Chapter One
RENOVATING THE HEART, LESSON 1
LESSON 1: JESUS' STRATEGY IS UNIQUE
He Works from the Inside Out
revolution \[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]\ n:a fundamental change
in the way of thinking about or visualizing something: a
change of paradigm
The American Revolution was a bloody war in our country's history
that supposedly shaped many of the written values and beliefs of our
nation. Yet you would probably agree with me that many Americans
today don't know what these values and beliefs are, don't care, or don't
really live them out in their lives. Though this revolution was influential
at the time, the impact has lost steam in the years since.
Consider also the little girl who threw a temper tantrum because
she was not getting her way. Her mother stepped in and demanded that
she sit down and take a time-out. The little girl refused. The mother
finally threatened to spank her bottom, and the girl sat down. After she
sat down, she folded her arms, let out a big rush of air, and said, "I may
be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside." A
revolution in this little girl's heart obviously did not occur.
Jesus is a revolutionary. He has a vision and a plan to change the
world. But, unlike the two examples above, Jesus understands our nature
and therefore has a different strategy for encouraging our behaviors to
match our hearts. He knows we live from the heart and make every
choice from the heart. Therefore, His revolution targets the renovation
of our hearts' values, beliefs, and practices. In the kind of world Jesus
wants to bring into being, the tragedy of 9/11 would not happen, not
because outside authorities would prevent it, but because people wouldchoose to live differently - from the heart.
This is why Jesus had no intent to overthrow the Roman government
of His time. He told His accusers that He was not interested in
Caesar's job because His kingdom was going to be totally different. His
kingdom was and is spiritual. His base of operations would not be Rome
or the Oval Office but our hearts. Through our ongoing relationships
with Him and with other Christ-followers, He begins to reform our
hearts' beliefs, ideals, feelings, and habits of choice. This progressive
internal change governs our actions, bodily tendencies, and relationships
with others. With Jesus, righteous behavior flows from a heart
governed by Him.
From the divinely renovated heart, social structures, such as government,
will naturally be transformed so that "justice roll[s] down like
waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24,
NRSV). Such streams cannot flow from corrupted souls. On the flip side,
a renovated heart will not cooperate or participate with public streams
of unrighteousness. What does that mean? In school there's a great deal
of public pressure from fellow students and instructors to think or act
in a way that is inappropriate. A renovated heart will not bow down to
this pressure and participate in words or acts that are unrighteous, even
if it means being rejected.
Those of us who have received Christ into our hearts are being
instructed by Him so that we may "be blameless and harmless, children
of God, faultless in the midst of a twisted and misguided generation,
from within which they shine as lights in the world, lifting up a word of
life" (Philippians 2:15-16, PAR). This is God's vision for you and for His
church. The church is His primary agent of change to bring about His
kingdom - not by imposing morality on others from the outside but
through the power of renovated hearts, one person at a time.
GROUP PRAYER:Lord, change us from the inside out. Instruct us so that
we can be Your righteous children and be able to change the direction of our
misguided generation. We want to shine like lights in this dark world. Cause
a revolution in our hearts!
(Continues.)
