Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.
Even in our day we have a strong preference for problems that can be solved by something that enters one from without. We image that a pill or a diet could solve our problems. Or maybe if we became vegetarians or were more faithful about recycling the issues of the world would be solved. Are there structural problems in society that need fixing? Absolutely. Could we ourselves benefit from finding a better supplement or exercise regime? Perhaps. But the point that Jesus made was that none of these interventions is capable of addressing the deepest issue that underlies the rest.
But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
If we imagine we can perfect ourselves and society but leave our hearts untouched we deceive ourselves. The issues we see in society don't crop up out of nowhere, but rather are the magnified manifestations of our interior brokenness.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (see James 4:1).
If all the external things were fixed, all the injustice in the world, and everyone had all they needed to be happy and healthy, it would still not be long before we brought the world back down to its current condition, if we tried to live in that world without converted hearts.
When we focus on external things that merely signal our virtue to others we become complicit in building a society defiled by sin. Whatever we do for show, or seeking validation for ourselves, contributes to the illusion that it is what is outside that matters rather than what is within. How does this look in individual lives? It often takes the form of individuals who need to present a self-image that appears to be already perfected rather than the truth that we are all, to one degree or another, still struggling with hearts in need of conversion.
The Pharisees seemed to say, 'Look at us, we've got everything right.' And somehow this is the image that Christians feel the need to present to the world as well. This is not to diminish the impact of the grace that has already been effective in our lives. But it is to take the realistic perspective that the only reason we can continue to stand is by relying on grace, and the only way our progress will continue enough to get us home to heaven is, again, by relying on grace. It would be nice to be perfect already, to just need to keep on with what we have already accomplished. But deep down we know that there is more. And ultimately, it is better that there is more. For with our meager purity how clearly do we see God? Not very? Hardly at all? Then let us rejoice that their are ever deeper levels of purification to which we are called.
From within the man, from his heart
Although the problem comes from within, without the need for any external fuel to make it burn, the solution must also originate from within. Yet the solution is not something we can create for ourselves. Only God, who himself can work sweetly and secretly within our hearts, can give us the transformation we desire.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (see Ezekiel 36:26).
The truth of the deepest need of our hearts and where that need can be met is the deepest and truest form of wisdom. It is worth more than the spices, gold, and precious stones of the Queen of Sheba because this wisdom is the one thing that can train our hearts on that which alone can satisfy them, God himself. It is not just that he is good or true, but rather that he is goodness itself and truth itself. This is why he calls us to seek wisdom and to seek purity: he desires that we find these things in him.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
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