“Hello, sir! I am calling from Microsoft to inform you that there is a security breach on your computer. Your computer has been hacked and we have to act quickly before they steal all your files and sensitive information.” Have you ever gotten one of these scam calls? It wasn’t my first time getting one of these so my response was, “Are they stealing all my Netflix movies? I haven’t watched them all yet!”
Your Netflix movies can never be stolen. I was messing around with the scammer. We don’t have to protect our streaming catalog of movies and TV shows.
But we do buy locks for our houses and safes. We build fences to keep people out and keep our yards private. Millions of Americans have home security systems equipped with cameras that allow you to view your property using your smart device.
We purchase online security for our devices and subscribe to virtual private networks (VPN) to keep our digital property safe. We also pay monthly fees to protect against identity theft. We purchase disability insurance and life insurance and other financial products to ensure financial security for ourselves and loved ones.
We invest a lot of money in guarding ourselves and our stuff.
Our investments, our physical, digital, and intellectual properties can be protected and safe but what are we doing to protect our inner-person?
Everything can look great on the outside. We can live in gated neighborhoods and covenant communities with well-manicured lawns, proper landscaping including shrubs and planters that are both decorative and used for privacy.
But what’s happening inside the home? The outside looks terrific but the inside is a terror.
Take for example, “A couple was arrested after police discovered that their 13 children had been held captive in their California home in filthy conditions, some shackled to beds with chains and padlocks (read the full report here).” The neighbors did not suspect anything was wrong.
They were seen as a “highly respected family.” One of the suspect’s mother said, “They were very protective of the kids.”
Their outward appearances and external performance masked a nightmare inside the home. Not knowing the couple’s motives I wonder if this was an extreme example of misguided protection.
Can’t this be true with how we neglect our inner-person?
You have heard it said, that above all, it’s most important that you guard your stuff and keep up appearances.
All the while our hearts are dying inside us. Not our physical hearts but the place where our spiritual desires are found. We have not protected our inward man and appeal to the flesh by only protecting the outer man. In doing so we get out of sorts, out of alignment with God and others.
Jesus teaches his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that inward change leads to external performance.
We are not to murder yet, we do so when we hold contempt in our hearts against another person.
We are not to commit adultery yet, we do so whenever we lust after another person in hearts.
We protect ourselves by filing the proper papers for divorce but we sin when we end a marital relationship.
We are serious about setting outward boundaries and visible guardrails against sin.
We moralize our efforts by making statements such as “at least I’ve never stolen property, murdered someone, or committed adultery.” But in making those statements we are actually diminishing sin and ultimately fail to take sin as serious as Jesus.
Sin is serious. Sin is seriously destructive.
If your interpretation of sin only leads to external performance then you are not experiencing kingdom living. This type of living is actually killing you.
But Jesus wants to give you life. Life begins from the inside out. Transformation happens from the inside out. Sin is cleansed from the inside out.
When you read the Sermon on the Mount you find that Jesus has a strong commitment to God’s law and God’s righteousness. If you read it through the lens of outward performance then it will lead you to make many changes to your life that will help you and others.
Even if you don’t believe Jesus to be God’s son you can learn how to treat people. But this type of reading and application doesn’t allow Jesus, the great physician, to treat your sin disease.
You can’t work your way out of your sin problem. When you try to work your way out what you have is a nice house on the outside but on the inside…
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” – Matthew 12:43-45 (NIV)
…On the inside is a nightmare that only Jesus can wake you from.
You can’t work your way out of sin. You believe your way out!
When you read what Jesus says with a focus on true repentance then you say, “I need you, Jesus. I trust in you, Jesus.” I need your love and your forgiveness and the holiness you give to my corrupt self.
When you put your trust in Jesus then he becomes your greatest treasure. Whatever is your greatest treasure their you will find your heart.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Next time you think of guarding something – your heart, start there.
Please subscribe, share, and leave a comment below! Thanks for visiting!
Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.