A Few Thoughts From Sheldon Swartz

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." - Nowhere 1:1

Believing this (and/or believing others believe it) has sent many a homemaker into a frenzy when finding out on the spur of the moment that guests are coming. What's going on? Wherever did we get the idea that external cleanliness has any direct connection to anything of God at all?

Ever notice what a mess nature is? Seems like there is always stuff dropping on the floor. It turns colors, sometimes has an odor, and we think it's all wonderful! If God doesn't seem to care about how dirty his floor is, why do we care so much about ours?

I know, I know. There really is something nice about clean, uncluttered, ordered space. I like it too. But I have a hunch that many of us, were it not for what we believe others might think of us, would live with significantly more dirt and clutter in our space than we do. Think about it. If no one else would ever see how the space you live in looks, how would you keep it?

It's pretty clear from Scripture that God doesn't give a hoot about what our physical space looks like. In fact, as a man he would really get angry when it seemed like people were making how things looked on the outside more important than the inside. It really got to Him. Referring to the religious leaders of his day he said, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

What matters, of course, is what is on the inside, what is in our hearts. Now, hearts are much more difficult to clean up than the living room. In fact we can't do it by ourselves. But when it comes down to it I suspect most of us would rather be in the presence of someone who is real and loving but lives in a mess than someone who is cold and selfish and lives in cleanliness and order, if we had to choose. Sure it's ok to have both, especially when the outside is a reflection of what's on the inside, not a whitewash job.

So the real question is, how loving and welcoming from the heart am I with people who enter my life when it's obvious I don't have it together? When people want to enter, do I see them as real people like me who would rather be loved than impressed? Or do I see them as judges, measuring my goodness by how things look?

While I suspect the judges are mostly living inside us, occasionally there is one on the outside who really is forming opinions about our character by how clean and ordered things are. Perhaps they, more than anyone, need to be welcomed in without apology. Sure, they may be uncomfortable but perhaps they could eventually become as comfortable as Jesus was with the real "sinners." (I mean sinners who are real.) Or they may not be comfortable and not come back into our lives. Even they have been given freedom to choose.

So, lets keep in mind that the place Jesus was born into on this earth was not clean, and stunk of cow or pig manure. (Perhaps it is surprising that he didn't get the swine flu right off the bat!) And He really seemed to live His life pretty close to the crap. So maybe we can live close to ours and that of others and enjoy the image of God that shines through each other rather than obsessively trying to clean things up.