An Inward Change

Galatians 6:11-18

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Galatians 6:15

In college, I attended a Sunday School class with several of my closest friends.  The church did not have a great college ministry, which was a shame considering it basically sat on ECU’s campus, so the class was made up of about five people – most of whom had grown up in the church.  Our teacher was a new and somewhat quirky pastor, and she had decided to give a series of lessons on the holy sacraments.  I remember her saying, “A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual covenant” so many times that my friends and I still quote her when we hear the word “sacrament.”  We laughed at her repetition then, but some of her lessons have really stuck with me, so she definitely did something right!  When I read Galatians 6:15, I couldn’t help but hearing her words in my head and I felt like she and Paul must have been on the same page.

Paul is concluding Galatians by warning the church again about the legalizers who are pushing for circumcision.  He is telling them that the outward sign makes no difference – the important part is the inward change.  In this case, he is also saying that circumcision no longer needs to be practiced, so it probably isn’t a totally fair comparison to many religious sacraments which do have a place in the church and ought to be practiced.  However, I think the heart of his message has a place even in sacraments like baptism and communion.  Being baptized is important, as is taking communion, but the acts themselves don’t mean anything if they don’t represent an inward and spiritual change.  We can eat the bread and drink the wine (or grape juice!) but if they don’t represent the body and blood of Christ to us, and if they don’t inspire repentance and thankfulness for his sacrifice, they don’t mean anything.  The sacrament matters because of what it represents.

The same is true for other Christian practices.  We aren’t Christians because we engage in spiritual practices like going to church or prayer or quiet times or service.  We are Christians because we love Jesus and we recognize with thankfulness and repentance that he died on the cross for our sins.  As a result of this inward change (yielding to Christ over ourselves), we then engage in spiritual practices with joy.  Prayer or church attendance or Bible reading should be outward signs of an inward change of heart.  We shouldn’t be able to look or stay the same if we’ve been changed by Christ.

The problem is, though, that sometimes we engage in the spiritual practice without the inward change.  And that behavior can take us away from Christ without us even realizing it.  That is what was happening with the Galatians – they were falling to the legalizers who told them they needed to be circumcised to be Christians.  So they were getting caught up in looking like Christians instead of actually being Christians. 

I think the same can happen today.  In American culture, appearance is so important.  Looking like we have it all together matters to us.  That can bleed into our religious lives, too.  If we aren’t careful, we can spend more time trying to look like a Christian than spending time allowing God to change our heart to make us more like Christ.

Even we who are well intentioned can fall into the appearance trap.  I do.  I want people to think I’m a good Christian, so I want to look like I have it all together.  I want to look like I joyfully take my family to church, get plugged into Bible Studies, am excited about service, and have meaningful daily quiet times.  I don’t think this is a conscious desire to fool people about who I am, it is more the fact that a good Christian is who I want to be, and I value other’s opinions, so obviously I want people to think I’m the version of myself I most want to be.  Does that make sense?  I also feel like many people think I am a “good” Christian, so sometimes I rest on those opinions and grow stagnant in my growth.  I look good, so I’m alright, right?  Wrong.

Here is the ugly truth.  Right now, I dread going to church, and I’d rather just stay home and nap than take Daniel to a nursery where I know he’ll be crying when I pick him up.  Frankly, church doesn’t work with our morning schedule, and if it weren’t for my awesome husband who makes me, I wouldn’t go.  Thinking about joining a Bible Study right now makes me tired even though I’ve loved every study I’ve been in, and I know I need it.  But again, the timing is hard, and I’m starting a new job, so I don’t know how I’ll handle it in my schedule.  I know I need to serve in some capacity – I actually believe Christians should be plugged in through service to their local churches, but it is one more thing I’ll have to do.  And my quiet times?  I’m being brutally honest, here.  I’d rather be sleeping or mindlessly watching TV when I find free moments in my day than opening up my Bible.  It has not always been like that for me.  There have been times in my life when my quiet time was the best part of my day, where I looked forward to church, where service and Bible Study were the highlights of my week.  But, right now, that is not the place I’m in.  Right now I’m a sleep deprived mama who used to wonder why stay at home moms complained about their lack of free time, and now TOTALLY understands.  I can’t keep my house clean, I can’t keep up with my laundry, I rarely have time to myself, and I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in over eight months.  Joy for Christian practices is just not here for me right now. 

But the good news is that the outward picture is not the important one.  It is the inward change that counts.  And obviously, I need an inward change.  So, my prayer in the New Year has been for God to give me a heart that desires to be in his word and with his people.  This prayer is a relief to me because I know I can’t make myself do all the right things.  And truthfully, if I was able to go through the motions, I know that my heart would just become more and more bitter toward all the activity and further and further from Christ.  I’m so thankful that I have a God who will give his Holy Spirit to change me from the inside out – who will give me a desire to grow close to him if I ask for it.  Now, I won’t lie.  I have not magically changed my ways in these first nine days of 2015.  But praying for a heart change has helped.  And I have been walking with Christ long enough that I know as my heart changes, the practices will become meaningful again.