With all that said, the mere possibility of my previous post's title serving as a catalyst for sinful thought does point to a condition we must address if we are to live a truly humble life:
"...and purify your hearts, you double-minded." - James 4:8
There's a reason why James connected our behavior and our hearts in the same sentence: it all begins inside us.
One of the most unnerving movies ever made was Silence of the Lambs, for a variety of reasons. Sure, we can start with a guy who likes to eat people...and make that nasty slurping noise, but that's not where I'm going with this. Sir Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter brilliantly, but it was the writing that truly took the film over the top. Truly, the most disturbing aspect of the film was an observation Hannibal shared with Agent Starling during one of their oh-so-creepy conversations:
"[Serial killer 'Buffalo Bill'] covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek things out to covet? Make an effort to answer, now...We begin by coveting things we see every day."
Don't tell me you don't hear him saying it, and don't tell me you don't have a case of the willies right now. Me too. I wish he'd stop staring at me.
Anyway, the Silence of the Lambs' writers pinpointed an incredibly painful truth: it all begins with coveting, which is a behavior of the heart. According to Strong's Complete Dictionary of Bible Words, The Hebrew translation of covet, "avah", means "to wish for, greatly desire, and lust after". The Greek, "epithumeo" means "to set the heart upon". Now before we go any farther, I want to make a critical point - coveting is not a sin. Don't believe me? It's not. Check the Ten Commandments - coveting is sinful only if you're coveting the wrong things (v17 is the one you're looking for).
Earlier in Chapter 4, James addresses a big problem...
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
- James 4:1-3
My wife and I came up with a really cool idea a little while ago, but we don't yet have the money coming in to do it. We want to get business cards made up that say something like, "This is from Jesus. Be blessed." Then, whenever we'd be out anywhere, we'd look for opportunities to pick up somebody's tab without them knowing it. We'd talk to an employee, and make sure that all the people knew about what happened was what was on the card. Pretty cool, indeed, but it's just hard to secure the cash to do something like that on a regular basis.
Well, once again, it's confession time: we still find PLENTY of opportunities to (and sometimes make excuses to) drop all kinds of money on ourselves. I can't tell you how often I look at the size of my TV and hang my head...until I crank it up to watch Iron Man. Ugh.
James was talking to us when he used the term "double-minded".
So how do we purify our hearts? First of all, let's be clear that God is the only one equipped to perform the actual purification, because we're off-kilter to start with (it's a sin thing, you know). However, because of the love relationship God has set up for us, He has given us the opportunity to choose Him over ourselves; we can choose Him not only in our actions (see my last post for that), but also in our hearts and minds (Paul, in 2 Cor. 10:5, says we are able to "take captive every thought"...wow).
In practical terms, we can do some things to expedite the process:
1. We need to have an honest picture of where our minds and hearts are. If you're the journal-writing type, see if you can chronicle your thoughts and emotions for a day or two. If you don't want to write it all down, just try to slow down your thinking/feeling processes enough to keep a mental tally of what's God-centered and what's you-centered. If we take an inventory of where we are, we begin to see what we need to do.
2. We need to expand the amount of time and energy we put into our relationship with God. Read His Word, connect with Him in prayer, serve Him by helping others, and strengthen ourselves (and each other) by meeting together and discussing Him.
3. We need to stop doing the things we KNOW are in opposition to God. Yes, we have to wash our hands.
4. We need to limit the amount of self-serving garbage to which we expose ourselves. Whether it's movies, TV, music, literature, games, or a million other diversions, we need to be aware that everything has an effect on us. For entertainment stuff, www.pluggedin.com is a great place to get an idea of what you're REALLY going to be watching or listening to.
5. Ask God to purify your heart! Jesus said it best (no surprise there) in Lk. 11:9-10. Ask, seek, knock...hallelujah.
If you go through some of these things, be aware of feelings of humility that bubble to the surface; they will. Trust me...I know from personal experience.
One last thing: I want you to brace yourself for the next few weeks here in Humility101 Land, because they're not going to be easy. I'm not even looking forward to writing the posts, but I know we'll be covering things that desperately need to be covered. But before we get to that, you CANNOT miss the next post, because I'm going to share a video with you that showcases true, God-breathed humility...and it may change the way you live your life when you see it. Please, don't miss it, and tell somebody you love to check it out, too.
One more last thing: can you still hear the crying of the lambs, Clarice? Ewwwwwww......
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