The Responsibles, Part 4 - "The Me You Can't See"

0:00 Hey everybody, welcome to Your Move, where we help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets. I'm Andy Stanley, and I'll be your guide. Did you know that 75 million Americans identify as either atheist, agnostic, or not religious at all? 75 million. And most of these folks are under 30 years old, your kids or maybe your grandkids age. For many people, faith has just become, well, irrelevant, Christianity in particular. But it wasn't always that way. Once upon a time, the Christian faith was irresistible. The original version, the version depicted in the New Testament, well, it's still very much irresistible. And what did the original, the irresistible version look like? And what did it sound like? Stick around and we'll talk about it today, right here on Your Move. Today I want to begin with some words from Jesus. And if you're not a particularly religious person, or if you're not a Christian, or maybe you used to be, and you're kind of done with that, you're going to like this.

1:02 You're going to love this. In fact, if you're not a religious person, and maybe you've had trouble with the church in the past, you might like this too much. You might love this too much. And honestly, these words from Jesus make me a little bit nervous because he was directing them at the first century version of me, the first century version of what I do. He may have me in his sights. And in this rant, I don't know anything else, the way to call it, like a Jesus rant. He actually coins a phrase that you have used before and you have quoted Jesus without knowing you were quoting Jesus. He originates this statement that honestly, we use all the time. Referring to religious leaders, then I'm gonna read the whole rant, not all of it, I'm gonna read a bunch of it to you. but in the middle of it, he makes this comment. He says, do not do what they do. And then here it is. You wondered where this came from. You thought this is original with Jesus. Do not do what they do, talking about religious leaders. They do not practice what they preach.

1:55 So if you've ever said, you're not practicing what you preach or he doesn't practice what he preaches, that actually came from Jesus. In the Greek text, it's shorter and pithier. And I kind of love this when I looked it up. I thought, this is what we should say. Here's what it says in Greek. For they say and do not. isn't that great anyway so jesus um had just finished going around or two with the religious leaders they were kind of his perennial enemies for lots of reasons um he made them look bad and so he's he's at this point in the in this his ministry he is fed up with their hypocrisy um and specifically the reason he's fed up with their hypocrisy is their hypocrisy positioned them to actually harm the people they were supposed to be shepherding harming the people they were responsible for. And he just, the thing that made Jesus just irritate, the only thing that really irritated him consistently was when people were mistreated. So he's sick and tired of these religious leaders hurting the people.

2:51 And so he just unloads. And he uses a word that we don't use, but maybe we should, because this first word is like, get ready. Here it comes. Ready? Here's Jesus. If you're not a religious person or a Christian person, you just, you gotta love Jesus. Here's what he says. whoa to you. We don't do that enough. It's like whoa. Like if you're a teacher in the classroom and your students are misbehaving, you should start with whoa to you students. It's kind of like a Gandalf thing anyway. So whoa to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You clean the outside of the cup and dish. And now he's related to talking about something we can all relate to. You got your coffee mug. You know, you walk over to the sink. You don't clean the outside. You clean the inside. Yeah, not a trick question. You clean the outside of the cup and dish. In other words, he says, you look good on the outside. You hypocrites because, but on the inside, you are full of greed and self-indulgence. What's going on on the inside, he's saying to them, does not match what we see on the outside. What's on the inside doesn't match your performance. And this is Jesus' way of saying, gentlemen, I see right through you. And then he commands, this was so offensive to them. He gives the purveyors of the commandments a command. I mean, these were the people who taught the commandments and Jesus gives them a command. He looks at them and he says, clean the inside of the cup and dish and then the outside will also be clean. In other words, you're going about it all wrong. You look good on the outside, but on the inside, you are not clean. You need to focus on what's going on on the inside because you've got things out of order.

4:37 And if you clean what's on the inside, then the outside will also be clean. What's he talking about? Well, then he switches images. Now we're all good with dishes and coffee cups. We understand what he's talking about. Now he switches to something that we're not as familiar with. So it takes a little explaining. He switches to tombs. He says this, whoa, one more whoa. Whoa to you teachers of the law of Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like, this was so, I mean, he keeps going, takes them lower and lower and lower, lower, takes them all the way down to the bottom as we're going to see in a minute. He did this on purpose. You are like whitewashed tombs. Now here's what he's talking about. In fact, if you visit that part of the world today, you can actually see these. Wealthy people would build a tomb. They would actually build a building or carve a little building into the side of the hills, into the side of the mountains. And the mountains were this white rock. And they would build these little houses that they would put their ossuaries in or their bones. It's where they would be buried. And they were like little buildings. And then they would plaster them in white. So when the sun came up or when the sun reflected on them. They just, they were, they were beautiful. I mean, people would view them from the outside like, wow, that's beautiful. He's like, that's what you're like. You are like a whitewashed tomb. You are elaborate on the outside. You look beautiful on the outside. You reflect the sun on the outside. He says, you, what are you teachers of the law? I'm Pharisees, you hypocrites.

