Can we fix our problems? ............. Parables 759

July 30, 2002

A page from TIME with letters to the editor sits on my desk. This particular batch makes comments on the popularity of the LeHaye and Jenkins “Left Behind” series of books about the Second Coming. Some express agreement with the premise of the books; others think of them as money-making drivel.

I’ve not read any of the “Left Behind” books but as I read these letters, I realize that the point the authors try to make is missed entirely by those who put their faith in the ability of humans beings to correct their own mistakes.

Jesus did not share their faith. In Matthew 15, the Pharisees criticized His disciples for neglecting a ritual. Traditions said they must pour water on their hands and arms before eating. Jesus replied to the critics with a criticism of His own. He accused them of breaking the Lord’s commands for the sake of their traditions. They were doing things “in the name of God” that were purely for personal gain.

Jesus called them hypocrites. He said they honored God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him, and they taught “rules” made up by men, but neglected God’s teachings. In a reference to food laws, He said it is not what we eat that make us unclean, but what comes out of our mouths.

The disciples listened to Jesus but they didn’t understand what He said either. In their minds, their traditions were truth. They had trouble accepting that what they had been taught and believed in all their lives was totally irrelevant to true spirituality. Didn’t outward behavior count for anything?

So Jesus explained again, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”

Jesus turned the world upside down with statements like this, yet most of the people in it are walking on the ceiling without realizing it. We shrink from this reality of sin in our hearts and think “pretty good” is good enough. We may not have done any horrible deeds but fail to recognize our restraint does not mean we are pure and innocent.

Like the Pharisees, we think that we are basically good at heart, and many are certain we can handle the mistakes we make. One writer to TIME said global warming, terrorism, hatred, etc. “are man’s problems, caused by man. With hard work and understanding, they can be solved by man.”

Jesus says the opposite. He says the whole world system will deteriorate because man, contrary to that writer’s opinion, cannot solve the mess that we have created. This passage of Scripture explains why. It is not in us to be pure, innocent, or righteous. We need changed hearts.

Last night, as we watched a movie, my husband said, “How can people kill others without any thought?” It slipped his mind that the world is filled with people who are living out exactly what is in their hearts. Christian author, Oswald Chambers says “we begin by trusting our ignorance and call it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity.”

But no man is pure without the Holy Spirit, and even then, we need to remember that we are just as capable of the darkest sin as the next guy.

Our restraint, to please God, must not be from cowardice, or social norms and restrictions, but from the power of the Holy Spirit. God alone can purify our hearts and deliver us from the junk that makes us unclean, but He will not do it without an invitation.