Inside-Out Righteousness

Welcome/Intro

It’s been said that “the hardest person to lead is yourself.” You’ve heard that saying before, right? Who is the hardest person to lead? Yourself.

It’s true. I’ve found that to be true. I am, by far, the most difficult person that I’ve ever had to lead.

Unfortunately, the news (for me, at least) gets worse from there:

I’m also just plain difficult to lead, period—whether it’s me trying to lead myself, or some other sucker who drew the short straw and has to try and take a crack at it.

Because why? Well, I think people who are easy to lead are… open… humble… approachable… good listener. You know… all of those really good and really Christ-like things.

Now: I find my way back around to some of those things (eventually… most of the time), but a lot of the time it’s not where I start.

I start with skepticism, or pushback, or challenge… and if you’re gonna lead me, you gotta labor with me during all of that… and I gotta see that you’re willing to do that with me… or I can be pretty quick to dismiss you (at least, at my worst).

But if you are willing to do that with me, and you’re willing to go to even some pretty uncomfortable places with me, here’s what I’ve found:

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The place where I feel the most uncomfortable is often the place with the most growth potential.

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It’s when an assumption I’ve made gets questioned. Or a blind spot that I have gets revealed. Uncomfortable… but there’s usually something valuable there.

It’s when a perspective I‘ve previously dismissed is presented in a way where I’m forced to reconsider. Or it’s when someone has the courage to call me out on something but in a way that‘s for me, not against me.

It’s in those places where I’m the most uncomfortable that I’ve found are the places that offer the most potential for me to grow.

And to me, that’s how I’m experiencing this series we’ve been in for the last couple of weeks. We’re looking at Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” in a series we’re calling “What If Jesus Was Serious?” As a supplemental resource to this series, a lot of us are reading a book of the same title written by a guy named Skye Jethani and discussing it in small groups.

But this weekend (I think) is gonna be one of those potentially uncomfortable but also potentially high growth opportunities for us—because Jesus says some pretty uncomfortable things:

Exegesis

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“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Matthew 5:22

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And then he says this:

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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Matthew 5:27-28

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And then he says this:

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“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Matthew 5:29

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And then how about this:

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“And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Matthew 5:30

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Ohhhh… kay.

Those are some uncomfortable verses, aren’t they?

Imagine what it would have been like to be there on that mountainside hearing Jesus say all of these things in rapid succession in real time. Boom. Just one right after another. The hits keep on coming.

Jesus says: Sure, you might not have killed anybody. But who have you eviscerated in your heart? Who have you harbored and justified anger toward? And do you think that‘s ok? Do you think God thinks that‘s ok?

He says if you have contempt for someone—that’s what that word “raca” means, by the way—that if you have contempt for someone that you should be treated as though you’re breaking the law.

He says don’t pat yourself on the back for just “not having an affair.” Lust is an affair committed in the heart.

Those are all super uncomfortable to hear, aren’t they? Not the kind of “come back next week to hear part 2 in the series” kind of sermons.

You know what I wish in moments like these? I wish that there were such a thing as “thought bubbles” in real life. Like, we all could visually see each other’s wheels turning and how one another are processing in real time these things that Jesus said.

I don’t know this for a fact—but if I’m guessing, I think our “thought bubbles” might fit in a couple of categories.

I think some of us hear those uncomfortable things and think: “That’s right. We’re finally getting serious about sin around here. Gonna preach a message about sin. It’s about time. And it’s too bad that (so-and-so or some group of so-and-so’s) isn’t here to hear it live.” Those of us in this category aren’t uncomfortable at all—because we’re so preoccupied with that other person or that other group of people who really are the ones who should feel uncomfortable.

Now: others of us don’t go there, but instead go into a kind of fear or insecurity or confusion. Our thought bubble would read something like: “Jesus really said that? And that’s in the New Testament? Is that what he really meant? And how does that square up with some of these other things that he said about love and forgiveness and grace and mercy and all of that? I mean, I get angry sometimes… and sometimes I look a little too long… am I going to hell for that?”

Our Problem

I don’t know if you fit into either of those categories neatly or if your thoughts and feelings fall somewhere in between as you’re confronted with what Jesus is saying here.

Either way, here’s what I think is true:

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We tend to either give ourselves a break (and condemn others) or give ourselves a black eye (and condemn ourselves) on the basis of our behavior.

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We have a tendency to lean one way or the other, I think. Either I’m not as bad (and someone is way worse) or I never measure up (and how could God ever love me?). When we look at the life we’re living—how we talk and act; how we behave—we have a tendency to place ourselves in one camp or the other.

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We tend to either give ourselves a break (and condemn others) or give ourselves a black eye (and condemn ourselves) on the basis of our behavior.

