cardio (part 2): heart begets behavior

(continued from cardio part 1)

You might be thinking, as it is our natural tendency to do (1 Samuel 16:7), Wait! Doesn’t that stuff matter though? Of course it is important. I mean if we weren’t chastened by a socially expected behavior then we would have Christians rampaging with license to do anything they wanted, assuring themselves that God isn’t concerned with the fact that they are womanizers, have regular fits of rage in public squares, or just plain cruel to people. Behavior naturally follows suit of whatever it is that resides in your heart to begin with. If you allow bitterness into your heart, the behavior of unforgiveness is the sure to emerge. If you allow your heart to house lust, you’re going to eventually see a behavior change. Lust in your heart will lead to lust in your actions.

We cannot get around this obvious relationship between our heart and our behavior. Why then am I suggesting that we not make these good, upright behaviors our priority? Because behavior does not beget heart. Heart begets behavior. We cannot change from the outside in. That is impossible. We must change from the inside out. Jesus is not content with the temporary solution of managing our outward self to give off the impression that our inward self is just as dazzling. We can work the entirety of our life to make all the right decisions, exude all the behaviors attributed to the godly, and even look the part of someone truly devoted to Him, and still have the most shallow of affections toward Him. All that working from the outside in accomplishes is fooling everyone around you into believing that you are an über Christian. And that does absolutely nothing for God. Again, He is after your heart.

cardio (part 1): what i've been conditioned to believe

God is only after one thing. And that one thing isn’t what I have grown up thinking it was. I have been conditioned to believe that God was after my appropriate behavior. I’ve spent over two decades investing into this idea that God is after what I do or what I don’t do for Him; or what I say or don’t say; or even how I dress or the type of music I listen to.

Really though… can you blame me? Pastors and parishioners have been telling me this since before I can remember- as if it were a lulling mantra chanted to transform me into the right kind of guy. The kind of guy that doesn’t drink beer, smoke cigars, have sex before marriage, lie to his boss, cheat on his taxes, pirate music, watch R-rated movies, use swear words in the punch line of his jokes, or have Eminem songs hidden in the archives of his iPod. On the surface there is nothing wrong with this guy. He’s definitely clean cut. You would hardly assess him a risk for the local church- he’s not going to become a blemish to Christianity or embarrass the church he goes to by smoking pot in a field somewhere. He seems to be the poster child for the type of drone God is looking for.

However, that assumption is way off.

God is not after the condition of your reputation. God is not after the condition of your behavior. God is after the condition of your heart! He always has been, He currently is, and He always will be utterly consumed, unstoppably driven and completely obsessed with the condition of your heart!