Deep inside the parched brown grass doves hop expectantly. Here and there they find their treasure: some crawling thing, breakfast. But the allure of their dining room is trashed: plastic bags, black or white, dusted dull with filth, blown in by the wind. A soul gets trashed like that as well: accumulated garbage gleaned from public places, now sequestered in the inner mind, its spaces cluttered, rottenness and rubbish from the gutter left lying all around. It’s time to scrape it out! Look inside, take note, grab a rake and nab it, burn it up in that all-consuming fire of God’s own holiness! Be strong and merciless when it comes to worldly mess! May it be good riddance, a posture of true penance that goes beyond “I’m sorry!”, contrition leading to submission, to determination to maintain that sanctuary set apart to a state of purity!
I was in my “sacred grove” back in Ferke watching the lovely doves, when I was distracted by scattered litter blown into the courtyard by the wind. Bags were continually ditched by people in the streets as they finished some “street food” purchased along the way, and the clutter kept building so much that the yard worker thought raking them up was useless. There would always be more!
That morning, it made me think about the way filth can clutter my own inner being as I ignore it and just keep pushing ahead. It could be “little stuff” like covering up a mistake with an excuse, or a resentment that ferments as it stays stashed in a corner. It could be selfish greed that leads me to coddle my desires while overlooking the need of that person next to me. It could be what I would call a major sin, only I let myself slide into it and cover it up. Or maybe I’m disgusted with a coworker’s attitude, and have become angry enough that I have slandered them or quarreled with them without showing any respect.
If I let my heart stay cluttered like that, I am not “living by the Spirit.” That was the problem Paul had with the Corinthians. For one thing, there was jealousy and quarreling among them, and that was enough to make them “worldly” instead of “spiritual”:
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly– mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (1 Cor. 3:1-3 NIV)
The word translated “worldly” in NIV is σαρκινός, which means “having the characteristics of σάρξ (flesh) in its sensual, sinful tendencies; worldly, carnal.”[1] In other words, the Corinthians were so tied to their “normal” human ways of living that they could not digest solid spiritual food. They were letting their digestive tract remain clogged with clutter. Until that was addressed and their hearts were cleansed, they would remain spiritually immature. Babies.
It is important to pay attention to anything we are doing or thinking that does not align with Scriptural teaching, to be sensitive to the Spirit’s voice urging us to acknowledge any straying off the Path and then turn around, get back on track. This is the practice of confession and self-examination.
“True repentance means we open the bad in our lives to God. We invite him to come right in and look at our sin with us. We don’t hide by being good, moral people or in neurotic self-recriminations. We don’t pretend to be other than we are. We don’t disguise the truth by carting out all the disciplines we practice. We tell it like it is—without rationalization, denial or blame—to the only person in the universe who will unconditionally love us when we are bad. We hand over the pretense, image management, manipulation, control and self-obsession. In the presence of the holy One we give up on appearing good and fixing our sin. We lay down our ability to change by the power of the self. We turn to Jesus and seek forgiveness.”[2]
That is a true cleanup. That is what is necessary in order to be a “spiritual person,” to “live by the Spirit” and be able to actually keep growing up and becoming more like Jesus wants us to be, more like him.
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age (Tit. 2:11,12 NET)
To exchange godless ways for a godly life, living truly attached to God: that is the goal of a true believer.
Let’s live it out!
[1] Friberg, Barbara, and Miller, Neva and Friberg, Timothy. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. (Trafford Publishing, 2006)
[2] Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2005), p. 92
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