Some changes are more obvious than others. For example, Sunday morning I showed up to worship with a new look. Don't get excited...I did not leave my hair like the picture above. But I went from having hair this long to having no hair. I went from having a beard to having no facial hair. Those changes were easy to see. In fact, there were quite a few people who did not recognize me, even when I stepped into the pulpit to preach. I looked different...visible changes. I have lost around 50 pounds over the last few months. My clothes fit differently. My flat-front khakis now have pleats. I look different...visible changes.
People who see me can tell that I have changed. They might surmise that I have changed my eating and exercise habits. They might wonder if I have either lost my mind or undergone chemotherapy (not just that it was time for my annual shearing). But those changes - or at least their results - are obvious.
It is not the same with the internal changes we make, is it? I could tell you that my heart is healthier, that my diabetes risk is lower or that my blood pressure is within normal, healthy limits. All that is true, but you cannot see those changes. Why would you believe me? Because of what you see on the outside.
See where we are going with this?
Many of us are working diligently to make changes in our spiritual lives, with the ultimate aim of being more like Jesus. We are trying to love more. We want to be less judgmental. We want to see all people as created in the image of God. We want to spend more time in the Word. We want to be more giving. We are trying to change our attitude toward ________ (insert your own problem attitude here). And often, we are winning. We are resisting the easy conformation and we are being transformed by renewing our minds. But we have to ask...are these changes visible to those around us? Remember, these are all internal, invisible changes.
In warning his disciples about those who would deceive them, Jesus said (Matthew 7.15-20), "Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ...just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." In other words, what you see on the outside of me is a direct reflection of what is going on inside me. That brings Solomon's advice in Proverbs 4.23 to view: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Later in the same book, we are reminded that we become what we think (23.7). When you look at me, when you watch me or listen to me talk, you can begin to get a pretty good idea of what is going on inside me.
While it should go without saying, this is not a license to spend my life throwing stones at those whose actions don't match their words or professions of faith. Rather, it demands a hard look in the mirror. It forces me to ask myself, "What do my actions (and my words) say to those around me about my relationship with the Lord?" What about the people around me at the gym, on the baseball field, at the grocery store, in my neighborhood, etc.? Do they know I am a Christian? What do I do or say that leads them to that conclusion? Perhaps I should ask what I do or say that leads them to draw the opposite conclusion? Or in keeping with the first thought of this post, what changes are going on in your spiritual life? What changes do you need to make? How are those changes reflected in your life?
Isn't this what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5.16? "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." While it might not be as obvious as a new (albeit scary) haircut or a smaller profile, the changes God has made in you will show!
What about you?
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