"And then [Christ] added, 'It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from ithin; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable before God.'" - Mark 6:20-23
I've just been consuming the Gospel of Mark, but the Spirit hung me up right here. It is odd, because at the moment I read it, I struggled to understand, fought to bring out the things I've learned in the past. Yet now the Spirit speaks to me through these verses in many different ways, and I believe the Spirit's pressed it against me so I can just lay back, listen, and ruminate on what He says. These are a few of the things I've had brought to the forefront of my mind through this beautiful trilogy of scripture:
1) The problem of sin isn't so much what-we-do but who-we-are. Since conception we are fallen creatures, with fallen natures; instead of having a Spirit nature, we have a sinful/human nature. Thankfully, Christ offers us the Spirit nature through His grace and transformation; when we take on the Spirit nature, we reap the fruit of the Spirit. When we are slaves to the sinful nature, we reap the fruit of the flesh. All the sins Christ listed are sins that are manifested because of the sinful nature in the heart. The reason they are there is because the heart is corrupt (or at least not completely transformed into the Spirit nature)... The Spirit speaks to me, "Look at the sins you struggle with, but don't concentrate on just getting rid of the acts. You have to dig deeper, into your heart. Only when your heart is changed into a heart of the Spirit can your actions deny the fruit of the flesh."
2) The greatest way to see who we really are, at the core, is not looking at the sins we commit. It is possible to be filthy on the inside and yet look righteous on the outside, so just looking at how much or what sins are committed is not a good gauge. Instead we must look at our thought-life. Why? Because the thoughts that run across our mind come directly from our heart. The sin we see is the evil in our hearts manifesting itself physically... The Spirit speaks to me, "Look at your thought-life. See what thoughts run across your mind: are they thoughts of lust, thoughts of revenge, thoughts of pride? Even if you do not commit acts of lust, acts of revenge, and roll in pride, you are still sinning. By looking at your thoughts you can see what is wrong within you and only when you know this can you really, adequately pursue transformation. The greatest way to see who you are is to look at what runs inside your head, where thoughts don't need to be measured and censored to avoid being seen."
3) Throughout this same chapter, Christ is condemning the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. The hypocrisy Christ is hammering them for is, if I am not mistaken, the fact that they color themselves up to be righteous but their insides are dirty as smut. It's easy to look religious and even look intimate with God on the outside--read your Bible, say lots of prayers, reach out to others, avoid sin--but the test of whether or not we are religious, whether or not we are intimate with God is what is on the inside, and only Christ sees that (though everyone will one day when Christ reveals our inner motives to all). The Spirit speaks to me, "Make sure you aren't just playing a game. Take some time away and really look inside at yourself: what are your motives, what are your secret desires, what are the thoughts than run through your head, what is the real reason you are pursuing God?" Are my motives corrupt? Do I harbor secret and sinful desires that may even exist in the subconscious? What are my secret thoughts that no one but me knows? Why is it I pursue God--is the reason pure (pursue God for God) or corrupt (pursue God out of entertainment, for security, for Heaven, for blessings and gifts, etc.). Eventually Christ will bring all these to light and expose everyone for who they really are. The beautiful thing is, we're not screwed. The Spirit continues, "If you find that your motives are twisted, that you hide secret desires, that your thoughts are not glorifying to me, that your pursuit of God is corrupt, if you discover any of this, lay it down before God, abandon it at the Cross, completely kill it, crucify it, ask forgiveness, and allow Me to change you."
This is what the Spirit is speaking to me through these scriptures. There may very well be other meanings, and if you have one, throw it my way as a comment. I believe that the Spirit speaks to each of us in different ways through the same pieces of scripture; after all, the scriptures are not just dead ancient texts but actually alive and pulsating with the Spirit of the King.
1) The problem of sin isn't so much what-we-do but who-we-are. Since conception we are fallen creatures, with fallen natures; instead of having a Spirit nature, we have a sinful/human nature. Thankfully, Christ offers us the Spirit nature through His grace and transformation; when we take on the Spirit nature, we reap the fruit of the Spirit. When we are slaves to the sinful nature, we reap the fruit of the flesh. All the sins Christ listed are sins that are manifested because of the sinful nature in the heart. The reason they are there is because the heart is corrupt (or at least not completely transformed into the Spirit nature)... The Spirit speaks to me, "Look at the sins you struggle with, but don't concentrate on just getting rid of the acts. You have to dig deeper, into your heart. Only when your heart is changed into a heart of the Spirit can your actions deny the fruit of the flesh."
2) The greatest way to see who we really are, at the core, is not looking at the sins we commit. It is possible to be filthy on the inside and yet look righteous on the outside, so just looking at how much or what sins are committed is not a good gauge. Instead we must look at our thought-life. Why? Because the thoughts that run across our mind come directly from our heart. The sin we see is the evil in our hearts manifesting itself physically... The Spirit speaks to me, "Look at your thought-life. See what thoughts run across your mind: are they thoughts of lust, thoughts of revenge, thoughts of pride? Even if you do not commit acts of lust, acts of revenge, and roll in pride, you are still sinning. By looking at your thoughts you can see what is wrong within you and only when you know this can you really, adequately pursue transformation. The greatest way to see who you are is to look at what runs inside your head, where thoughts don't need to be measured and censored to avoid being seen."
3) Throughout this same chapter, Christ is condemning the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. The hypocrisy Christ is hammering them for is, if I am not mistaken, the fact that they color themselves up to be righteous but their insides are dirty as smut. It's easy to look religious and even look intimate with God on the outside--read your Bible, say lots of prayers, reach out to others, avoid sin--but the test of whether or not we are religious, whether or not we are intimate with God is what is on the inside, and only Christ sees that (though everyone will one day when Christ reveals our inner motives to all). The Spirit speaks to me, "Make sure you aren't just playing a game. Take some time away and really look inside at yourself: what are your motives, what are your secret desires, what are the thoughts than run through your head, what is the real reason you are pursuing God?" Are my motives corrupt? Do I harbor secret and sinful desires that may even exist in the subconscious? What are my secret thoughts that no one but me knows? Why is it I pursue God--is the reason pure (pursue God for God) or corrupt (pursue God out of entertainment, for security, for Heaven, for blessings and gifts, etc.). Eventually Christ will bring all these to light and expose everyone for who they really are. The beautiful thing is, we're not screwed. The Spirit continues, "If you find that your motives are twisted, that you hide secret desires, that your thoughts are not glorifying to me, that your pursuit of God is corrupt, if you discover any of this, lay it down before God, abandon it at the Cross, completely kill it, crucify it, ask forgiveness, and allow Me to change you."
This is what the Spirit is speaking to me through these scriptures. There may very well be other meanings, and if you have one, throw it my way as a comment. I believe that the Spirit speaks to each of us in different ways through the same pieces of scripture; after all, the scriptures are not just dead ancient texts but actually alive and pulsating with the Spirit of the King.
3 comments:
This helped me anth, I like it:)
I do believe God uses scripture to speak to me many times I can read something one time and not have it connect like it does another time depending on where my heart is at that time I think he also gives us scripture to share with others
I never really thought of why Christ used so many parables, but I think one reason is because God can speak to us in several different ways, and each way is as truthful as the next. It leaves a lot of room for the Spirit, which a black-and-white list of absolute truth could not do.
I know the story of the farmer scattering seed has about three or four different major perspectives, and each is as valid theologically as the next. I think all scripture is like this to a point, although there are definitely black-and-white things
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