6:04 You're like whitewashed tomb, which look beautiful on the outside. Now, what he says next, I'm going to try to be careful, but he is extreme. He says, but on the inside, you are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. Our English versions of the Bible cleaned this up appropriately. Akatharsia is this word, akatharsia. This is Jesus' way of saying, you are full of... of, that's what he's saying. And they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And when they, listen, he's saying, not only are you, what they heard is, you are unfit to approach the temple, much less work there, much less teach there, much less serve there.

6:55 You are ceremonially unclean. You are full on the inside. You are full of the worst kind of filth. On the outside, on the outside, you appear to the people as righteous, but on the inside, then you are full of hypocrisy. And now he takes another day and lawlessness, anomia. He takes these two words. It's an anti-law. You are law breakers. This is so offensive because they control Torah. They teach Torah. They tell people how to apply Torah. And he's like, hey, you're responsible for teaching Torah and you are lawless. You are law breakers. you so-called keepers and teachers of the law are the lawbreakers. And then he takes them down another notch. You snakes, that's as low as you go right there, right? You snakes, you are the lowest of the low. And of course, in the book of Genesis, a snake is a cursed animal.

7:48 You are an animal cursed by God. And then he goes even lower. You brood of snakes, you brood of vipers. What are you saying to this? that your teachers, your teachers were snakes and you're reproducing more snakes. You're reproducing more people just like you.

8:09 I mean, you wonder why they wanted to get rid of Jesus? Nobody talked to these people like this, nobody. And the crowd went wild. They loved this. They loved Jesus for this because he said what they were thinking. Not only could he see through them, he spoke what he could see and they could see through them as well, but they were afraid. They feared saying what they thought because the religious leaders in the first century had the power to, I'm making this word up, they would ex-template you. Instead of excommunicate you, they would ex-template you, which meant you couldn't participate in sacrifice. You couldn't approach the temple, which meant you would be always out of favor with God If you're familiar with some of Jesus' parables, he talks about being cast into the outer darkness. And that's what that meant.

9:03 That's why he used that phraseology. To be in the outer darkness was to stand outside the blessedness of the people who were in and sync with God and to be on the outside looking in and wishing, oh, I wish I could be in that inner circle with the people who were blessed by God. And Jesus was clear. You Pharisees who threaten people with that That's what you're gonna experience unless something changes. He was so clear. It was the religious leaders who should have feared for their souls. Now, that brings us to us. Aren't you glad you're not like those Pharisees? I mean, that's brutal. Snakes, whitewashed tomb, full of, you know, your coffee cup. You know, you clean the outside, but the inside, you know, it's terrible. Look up here a second. Aren't you glad you're not like those religious leaders? And you're not, are you?

9:55 I mean, isn't it safe to assume that you spend time every morning working on your inside like you do getting ready so people see what's outside? That you spend time every morning checking your heart and your mind in the mirror, steaming the wrinkles out of your motives, flossing your soul?

10:17 Don't you do that? No? Hadn't thought about that much? Not sure that's so important? it's something to think about because according to Jesus and if you're a Jesus follower if he's your king if you're not a Christian you just pick and choose what you want to do with any of this stuff but if you're a Jesus follower if we're trying to be Jesus followers Jesus according to Jesus this is a command this is a command this isn't a hey if you want extra credit he says to you and he says to me it's very convicting to me first first like first thing like first thing in the morning maybe? First clean the inside of the cup and the dish to which we say, if you know, if we're talking back, which you don't really talk back to Jesus, but if you were, you would say, well, but Jesus, I mean, I can see why that might be important, but nobody sees what's on the inside. Jesus, it's like Vegas. What happens on the inside stays on the inside. So I understand that, you know, I should probably pay attention to what's going on on the inside of me, but nobody sees what's on the inside of me.

