This is our fourth Sunday in discovering significant ways in order that
we may really clean the dirt on the
inside of the cup. Please keep in mind that we’re not issuing
you a step by step process on HOW TO
CHANGE. There is only one key formula that we’re sharing
with you that we hope you will highly consider because it is rooted from
biblical truth. That one formula is called a change from inside out!
During our first week in this series, we told everyone that change as our
Lord describes it involves more than cleaning up our visible act.
He wants us to do more than sweeping the streets; He wants us to go down
into the sewers and do something about the dirt beneath that which can
be obviously seen or noticed. During our second week, we challenged
everyone never to deny the pain, longing, and the desires that we feel
inside. It is necessary to acknowledge that they exists. Denying
the pain usually results to pain in our heart which leads to problems in
our private world. No wonder we become involve into such many disappointing
events that we’re losing control of. The best way to be quench from our
thirstiness is to admit that thirstiness really exists. Last week,
we help solving the problem of demandingness. Like Job, we want to
help God and tell Him how He should run our lives. There are times
that we demand against His sovereign act; we have that desire to oppose
His sovereignty when what God is actually doing is to use the evil that
exists around us to make us better and faithful Christians. When
we reject what God is permitting to happen, He may not be able to work
thoroughly inside our heart to remove the dirt inside our cup.
In our efforts to change, there is one question that we should
not forget: Exactly what is wrong within me. What is there
inside of me that makes me decide not to love others? What is there
inside of me that causes the depression, worry, sexual perversion, hostility,
resentment, hatred, greediness, feeling of insecurity and a multitude of
other known sins? In other words, we must be able to define the problem
that causes us to behave the way we are not supposed to behave. It
was said that fifty (50%) of your problem is solved when you know exactly
what your problem really is. Let me quote Dr. Larry Crabb here:
As we try to understand the process of change, we must
realize that deep change comes
about less because of what we try to do and how hard we try to
do it, and more because of our
willingness to face the realities of our own internal life.
Personal integrity, a commitment to
never pretend about anything, is prerequisite for change from
the inside out.
To identify the problem inside us that causes us to sin is one thing.
It is another thing to do something about it by dealing with it through
the power of the gospel. Repentance is necessary for change to occur
at the deepest level. But please bear in mind that we’ll not be deeply
changed overnight. Change is progressive!
Let’s look at this route to deep change. First,
I. Identify the problem areas
If deep change is going to happen, we must look beneath the surface
of life. We need to identify what really is the central problem that
needs changing. We need to ask deep and penetrating question to identify
the dirt on the inside of the cup. It is necessary that we name each
dirt and expose it. Ask question like, “What causes me to continue
a particular sin in my behavior? What is the dirt inside of me that
must be brought to light? Granted that we’re really honest in our
inside search, the list would be endless? Is it lack of self control?
Pride? Laziness? Insincere commitment? Poorly handled
temperament? Stubborn sinfulness? Deep insecurity? Self
pity? Meaninglessness? Biblical ignorance? In other words,
we really want to identify the very sin in our hearts that should be changed
progressively, maybe even until we die? Unless we identify and face
the central problem squarely, there won’t be any change inside out!
Jesus clearly identified the very reason why deep, genuine change
is not happening. It is because we’re looking in all the wrong places.
We’re exposing wrong directions. Again Jesus is saying, “You clean
the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you’re full of greed and self-indulgence.”
(Matthew 23:25). He was saying here that we could be looking in all
the wrong place because every time we make a decision to change, we rearrange
the outside of the cup. We say, “If I only could spent another
hour of prayer and Bible reading and memorize five more verses a day, my
life will significantly change. Jesus may say to us, “You’re exposing
wrong directions.” Jesus mentioned about the central problem that
must be dealt: “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then
the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23:26).
II. Replace Self-Protective Maneuvering with Loving Commitment
One effect of sin in our heart is the fact that we become self-protective.
Remember that the essence of sin is a shift from God-centeredness to self-centeredness.
We continue to work at preserving our life. The root of many sins
in our lives is self-protection. And so if deep change is going to
take place, we must deal with the sin of self-protection. We will
be required to spot some of the specific ways we protect ourselves such
as the manner we communicate with out spouse, we fellowship with other
believers, we interact at a meeting. We can trace many of our relational
sins from the sin of self-protection. We find ourselves becoming
angry when people fail to care about us as they should. We see our
patience as fruit of the Spirit when it may not be more than self-protection.
