Before modern medicine, doctors tried unusual procedures. Asylums practiced one of these odd methods to determine if a patient was ready for release. The medical staff placed the subject in a room where a sink was overflowing. Earlier, someone had turned on the faucet and put in the sink plug to stop the water from flowing out the drainpipe. The patient was given a mop and told to clean up the mess; then everyone left. Fifteen minutes later they returned. If the person had done nothing but mop with the water still overflowing, doctors deemed them not ready and kept for further treatment. However, if the patient had displayed common sense and turned off the faucet, removed the drain plug, and mopped up the mess, the hospital discharged them as cured.
When I read this I thought, “Wow! What a perfect picture of our world today.” How much futile efforts do people spend trying to mop up the messes in society and their lives but never realize the source of the problem? Imagine a doctor treating a brain tumor by placing a band-aide on your forehead or a dentist painting a tooth cavity white, so you won’t notice it. No doubt we live in an increasingly violent period. Yet, people just keep mopping, attempting to clean up the messes through rules like anti-bullying laws, gun laws, laws against hate, laws to stop domestic abuse, laws to prevent sexual harassment, laws to stop killing—oops, I forgot we already have a law against murder. People who believe laws are the answer to evil should read the Old Testament. The root of the problem is the heart (not the pump in our chest) but the seat of our spiritual and moral being. Solutions begin with the Gospel.
People listen to sermons every week on moral principles—’don’t look at porn’, ‘don’t steal’, ‘don’t lie’, ‘don’t commit adultery’, etc. but these are only the overflow of much deeper issues. Principles are powerless to make lasting change. John gives the core of the problem, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world (1 Jn 2:16). We can add a root of bitterness (Heb12:15) and a love of money . . . a root of all sorts of evil (1 Tim 6:10). All these and any others fall under the category of the sin nature. Jesus died in order to render it powerless and give us a new nature. Paul wrote know this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with [rendered powerless], so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Rom 6:6). We overcome the messes our sinful nature produces by walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (8:4). The Old Testament proved we can’t clean up our mess without help, i.e. Jesus Christ the Savior and the continuous filling with the Spirit (Eph 5:18).
The first step in a cleaning up our messy life is acknowledging we have a problem and that all our mopping has done no good. Then ask the Lord to show you the root of your problem and help you reckon it as dead in Christ. That sounds too simple, but all of us have struggled with issues never realizing the reason. We may blame others, our circumstances, our parents, our genetics, etc. Yet, the source is within us from the old nature, which we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to destroy. God gives us the power to resist temptation from the old nature and freedom to yield to the new nature.
But what about the godless society around us. Realize drugs aren’t the problem; it’s the heart of user. Abortion Clinics aren’t the problem; it’s the heart of the mother. Pornography isn’t the problem; it’s the heart of viewer. Society is made up of a group of individuals. Change begins one person at a time. One great example was the Welsh Revival 1904. Communities became saturated with God, changing the hearts of the worse of sinners. Saloons remained closed for years due to a lack of customers. Houses of prostitution all but emptied because men were free from their sexual lust. The crime rate dropped to the point the police had so little to do they formed quartets and sung at the services. Magistrates came to court to discover no cases were to be tried. Horses in the coal mines had to be retrained because their masters no longer used profanity for commands. Former drunken men became dutiful fathers and husbands. It began with one teenage girl who surrendered her life to Christ. The following Sunday night feeling compelled by the Holy Spirit, she stood up and announced simply and sincerely, ‘I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart!’ One by one other teens began coming under conviction. That small step of obedience started what came to be known as the Welsh Revival. It swept across the country destroying the source of the problems by changing hearts.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Are you drowning in the overflow from sin? Do you want to see our godless society change? Put down your mop and let the Holy Spirit shut off the faucet.