11:23 And look at, you know, as long as I look good on the outside, I think that's enough. And I think if we said that to Jesus, he would smile and he would say, you sure about that? And then I think he would repeat himself. First, clean the inside of the cup and the dish. And then this is a promise, by the way. If you're married, this is so important. If you're thinking about getting married, if you want to be married someday, if you want your future to reflect what you imagine your future could be. This is so important. He said, if you'll clean up what's going on on the inside, here's a promise, and then the outside will also be clean. Let me illustrate it this way. The person who hurt you the most, hate to bring that up, betrayed you, stole your idea at work. In fact, you don't even work there anymore because the people lied about you or made stuff up. Maybe an ex, maybe a parent who just walked out and left. the person that hurt you the most, don't you wish they'd paid closer attention to what was going on on the inside before it leaked on you?

12:30 I have a hunch, just guessing. For somebody here today, for somebody watching, there is someone in the world today, perhaps they're even praying this for you. There is someone in the world who hopes that you will start paying closer attention to what's going on inside of you. Because the only person that can do anything about what's going on inside of you is you. So today, as I mentioned earlier, we are wrapping up this series that I've enjoyed so much, The Responsibles, The Responsibles, The Responsibles. And this is an invitation, this whole series, as we wrap it up, if you haven't been with us or if you've missed the first three parts, This is an invitation to join an elite group of citizens, of husbands and wives, of students, of college students, of seniors, brothers and sisters, an elite group of people who have decided, I'm going to take responsibility for my life.

13:27 And throughout the series, I've challenged you with this question. Am I taking responsibility for my life? Am I taking responsibility for my life? Are you actually taking responsibility for what you're responsible for, your actions, your reactions. We've talked about our past obligations. We've talked about our future obligations, our attitudes, our responses. Again, our actions and our reactions. Are you taking full responsibility for what you're responsible for? And we've said throughout the series, the primary reason this is such a big deal is that ultimately your irresponsibility and my irresponsibility becomes somebody else's responsibility. So in week number two, we look back and ask the question, hey, is there some unfinished business in the past? Have I left somebody with a mess I need to go back and address? Then last week we looked into the future and said, are there things I'm doing now that are setting someone up to have to clean up what I am messing up because of my financial responsibility?

14:23 The fact that I'm ignoring my health, the fact that I'm ignoring key relationships. Are there things I need to take responsibility for now as I prepare for the future? And then today, as I've already indicated, we're gonna look within. So I have a new version of our question. Am I taking responsibility for the me? Nobody can see. Am I taking responsibility for the me that nobody sees? Am I taking responsibility for the me nobody can see? Am I? This is very convicting. One of the reasons I love to work ahead on messages is that they kind of sit on my shoulders and sit on my conscience for weeks. Am I taking responsibility for the me? What's going on in here?

15:14 What's going on in here that nobody can see? Are you taking responsibility for the you that nobody can see and shouldn't you? And the reason you should is you don't wanna be a hypocrite because you certainly expect him to take responsibility for what's going on inside of him so it doesn't leak out on you. And you are hoping that she's gonna take responsibility for what's going on inside of her so what's going on inside of her doesn't leak out on you or on one of your children. I mean, we all want people to manage their inner life in such a way that their outer life reflects something good. Then shouldn't I ask this question, am I taking responsibility for the me that nobody can see? So I know this is kind of weird, but so let me ask you a few questions. What's going on in there?

16:05 What's going on in there? What's you thinking about? What are you trying not to think about? What are you worried about? What should you in a proper context be more worried about or more concerned about? But you're so distracted by some things that you know aren't all the important and you're ignoring the things that, what's going on in there? What are you considering? What are you secretly planning? What are you avoiding? What are you craving? To borrow from Jesus. I know this is kind of convicting, kind of complicated, but it's so important to borrow from Jesus. You look great on the outside. What about the inside? And imagine this, what if you, or even better, what if all of us, or what if every Jesus follower, What if we took Jesus' command to heart?

16:59 What if, imagine this, what if the first thing, what if the first thing every single morning, what if the first thing every single morning, you did and we did an internal audit, an internal inventory, where we spent some time re-centering our soul and renewing our minds and being honest with our king and honest with our heavenly father about what's going on on the inside, the good and the bad? What if every single morning you got up and you cleared your conscience with your king and then invited your king to show you who else you needed to talk to to clear your conscience? If you do that, here's a promise from Jesus. This is a promise. And then he says, the outside will also be clean. And when he talks about the outside being clean in this context, he's not talking about your face and your hair and your clothes.