This is all pure and simple a self-protection approach to life. And
so to change from the inside out, we are required to repent of our self-protective
commitment.
In Hosea 14:1-3 (provided in your bulletin), God tells the Jews
of Hosea’s day exactly how to repent. This passage points out the
essential of repentance that is real, deep and genuine. Let’s look
at some of the elements of true repentance.
Return to the Lord your God. Sin is, like we said, a shift
from being God-centered to being self-centered. And therefore salvation
or repentance will take place if we shift our gear from being self-centered
to being God-centered.
Take words with you. This means that repentance should
not be looked at as merely a general commitment to change. But as
we approach God, we must have some clear idea of what we’re repenting of.
The more thorough our awareness of sin, the more fully we acknowledge,
the more complete our repentance would be.
Forgive all our sins. Deep repentance includes also admission
of all our sins and not only some of them (only sins that are obvious and
known to others) or part of them (which would be another sin--lying).
What would be the results of deep repentance? We may offer the fruit
of our lips. This means worship. We will be driven to true worship
only as we give up all earthly hopes of finding life.
Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses.”
We can only understand this if we will try to recall what Israel did when
they were threatened with national collapse. As a weak and vulnerable
nation, instead of trusting the Lord to protect them against their enemy,
they consulted a pagan nation, Assyria, to help and protect them.
How is repentance related to this account? Repentance requires a
sincere admission that whatever we’re depending on for life will let us
down. Assyria cannot save us. Repentance is abandoning our
self-protective maneuvering to ensure personal survival. When we
repent of our self-protective lifestyle, we depend and trust God alone
and we tell Him that if He fails to come, we’ll be destroyed because we
now believe that whatever we’re depending on IN THIS LIFE will let us down.
We will never again say “our gods” to what our own hands have
made. Repentance requires a clear and decisive break with self-sufficiency.
We identify and then forsake those attempts that we make to ensure personal
security as we relate to others.
III. Change the direction of our being
Before we truly move to change in the direction of our being,
we must understand the fact that there must be a change in our conscious
direction as well as a change in our approach to relationships.
So we want to ask the question what must we see in order to
effect or see change in our conscious direction. We must see first
ourselves as sinners if there is going to be a change in our conscious
direction. There could be no change in our direction if we don’t admit
we miss the mark, or acknowledge that we’re going the wrong direction.
Part of this change in direction is our decision to live for Christ.
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ.”
(Galacians 2:20). This is exactly what we mean by change in conscious
direction. An example could be a life of a rock band member whose
life revolved around rock music, girls, and beer. We say not all
of rock musicians are but many of them. When this young
rock musician was converted to Christ, he immediately changed his lifestyle.
In addition to that, he enrolled in the Bible College to study for the
ministry. This is an example of change in conscious direction.
Like the Apostle Paul who was a persecutor-turned-preacher of the Gospel.
This is an example of change in conscious direction. But there’s
one more
Change in our approach to relationships. Let’s assume that
the ex-rock musician has graduated from the Bible College. He took
a ministry in one of the churches. Along the way, he was provoked
by a fellow worker who is undermining his work. There are two possible
reactions. He will avoid feeling the pain or express the rage.
An inside look will let go of the latter (express the rage) because we
recognize that self-protective lifestyle as a defense against pain is futile
and worthless. What are we seeing and saying here is something like
this: I have been disappointed. I am committed to avoid the
pain caused by that disappointment. But I recognize that that commitment
to avoid the pain is wrong. And so change in our approach to relationship
is taking place.
The last level of change is change in the direction of being.
Although we are threatened with pain and insecurities as we live in this
present life, yet we are determined that nothing in this world could satisfy
us; that nothing is desirable apart from God; that all we long and thirst
for is God. This is the fullest extend of that shift from self-centeredness
to God-centeredness.
Conclusion: Where are we heading as far as changing from
the inside out is concern? Are we identifying the sins? Are
we ready to replace self-protective maneuvering with loving commitment?
Are we being changed at the level of experiencing changing the direction
of inner being where all we long for is God and God alone?
