy. Jesus warned against such behavior as it pertained to our spiritual lives. In Matthew 23:25 he states, “For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy…” As it was with Jesus’ audience, the truth is that we are so often more concerned about how we appear to man than how we appear before God.
The funny thing is that people are searching for true authenticity. Frankly, they’re tired of the stench. They despise the hypocrisy and are skeptically searching for spiritual integrity. Which begs the question, who are you when no one is looking? Are you as clean as you appear? Has your life truly been transformed by grace, or is righteousness simply a mask you wear? Like the child who emerges soaking wet from the bathroom, are you secretly hoping that no one will find out how bad you really stink?
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4 comments:
I have the problem of worrying about the outside. The inside is more important to me, but there are times that I make sure everyone around me can see what's on the inside. It's like I kind of try to showboat the "cleanliness" of my inside, but then again if that's my attitude how clean am I really on the inside? Or does that mean that I actually am more worried about the appearance? Sorry, that was a ramble. Thanks for the reminder though Tommy. I miss the time when I got this from you every day of my life.
Thanks for the comment Travis. I love how the Message translates v.25-26 - "You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisees! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something." In other words, we don't have to work to make sure others see the 'cleanliness,' because if we are truly clean on the inside the surface will also 'gleam'. We have to be careful when desiring for others to notice our 'cleanliness,' because it may be that pride is creating the desire to be noticed. Be clean and others will notice you're clean.
I miss hanging out as well. God bless bro.
It is interesting you talk about being transformed. I just finished teaching a series on becoming transformed. I know that where I screw up the most is when I try to do the transforming. Only the Holy Spirit can transform our lives. Isn't it crazy how we so easily forget that. I used several examples of people in the Bible who's lives were transformed by meeting Jesus. Now you know I am pretty partial to Matthew, but doesn't it say a lot about his transformation, that when Jesus said "Follow me", Matthew just dropped everything, like all the other disciples, and followed Him. If only we followed Him with the same faith. Given we are going to be roomates at Catalyst, it is good to hear about you hygiene. Talk to you soon.
Thanks for adding your thoughts Allen. Not only do we try and transform ourselves, but we tend to get a kind of "God-complex," thinking we can transform others. This explains why we so often expect people to act in a Christ-like manner before they even know Christ and are appalled when they act otherwise.
Btw, you are rooming with Kevin Salyer at Catalyst. I'm rooming with my wife.
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