17:56 He's talking about your life. He's talking about your actions and your reactions and your character. When we get this right, do you know what happens? And some of you have experienced this because you've been a Christian for a while or you just became a Christian and you're just growing, growing, growing and you just can't get enough. You know what happens when we do this? And this is why Jesus emphasized this. You will begin to close the gap if there's a gap. You'll begin to close the gap between who you present yourself to be, who you appear to be, and who you actually are. Now, fun fact, actually it's not even that fun. But anyway, here's something else. This rant that Jesus went on with the religious leaders, that's not the first time he talked about this. Earlier in his ministry, he actually covered the same territory, but in a much more polite tone with just average people, just people like us. In other words, if Jesus were to come in here and kind of give us that same spiel, it would sound a little bit different than it sounded when he was going after the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

18:54 Here's the other version of that same talk or that same content. Here's what happened. The text tells us, Mark tells us that Jesus called and Mark, by the way, got his information from Peter who was an eyewitness to all of this. Jesus called the crowd to him and he said to the crowd, the crowd's like us normal people. And he said to the crowd, everyone, he said, listen to me, everyone, and then this is kind of a weird command and understand this, which is kind of weird. Understand, you know, if you're a teacher, don't try that in the classroom. Understand, oh, I got it. I didn't got it till you said I understand it. So what is he getting at? Here's what he's getting at. This is important. The implication is, look, don't be deceived and don't deceive yourself. Don't be deceived and don't deceive yourself. This is easy to miss. So they're leaning in like, okay, I think this is gonna be a bit complicated. And now he says, now he kind of gives us the scoop. He says, it is from within, out of a person's heart or mind, the center of our internal being, these words are interchangeable in the New Testament terminology. It is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come. That is unhealthy thoughts that become unhealthy behaviors, unhealthy thoughts that become potentially destructive behaviors that wreak havoc on the people who report to us, live with us, that depend on us, the people we say that we love. He says all of those behaviors, all that outside behavior, it actually originates from or comes from within us. And then he lists what originates from within us. And here's his list. It's from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come. And here's the behaviors.

20:38 Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, this whole list, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and bad judgment. He's like, all that stuff that you despise in other people, all those things you don't want your children to embrace, all those things that as a result of other people embracing some of this ultimately hurt you at work or in your relationship or in your marriage. He says, do you realize all of those things started in here for those people and in the same way, whatever's going on in here for you has the potential to emanate and become something like this or begin to look like this in the real world. All of these evils, he says, All of those evils come from inside and they defile a person. And by defile, this is a religious term for their context. This is, these evils actually separate them from God. And the reason they separate people from God is because they separate people from people. And when you get separated from people God loves, and when you do things that hurt the people that God loves, you're separated from God.

21:36 As I've said a thousand times, if you hurt one of my children, don't invite me to lunch. You gotta go make things right with my child first. And this is how your heavenly father feels about you and every single person you know. So let me ask another kind of silly question, rhetorical question. Have you ever hurt someone or damaged a relationship because you didn't spend enough time looking in the mirror in the morning?

22:08 No, me neither. We've, I mean, look at you. We have mastered the mirror. I mean, we're so good in the mirror. Do you know how long you look in the mirror in the morning? I know exactly how long you look in the mirror in the morning. As long as it takes. You don't leave until you're just right, hopefully, right? We have mastered the outside of the cup, all of us. That's not our problem. But what's in here? What's in here? is ultimately determinative of what happens out here

22:49 because it doesn't stay in here. You know this. We all leak. Our behavior ultimately reflects the condition of our hearts. So again, just one more time, then we're done. What if we took Jesus' command to heart? And what if tomorrow, beginning tomorrow, what if first thing, First thing, every morning, we took responsibility for the me that nobody can see. What if you took an internal inventory, re-centered your soul? I've taught you how I do this. You can do it your own way. I just worked my way through the Lord's prayer with some rabbit trails along the way. My father in heaven, hallowed be your name. You're God. I can't argue with you. You're God. There's just one response to God and it's yes. You're God. there's just one response to you this morning. I surrender.

23:42 I mean, how foolish not to surrender. Here's everything I own, everything I am. And for me, you know what I do? I think through my day, I'm gonna see so-and-so. I'm gonna meet with so-and-so. We're gonna have a meeting. Heavenly Father, as a leader, I wanna be humble like my Savior's humble. I wanna listen. I don't wanna push back. I wanna honor other people. Heavenly Father, I want you to be the king of my heart and my life. And I want my life today to reflect what you want for the people I'm gonna be around, for Sandra, for my kids, if I get to see them today. I just, I, and then, you know, as part of the Lord's prayer, your will be done and reveal anything in me that's not part of your will, I wanna deal with that. If it's contrary to your will, I wanna know. At the end of the Lord's prayer, thy kingdom come. You know what that means?

24:31 And we talk about, you know, we talk about this all the time. Heavenly Father, I have been invited to follow a king. And I don't wanna be on the outside looking in. I want to participate in your kingdom.