inside (Mt 23:25-36)

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Psalm 3; Matthew 23:25-36

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!... So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
(Matthew 23:27-28)

Clearly Jesus is condemning the scribes and Pharisees for appearing one way outwardly, for show, for honor and adulation, but actually being another way inside: greed, self-indulgence (v. 25), hypocrisy, lawlessness, persecution and murder of prophets (v. 34).

These are things in the heart of every person, at least potentially. The problem is not attending to the heart. The problem is convincing ourselves that our religion is only about what we can manage - how we look or sound or perform our religious duties in front of others.

Jesus came to rescue his people. But as the saying goes, getting the people out of Egypt is one thing, getting Egypt out of the people is another... Jesus indeed came to deliver us from bondage and death, and to transform us by his Spirit beginning with a new heart - but also with a renewed mind and bodies that are slaves of God and of righteousness (cf. Romans 6). Repenting and believing in Jesus, and following him is the start. The scribes and Pharisees would not do this. Following Jesus includes living like he did, it includes embracing spiritual disciplines, as he did, for our equipping and maturity and transformation.

While most of us cannot stand hypocrites, we have our areas where we either are tempted to act that way or actually succumb to the temptation. Because there are places inside us that we would prefer to remain under our control, or comfortably tied to things of the world, or we're too afraid to yield to his gracious healing and rule.

As we've been talking about the last several Wednesday nights, I encourage you to live a "baptized life," continuing to "put off" the way and "put on" the new, and embracing spiritual disciplines as a key way for that transformation to continue. (cf. Dallas Willard's books, especially The Spirit of the Disciplines, Richard Foster's books, especially Celebration of Discipline, Henri Nouwen's books, especially The Way of the Heart).


I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill
(Psalm 3:4)