My Choice: Mark 7:20-23
What is on the inside matters. Our culture gives lip-service to this idea, but it doesn’t believe it. If it did, our advertisements would have examples of good character, not beauty. If it did, the popular and powerful kids in school would be nice kids, not mean kids. If it did, we wouldn’t have expressions like “Nice people finish last.” We lift up examples of good character to appease our collective conscience, but our culture doesn’t believe what is on the inside matters most.
Jesus makes the claim to His disciples. What is within defiles. What lives in our heart defiles. The sinfulness we harbor inside creates separation from God and others.
This is an interesting point. As a culture, we teach young people they will imitate the people they spend time around. My parents often told me they could tell my character by the people I hung out with. The same can be said about the television (or now days, social media) or music I used.
This line of thinking gives a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” mentality. Do I choose my music because of who I am, or does my music make me who I am? Do I choose my friends because of my character, or is my character shaped by my friends? Is the media I use chosen because of the person I am, or does the media make me more like it?
There isn’t a hard and fast rule here. At some point I choose the things I do because I am who I am. Yet, the things I choose influence me in their direction. The soul is a giant game of tug-of-war. I make choices to pull things close to me, the things I choose pull me close to them.
Reading the last few paragraphs closely, it might sound like a different argument than Jesus makes. Up to this point, that conclusion is correct. There is a missing thought that needs to be added to the argument to bring it in line with what Jesus says.
On one hand, I am responsible for the things I choose to put in my life. That is a clear example of what lies inside coming out and is in absolute agreement with what Jesus teaches. On the other hand, the outside influences draw me close to them. While that might seem like an argument in favor of the outside things defiling me, the reality is that I am still responsible for allowing the outside influences to change me. If the media I use changes me, it is because my heart allowed it to, probably even wanted it to! If the people I hang out with change me, it is because I allowed them or wanted them to change me. Even with outside influences, it is still a matter of my heart. What is on the inside matters.
