Cleaning from the Inside Out; Mark 6-8

May the mumbling commence!

What does it mean to be clean?  We spend much time in the country to keep clean.  We shower.  We brush and floss our teeth.  We wash our dishes (or put them in a dishwasher).  We wash our hands before we prepare a meal.  We wash our hands before we eat a meal.  We wash and disinfect our homes.  We do all these things and more to promote cleanliness.

“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”  We have all heard this saying.  How do we as Christians put this into practice?  In Mark chapter seven, the Pharisees have a confrontation with Jesus over the washing of hands before a meal.  Jesus accused them of being hypocrites – forsaking the commands of God for the traditions of men.

When we think of our human traditions of cleanliness, we always clean from the outside in.  And usually we don’t go too deep when we clean.  Even in a thorough cleaning like spring cleaning, we often neglect all the nooks and crannies of our lives.  Jesus calls for a different level of cleanliness – one that cleans from the inside out.  Read from Mark chapter seven:

Then he called the crowd close to him again, and spoke to them, "Listen to me now, all of you, and understand this, There is nothing outside a man which can enter into him and make him 'common'. It is the things which come out of a man that make him 'common'!"

Later, when he had gone indoors away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this parable.

"Oh, are you as dull as they are?" he said. "Can't you see that anything that goes into a man from outside cannot make him 'common' or unclean? You see, it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach, and passes out of the body altogether, so that all food is clean enough. But," he went on, "whatever comes out of a man, that is what makes a man 'common' or unclean. For it is from inside, from men's hearts and minds, that evil thoughts arise – lust, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, arrogance and folly! All these evil things come from inside a man and make him unclean!" (Verses 14-23)

Clean the attitudes of our hearts.  Then we will see results.  Then we will think differently, see differently, understand differently, speak differently, and act differently.  In other words, we will think and speak and act because of who we are.

Lysol or Mr. Clean cannot help us in this kind of in-depth cleaning.  Dove or Dial soap cannot help either.  There is only one way to become clean.  Approach Christ Jesus and dwell in him – abide in him.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life in its entirety.  Make sure the Word of God has preeminence over all the traditions and wisdom of this world.

When we clean at this depth, there are no longer any nooks or crannies in our lives for unclean attitudes to retain a foothold – lustfulness, covetness, hatred, unfaithfulness, selfishness, wickedness, deceitfulness, lewdness, enviousness, arrogance or folly.  Leave these things and things like them behind.

Let our prayer be: “O Jesus, clean us from the inside out in the power of the Holy Spirit.”  And all God’s people said, “Amen.”  So be it.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out