But for Jesus, the problem that he wants us to see is much deeper than just our behavior:

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Much deeper than just our behavior. Much deeper than just what’s on the surface. Much deeper than what everyone else can see.

And this is where I’d like to encourage you this weekend to maybe think along the lines of a “third way.” Not this camp or the other, but on this level:

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We tend to either give ourselves a break (and condemn others) or give ourselves a black eye (and condemn ourselves) on the basis of our behavior.

But for Jesus, the problem that he wants us to see is much deeper than just our behavior:

It’s at a heart-level.

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That’s what Jesus is illuminating, in a really uncomfortable way (but helpful if you let it): he wants us to take an honest look at what’s going on in our heart.

In the Bible, the heart is a metaphor. It’s not just the thing that pumps blood throughout your body; it’s the part of | who you are | that contains what you desire. It’s your “will,” or the part of you that influences and informs what decisions you make (or don’t make). It’s your emotions, your values… your character. It’s all of who you really are at your core | that all of the rest of you flows out of. That’s your heart.

And while we as human beings are masterful at either masking or minimizing what’s really going on in our heart, Jesus points us right to it, problems and all. Because if we can see our heart, what grips it, what ails it, and what it needs, then we might just see our need for Jesus.

That’s why Jesus doesn’t just talk about murder; he talks about anger.

He doesn’t just talk about adultery; he talks about lust.

He doesn’t just talk about libel or false misrepresentation that goes against the law of the land; he talks about contempt.

Those are all heart issues.

And that’s the level Jesus wants us to get down to with him. What’s going on in your heart?

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That’s why the section of the book we’re working through together this week is called “Inside-Out Righteousness”—because Jesus wants to make us righteous not just on the outside, but all the down to the heart level. Inside out.

And if you’re working through the book this week, you’ll come across a short chapter entitled, “If Jesus was serious (in his sermon on the mount)… then we will not contribute to our outrage culture.“

Our “outrage culture.” That’s an interesting term (and accurate term, in my opinion) that captures a major aspect of our culture today: outrage.

And the way that Skye describes it might surprise you a little bit—because he doesn’t just talk about the outrage that runs rampant on social media or “out in the world these days” or “in the culture around us.” He talks about the outrage that often gets directed… at him… by other Christians.

Skye, along with a another guy, Phil Vischer (who you might not know by name… but you do probably know an animated series he created a couple of decades ago called “The Veggie Tales”)—they co-host a podcast called “The Holy Post.” And here’s what Skye shares in this chapter about it:

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“It seems like our entire culture, including the church, is addicted to outrage. Anger has become the acceptable—even expected—sign of one’s commitment to any cause. I have learned that if I fail to show sufficient outrage on my podcast or in a sermon, I will receive messages from other Christians who are angered by my lack of anger.

They usually say, “Don’t you care that …” somewhere in the tweet, post, or email. I sometimes feel that my credibility as a Christian depends on my willingness to brandish my anger. In some Christian communities, particularly online, anger is so ubiquitous one might suspect it is a fruit of the Spirit.”

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And here’s how he illustrates that:

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Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, OUTRAGE, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

He’ll go on to hypothesize a little bit why this culture of outrage has infiltrated the church, and guesses that it might have something to do with a perceived loss of cultural significance. Maybe we feel that society increasingly reflects values that don’t reflect ours, and we don’t feel like we can do anything about it, and so we started with the first stage of grief (which is denial), and now we’re moving on to the second (which is anger).

Exegesis

I don’t know if that’s the case or not—but I do know that he‘s pointing to something very similar to what Jesus was pointing us to in this part of his sermon.

Let’s put that text back on the screen here—this time with the verse that precedes it:

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“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Matthew 5:21-22

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We think that a culture of outrage somehow came on the scene with the advent of social media. You know, like “things were great before. No one fought about anything ever.”

But a culture of outrage is exactly what Jesus is confronting here 2,000 years ago.

And I think there’s a progression here:

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Anger remains on your heart—>contempt grows in your heart—>malice expressed from your heart

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Or, we could say it differently—how it gets worked out in relationships:

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Anger remains on your heart—>contempt grows in your heart—>malice expressed from your heart

I’m mad at you —> I don’t value you —> I’ll treat you however I want

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And this right here—this is the playbook for a culture of outrage. This is it. In our world today, anger is a right. “I have a right to my own opinion” or “I have a right to free speech” usually means “I have a right to be angry with whoever I want to be angry with and to express it however I want to express it.”

But don’t just stop there. Let that anger simmer and grow so that it turns into contempt toward those you are angry with. Make them into something less than they are, which are human beings that God created in his image and that Jesus considered so precious that he gave his life to save. They’re not that; they’re… stupid. Morons. Idiots. Fools. A dangerous cancer to society. Worthy of nothing more than being called out for who they are.

