Inside Out

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Mark 12:30

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Sometimes I’ve been in a rush to get ready for work and when I attempted to button my shirt discovered that it was inside out. Off comes the shirt so I can put the inside where it should be, hidden from public view. You just don’t go out in public with your clothes inside out. Not only would it not be in good taste, you’d definitely be laughed at and the jokes would go on all day long. Most of us would never consider wearing our clothes inside out. But have you ever considered that possibly we should live our Christian lives “inside out?”

 

What I mean by this is that we sometimes tend to be more concerned with how others perceive our Christian walk rather than the actual quality of our spiritual condition. We sometimes put more effort into our outward Christian actions, behavior and service than our inward needs of fellowship with the Lord, mediation on His Word and communion with the Holy Spirit. When we do this we can begin to live our lives from the “outside in” and think that as we “do” what Christians should “do” then we are growing spiritually when in actuality we are just “doing good things” outwardly.

 

Jesus lived His life outwardly, based on who He was inwardly. His inner spiritual condition was the basis for His outward ministry and influence on others. This is the spiritual pattern that Jesus would encourage us to follow. If we fellowship with our Heavenly Father through prayer, reading and meditating on His Word and carefully listen to the Holy Spirit, we grow inwardly in our spiritual life. As we grow healthy in our spiritual maturity, this can be manifested in how we interact with others, work, play, worship and minister to those in need. The outward acts of service, and behaviors that others see then, are a true reflection of our inward spiritual growth and maturity. We would in essence, be living our lives “inside out” and would be patterning our lives after our Savior.

 

I would hope as we think about this concept, that we might be challenged to seek to be more concerned with our relationship with the Lord and how we are growing as servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we are more focused on how we are growing closer in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, then we will begin to be more honest in how we are living our lives outwardly. I am not saying this to cause us to be spiritually self-centered or to become so self-focused that we ignore Christian service and ministry. I just believe that an inward life based on God will manifest itself in actions that reflect this spiritual maturity in a truthful and honest manner.

 

I want to share a possible example of what can happen when someone has an epiphany in this area of living a spiritual life “inside out.” An epiphany is a sudden insight into the meaning of something through a simple experience.

 

In 2 Chronicles 34 we find Josiah becoming the King of Judah at the age of eight years old. We might be amazed at Josiah being made king at such a young age, but this was a common practice at this time since Josiah was the heir to the throne. Judah was in a sinful mess when Josiah took the throne. But Josiah was a unique individual. We are told in verse two of this chapter that; “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” He did this without any exposure to the Word of God for it had been lost many years ago. Very likely through David’s reputation and stories of his dedication to the Lord, Josiah wished to follow his example.

 

When Josiah was sixteen years old he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of all the false religious idols and worship sites. We aren’t told anything of his internal motivations to do this, but we can surmise that Josiah must have felt that it was the right thing to do. Whether he wanted to follow in the footsteps of David or be known as a godly man we’re not sure, but he made a dramatic impression on the people of Judah and was attempting to make at least an outward change in how people lived and worshipped. But then Josiah was to have an epiphany where he would realize that an internal change must take place in him and all the people of Judah. This epiphany would come through the accidental discovery of something very precious.

 

When he was twenty-six years old Josiah gave orders to restore the temple of the Lord. As the temple was rebuilt a most amazing discovery was made. Hidden amidst the debris in the old temple the Book of the Law was found. These were portions of the Old Testament as we know it today. It is unknown how long Judah had been without God’s Word, but it explains part of the reason why they were in such a horrible place spiritually. While in the temple overseeing the work, a priest named Hilkiah found the Book of the Law. He in turn gave it to Shaphan the secretary to King Josiah. Shaphan went to Josiah to report on the reconstruction of the temple. After his report, almost as an afterthought, he mentions that a book was found. He begins to read it out loud to Josiah and the words of Holy Scripture hit King Josiah right in the heart like a ton of bricks. We read in verse nineteen Josiah’s response; “When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.” When a Jew tears his clothes it is a sign of intense emotional grief or mourning. It is an outward representation of an inner turmoil that is being released. In this epiphany, Josiah realized not only why Judah had wandered so far from God, he also understood what would happen if they continued on this path. While he knew that he had been doing many good things to change this course, it was not enough. His outward changes would not be of any value if the inner hearts of he and the people of Judah were not changed.

 

Immediately Josiah ordered his advisors to verify his conviction and obtain advice from a godly prophetess. This was done and she not only verified Josiah’s initial perceptions, she also warned that a terrible judgment would come upon Judah for their sins, but not during Josiah’s reign as king because he had found the Book of the Law and responded appropriately. King Josiah moved swiftly and ordered all the priests and elders of Judah as well as all the people both great and small to assemble at the temple. Here King Josiah read all of the Book of the Law and renewed Judah’s covenant with the Lord. He and all the people of Judah pledged their hearts and minds to live up to the covenant they had made with the Lord. They would begin living their lives in an honest and spiritually mature manner.

 

King Josiah is an example of someone who was doing all the right outward things but with no substantial basis for doing them. I’m sure it gave him a good feeling to be outwardly doing what was right, but it was not until he was exposed to the Word of God that his internal commitment matched his outward actions. Now King Josiah could live his life inside out. His internal motivations based on the Word of God and his now growing personal relationship with his Heavenly Father would be lived out in his actions of service and dedication to God. His example would influence all of Judah and this is what we need to remember. When we seek the Lord and grow close to Him inwardly, we then can live our lives appropriately and begin to manifest outward actions based on a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Word. Many people attempt to live their lives “outside in” hoping outward actions will be good enough to please God, impress other people and possibly change their own hearts. But godly transformation comes from inside us as our hearts are changed by God and His Word. When we are transformed internally by the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures we can then begin to live our Christian life from the inside out in honesty, integrity and holiness.

 

Jesus lived His life inside out all during His ministry on the earth and it was epitomized in His sacrifice on the cross. He had harsh words for those who did not live their lives inside out, who were out to impress people with actions unsubstantiated by an inward godly spiritual foundation.

 

The Pharisees were a prime example of this. Several passages reflect Christ’s chastisement of those who lived their life by outward appearance.

 

Matthew 6:1-8

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

 

Matthew 23:25-28

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

 

The verses above demonstrate what people did to draw attention to their outwards acts of service and behavior. Their external behavior did not correspond to their inward commitment to God and this is what concerned Jesus so much. They were putting on a false front, their external actions of holiness did not match up with their internal heart and soul condition. These deceptive behaviors continue today, sometimes in you, and in me as well. We must admit that none of us behave all the time with totally pure motives. I am convicted about this myself and hope you are too. But God is patient with us as we grow in Christ and make attempts to live transparent spiritual lives. May we seek to nourish our dedication to the Lord inwardly. May we delight in His Word as we study and obey it. May we foster our fellowship with Him through prayer. May we give Him all we are inside, so that He can mold us into the likeness of His Son and that we may live our lives “inside out” in all honesty and spiritual integrity.

 

“We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about.”

Author Unknown