“Nothing outside a person can defile them. Rather it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” (Mark 7:15 NIV)
It seems like the Pharisees had gotten really good at the blame game: thinking that all sin was sourced in interactions with a sinful and dirty environment. In order to protect themselves, they made excessive and unrealistic rules about the outside world, rules that were impossible for regular believers to fulfill. The Pharisees could afford to separate themselves for the fear of contamination and simultaneously condemn the hardworking commoners for violating the extra and impossible rules they had added to God’s law. They failed to realize it’s not only a fallen world that infects us with sin, it’s a fallen self. Outward rules will not address an inner problem. The further the Pharisees propelled themselves from others, the twistier they got.
Isolation is not the cure for our sin condition. Though tempting, and maybe easier, we don’t grow well alone. We are unchallenged when we separate from others. It may feel like maturity, but truly our self is just living unopposed, apart from the clash of another’s will or conscience.
The Pharisees had isolated themselves from average people. They had escalated their appointed position to god-like status and they lived without any sort of accountability system. They were the highest run on the Jewish socio-religious ladder and consequently, their morality went unchecked. While they had the appearance of holiness, (with their hand washing rituals and their ceremonial Sabbath laws), we note as early as Mark 3:6 that they were plotting murder in their hearts.
It’s not the outside of us that perpetuates our sin problem, it’s the inside.
“He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”” (Mark 7:21-23 NIV)
The sooner we can join Jesus in this conclusion – that the heart of man is the problem, not the circumstance – the sooner we can start to address our real issues. When we realize that sin starts in the heart, we can begin our work there. We can be honest about our tendencies and temptations. We can pursue accountability with other believers. We can invite the Holy Spirit to search our our most intimate places and respond to His conviction with godly sorrow and heartfelt repentance.
All of this, though, requires humility. The Pharisees would have had to admit they weren’t perfect, they didn’t have it all together as it appeared and they needed God’s help. We need the same sort of humility in our stories and humility is in still in short supply two thousand years later. It’s scary to share our flaws, especially when we are in leadership, but imagine how our narrative might change if we did?
Also, recognize the great cost of pretending to have it all together when deep inside, we’re a terrible sinful mess. The Pharisees sent Jesus, the rightful Son of God, to the cross. Their aloofness with others and rigidity in religious routine corrupted their hearts to the point of murder.
We must be real with one another. We must be honest about our struggles and vulnerable with our shortcomings. The only way to actually address these weaknesses is with humility. Otherwise, the cost of a religious facade is far too high.
“What is it that causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come form your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1 NIV)
Lord, we long to follow and honor You wholeheartedly. We humble ourselves right now. Far more than following rules, we want our motives to be right. Please speak to us about the desires within. Search us by Your Holy Spirit, light up any sinful holdouts. Address our wrong thoughts, attitudes and desires. Heal us from the inside out as only You can. Help us live in vulnerability and accountability with others. Use us to build Your Kingdom, not tear it to pieces. Amen.