Apples of Gold

Have you ever touched something really gross, and found that no matter how thoroughly you washed your hands, they did not feel clean? 

During my college years and even my pastoring years, I have done custodial work and occasionally found myself ferociously scrubbing after encountering an unknown, disturbing substance!

Having clean hands is actually scriptural:

Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart. Psalm 24:3-4

While most of us would prefer to wash our hands before we eat, we understand that David is not really concerned with how much soap we used. The Pharisees, however, took this verse painstakingly literally. 

Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus, they asked him, Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat. Matthew 15:1-2

Keeping our hands clean is important, but if our focus is on avoiding dirt at all costs we are likely doing more harm than good. Studies have shown that anti-bacterial soaps impair the functionality of our beautifully created immune systems. In fact, a little dirt is actually good for us. The soil contains beneficial compounds that help keep our bodies running smoothly. 

While attempting to avoid direct contact with dirt is harmful to our physical body, when we cross into the spiritual realm with this approach the damage is even greater.

For decades our churches created programs and events mimicking worldly counterparts, so our children would not be exposed to carnality. On the surface, and to an extent, this is a biblical and healthy concept. Protecting our most vulnerable from harm is necessary and of utmost importance. 

An unintended consequence of this technique was the creation of a fictitious, sterile environment within our churches. The bridges leading from the world to our sanctuaries were pulled up like a drawbridge over a crocodile infested moat. People felt too dirty to cross, or perhaps more accurately, they believed the church felt they were unworthy to join our select group of nearly perfect people. Others saw the pretentious culture of spiritual importance and superiority and chose not to partake. Outreach was even quelled as fear of cross-contamination from the lost became a concern. 

Many churchgoers assumed hiding their weaknesses beneath a “Walking in Victory” t-shirt displayed their deep faith and trust in God. 

Struggling believers languished as they felt inferior to those pretending to be impervious. 

Paul encourages us to not only recognize our own frailty but to be vulnerable, allowing others to see who is actually responsible for any good that is found in us. 

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. Romans 7:18

I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardship, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

When you couple these two passages together a beautiful and reassuring truth emerges. My stumbles do not take God by surprise. Rather than chastise my confessed foibles he steps in and takes charge, accomplishing things that are beyond my understanding and ability. 

Rather than repelling the lost, when we allow them to follow our journey from struggle to strength, a hungry heart can catch a flicker of hope in the middle of their own storm. 

Portraying God as the protagonist in our story, our rescue, our strength, our redeemer, makes it clear he is not merely a crutch, or unnamed extra, making brief appearances from time to time. 

What good is a story without an audience? The Parable of the Great Feast depicts a tragic tale of a beautiful banquet prepared for unappreciative guests. The solution was not to pout and cancel the banquet, but to head into the community and find new guests.

Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the cripples, the blind, and the lame. After the servant had done this, he reported, There is still room for more. So his master said, Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. Luke 14:21-23

Too often our churches are fighting over the saved rather than going out and interacting with the lost. New programs are implemented in hopes of enticing the half-hearted to stay while the cries of the never reached go unanswered. 

Ironically, the most effective way to obtain clean hands is by getting them “dirty”. The heart that recognizes that the grace of God alone is responsible for our redemption, perceives the plight of man without God. 

The urgency should drive each of us to live a life of sacrifice.

Rather than stay within the safety of our sanctuaries may we reach into our communities, our prayer closets and our wallets, passionately compelling others to find refuge in the shadow of the Almighty.