I mean… entire media outlets are built on that playbook. Twitter and Facebook would wither up and die without a steady stream of it.

And that’s what’s so ironic: we think that social media is the problem. No; social media just magnified the problem. It’s “social” media because “society” a.k.a. “people” populate it. If what was in our hearts was awesome, social media would be awesome.

And even some Christian pastors, writers, and speakers are cashing in on it. They’ll deal in anger; there’s a never-ending appetite for it. Here’s what they know: if they justify anger towards someone and bless contempt towards someone; they’ll get a loyal follower, giver, and promoter.

Culture of outrage.

But some of you might be wondering:

When is anger ok then? Aren’t there some things we should be angry about? Is anger always a heart problem? Isn’t there such a thing as “righteous anger?”

Yes, there is. There are some things that should anger us.

Injustice should anger us. Abuse and neglect should anger us. Mistreatment of the poor or marginalized should anger us. Promoting sexual immorality should anger us. All of the things that the Bible said anger God should anger us.

So, no, anger isn’t always a heart problem.

It’s just that Jesus was the only one who was righteous; we are not.

His anger never had mixed motives. Our anger almost always does.

And so how do you know? How do you know if your anger is actually a heart problem?

This is how you know:

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Your anger is a heart problem if it pushes you towards contempt instead of concern.

The end game for Jesus is always love. And so we can’t settle for less.

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Illustration

You know, I’ve said things in the last 18 months that have made people angry.

Shoot: I’ve said things in the last 18 days that have made people angry.

And there’s been no shortage of people at times who have let me know just how angry they are—with me, or with our church, or with the church, generally speaking. And I’d describe it as contempt. I felt like they were fed up, weren’t gonna take it anymore, and that I was gonna get what I had coming. It felt like contempt.

But you know what else?

I’ve had more than a few angry people approach me not with contempt, but with concern.

Like, genuine concern. Angry… but not heart problem angry. Angry that led them to reach out to me with concern.

Here’s how it looked and sounded.

It was usually a private message. Maybe a text. Maybe an email. Maybe a Facebook message. Whatever. But it was private. Just for me, directed to me. Private conversation. That’s concern not contempt. It showed in how they reached out.

And then what they shared and how they shared it expressed concern also. They were concerned that they didn’t misunderstand. Or if they did understand, they were concerned about what I was saying or what I meant. They cared enough about me to treat me not only like a human being but really like a brother or sister in the same family. Questions, thoughts, feelings… all shared with the larger concern of our church or our relationship in mind.

And I can’t tell you how much I appreciated those. Because in almost every case, maybe we left the conversation not seeing completely eye-to-eye, but reconciled. Friends. Brothers and sisters. And in that sense, unified.

We shared our heart. And as we did, anger didn’t get a chance to turn into contempt. It was expressed as concern. And it resulted in love.

Which exactly aligns with how Jesus coached his listeners to deal with these matters:

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“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Matthew 5:23-24

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If you’ve got something against someone, or if someone has something against you, don’t just go on playing church (or in a lot of cases, just leave and go to a different church). No! Go and be reconciled. Have the hard conversations in love and get down to the heart of it.

The church doesn’t have to be the place where we all agree about everything. There’s plenty that we can absolutely have differing opinions on. And I‘m not trying to minimize the gravity of some of those differences of opinion; some of those are really hard to navigate.

But that’s just the thing—that’s the thing—that’s the uncomfortable place where, if we journey with Jesus and put into practice his words here, that’s the place that has the greatest potential for us to grow:

In the very same things that are so difficult to navigate,

The things that the rest of the world loves to not only get angry about, but to hold one another in contempt over,

What if the church handled those things not with contempt but concern? What if not only our language but our heart was soaked in it?

What if the puppet strings of contempt couldn’t find any kind of attachment to the church because church people got down the heart of the matter?

What if we allowed Jesus to examine our heart, to reveal to us any sort of anger that remains or contempt that was growing, and we called it what he calls it—sin worthy of judgment?

And what if after we admit it and confess it as sin, we then follow Jesus’ instruction of going to be reconciled?

What if the church was the place where imperfect people didn’t justify their anger or wink at lust or pretend to better than they really are, and instead understood that Jesus came not to just scrub our behavior but fix us from the inside out?

What if the things that are tearing our world apart into polarized factions were powerless in the church because it was made up of people who refused to let it grow in their hearts or in their relationships with one another?

What if everyone was as precious in our eyes as they are to Jesus, and we fought through our own anger for the sake of their heart?

What if our church was the place where someone weary of all of the rage and all of the vitriol and all of the anger and contempt could walk in and experience a genuine peace and heartfelt community that demanded an explanation? And that explanation could only be that Jesus really can change the seemingly unchangeable things in our heart?