"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."-Matthew 23:25-26 NKJV
Is it me, or does it seem like the institution of the church has been losing its power over the past few years. Losing to the conscious movement; the age of knowledge which is the spirit of this day and time. The church has become a joke, and ineffective as a whole. Why is that? Could it be that we have failed to do our dishes? Let me explain.
Jesus states, be ye holy for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 20:26) Paul then tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Christ which is our reasonable service. (Romans 12:1-2) In layman's terms, be set apart because He is set apart; in a class of His own. Unfortunately, a lot of people have equated holiness to looks, dress and behavior, but left out the heart. The heart is very important. It's so important that we are told to protect it because out of it flows the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23) And in the opening scripture in Matthew, where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, He is speaking of the inside of them. Take note, the Pharisees were men that knew the scriptures, the rules and the law. They knew all of the "churchy" things to say, the cliches' but their hearts....their hearts were filthy.
Picture this, you have a cup that is clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. Would you risk tainting the integrity of your beverage by pouring it into that cup for it to become dirty, which in turn could interfere with not only the presentation, but the taste or even how it's accepted? Of course not! But so many of us are just that, dirty cups. We look good on the outside, but need to be cleansed on the inside. Christ's righteousness has been imputed into us through faith, but we have failed to live up to the standard of holiness which has quenched the power of God from fully operating in our lives. And holiness is not so much a matter of rules, it's a matter of love; of the heart. Jesus said in John 14:15, if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.
I posed a question on Facebook asking people if they had to choose a cup, would they choose one that was dirty on the outside and clean on the inside or one that was the opposite. Some said they would use their hands, which wasn't an option and others said the cup that is clean on the inside. When we accept Jesus as our savior and Lord and are born again, God's spirit comes to dwell in us, but our willingness to be holy as He is holy dictates if He can REALLY use us. Don't get me wrong, God can use who He chooses. He used Rahab who was a prostitute and even used a donkey, but how much more of an impact can God have if those that claim to know Him would present themselves to be used by Him not just once, but continuously? And let me make this clear, God did not call us to be perfect but to be holy. Again, holiness is a matter of the heart. I know it used to be said a lot, "God knows my heart" and it used to be used as a scapegoat but really it should be a reality check. Yes, God does know our hearts but He won't be fooled or mocked! I'm almost certain the people who uttered those words didn't realize the magnitude of what was actually being said and it was used as an excuse for doing something they know they shouldn't have. God doesn't need our excuses, just our obedience. Holiness is committing to putting God in His proper place as Lord, loving Him as well as His people and living a life accordingly to Him however He sees fit for you to live it. That takes man out of the equation, with their opinions and traditions, and puts the focus on relationship with Him.
As I digress, to my original thought and statement of the state of the church, I personally feel that we, as a whole, have failed to do our dishes. We've equated church creeds, modest wear, clean speech and regular church attendance to holiness but have failed to do the real work. Holiness is an inside job and so many of us have failed, including myself. In an age where knowledge and reasoning is taking precedence over Christ and faith, the evidence of God's power being manifested through signs and wonders is a must! But, our cups are filthy and have comprised the integrity of God's power in us. My prayer is that we wake up from our comfort induced slumber, and do better. Our purpose and destiny as well as the souls of those that have fallen away and are lost depends on it. Good news is it's just a little dirt, just a little stain compared to God's redemptive power that can restore and makes us whole again because we're worth it. Click here to listen to "Worth It" from Lecrae's new album.
Let's be like David, who was an imperfect man but he was a man after God's own heart. He says in Psalms 51:
