Making up my own rules

Kathy Johnson

Central Truth

The outside world does not make us unclean. It's what comes out of us in the form of words, actions, thoughts, and the motivation of our hearts that make us unclean.

And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19)

What Defiles a Person

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^{1

7:15
Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear} 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”^{2

7:19
Greek goes out into the latrine} (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Footnotes

[1] 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear
[2] 7:19 Greek goes out into the latrine

For the past five years, I have been a leader in Celebrate Recovery (CR), Watermark's spiritual recovery ministry. I have had the honor of leading four groups of women out of the muck and mire of trying to do things their own way. Along the way, I came to realize that I need time to mull over changes God wants me to make in my life. I think this is the main reason God has me serving in CR. I don't really like the onion analogy so I am going to use an artichoke. When I first turned my life over to God, I had to get through the tough, not so tasty leaves to get to the next layer. Each time I peeled away another layer of my past, I got closer and closer to the heart—my heart.

My heart has changed a lot over the past nine years. However, right before I left for Ethiopia in the summer of 2009, I realized I had gone back to making my own rules like the people Jesus was talking to in the crowd. I, too, was making rules about food because of an eating disorder. I was allowing certain foods at work, but not at home. I had to eat dinner before 7 p.m. or skip it. When I broke these rules, which I inevitably did, I felt horrible about myself—unclean, unholy, and unworthy of God's love.

When I got back from Africa, my world of food rules was turned upside down because of a parasite. It gave me a lot of time to reflect on what I was doing and how my thinking was way off. I am certainly not fixed, but I am relying on God, looking at the motivations of my heart, and participating in a great accountability group. It is our motives and actions that make us unclean. God has simple rules for us to follow . . . why do we make them harder? His rules will keep us clean; our rules will lead us astray.

1. Are you following God's rules or your own rules?

2. What rules are you making for your life that are actually making it harder?

3. Are you peeling away the leaves of the artichoke to get to the heart issue?

4. Do you have any traditions/habits that need to be looked at more closely?

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is the last thing you did to get yourself in trouble?

2. Jesus is teaching that our sinful actions start from what’s going on inside our hearts. Think back on your situation. What was happening? What were you thinking and feeling? What did you then do or say that got you in trouble?

3. Next time you are in a situation in which you are getting angry or frustrated, stop and think about what is going on inside your heart and ask the Lord to help you respond differently.