Beneath the Surface

[Jesus said,] “…First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean”—Matthew 23:26 (NIV)

Recently in our church's parsonage, we noticed evidence of termites. Whatever the termites were doing beneath the surface deep inside the structure of the master bedroom walls had become evident due to the debris they left on the outer surface of the wall in the room. At first, I just cleared away the mounding debris from the wall and made the wall nice and clean again on the surface. But a few days later, the mound was back.

After talking to our church's property committee chairman, it was decided we needed to treat the termite problem beneath the surface in the structure of the house or the damage would get worse, and dirty termite mounds on the surface would be the least of our troubles. So the “termite guy” came and investigated, and sure enough, the termite problem was bad beneath the surface, but not so bad that the house was going to fall down around us (unless we chose to ignore the problem). He then began to treat the termite problem beneath the surface, digging trenches around the perimeter of the parsonage's foundation, which he filled with chemicals. He sprayed vital areas underneath the house, and drilled holes through the concrete areas around the house, putting chemicals in the soil beneath. It was a long process, but time will tell how well it worked. Nevertheless, periodic re-treatments in the future will help control them at least or prevent their return at most.

Spiritually speaking, we have to be careful with just dealing with the surface affects of self-serving religion and self-indulgent sin. Sometimes we just try to be busier with religious activity, giving an appearance that everything is hunky-dory, but beneath the surface our souls are being eaten away. Busyness is not an accurate determiner of a person’s spiritual health. It takes a deep, prayerful investigation by God in our hearts to show us how healthy we actually are in our relationship with Him.

Jesus dealt with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law and sought to expose to them the heart problems they had beneath the surface of their lives. He told these religious leaders that, spiritually, they were just cleaning “the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they [were] full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). He also described them as being like “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27-28). Other times, Jesus quoted Isaiah to describe the problem of surface religion, saying “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men” (Mark 7:6-7; also Matthew 15:8-9, quoting Isaiah 29:13-14). Left unchecked, Jesus said to them, “Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38). These religious people needed their “insides” cleaned—their hearts cleaned—and then they would be cleaned from the inside-out (Matthew 23:26).

As people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, saved by God’s grace, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we constantly need to have deep surface scans, spiritually speaking, of our hearts. We need to seek the Lord as David did in the Psalms: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalms 139:23 - 24 – NIV). And, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalms 51:10 - 12 – NIV).

We must get beneath the surface of our lives and pursue God with hearts desperate for Him. Then our house will be strong and God will be truly praised.