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How many of us look in the bathroom mirror regularly? I must confess that I use it less and less as I get older: I don’t need the added stress from what I see. No amount of makeup or facelift work will hide what’s taking place over time on the outside! However, the reflection I do need to see every day of my life; the one we all need to see; the one which would actually improve over time were we to apply ourselves to its betterment; the one we almost all fail to seek, is the kind in which we examine our hearts and compare it to the word of our God. What are we really like inside?
A great songwriter named Andy Partridge (not a Christian) wrote a composition in the 1990s titled “The Ugly Underneath”, from which I borrow my title today. Here are a few lines from that song:
Did you ever try to prise away the mask?
I can tell you it’s a herculean task
What you’re chewing on’s the truth
And that’s the hardest thing
To wash down with a glass of lemonade
Sooner or later the reality of our inner being – our true self – becomes manifest to everyone around us, try as we might to hide or deny the ugliness. We may even be so convinced of our beauty and honor that we’re fooled by our own mask – our false front. The only way to get that thing off is by seeing for ourselves what’s really inside us and then rectifying the problems. Never mind how right and good and special you think you are: what are you really like?
Human nature, as I’ve noted before in my cynicism, is a stinky thing, and unfortunately we only notice that stench from other people: we tend to be immune to our own odor. We commonly overlook our own faults and even persistently think we don’t have any. The faults, we think, are in those other people around us, and in the ones we see on our news reports. They are the trouble in the world. If only they could be just like us, everything would be great.
Paul tells us to examine ourselves:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:15).
How many of us do that? We spend a great deal of time examining other people. We protest and declare that we aren’t judging them, we’re merely bringing to light and observing something which is unavoidably true – right? However we all, or almost all, fail to bring to light what’s true about ourselves. The Bible is our spiritual mirror, if we use it correctly. If we read it with the intention of letting it change ourselves, rather than using it to point out the faults and failings in other people, and instead of using it to enrich or empower ourselves, then we are really using it as it’s meant to be used. Following in the footsteps of Jesus means becoming more like him throughout life:
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed” (John 8:31).
While we certainly are to assess the hearts and intentions of others, we are primarily supposed to be applying God’s principles to our own hearts. In this way we avoid hypocrisy and judgmental attitudes. Hypocrisy is the only thing which aroused the anger of Jesus Christ during his time on the earth. Are we living in humility and obedience? Are we seeking righteousness? Are we dealing mercifully and kindly with other people? Are we loving people, including those we don’t like the look of? This is the kind of question we need to be asking ourselves every day.
Humility is a greatly overlooked and neglected trait. It’s the one thing the Church in general is not working on. Who wants humility when you can have power, confidence, success and a beautiful appearance? I’ve never heard a sermon on the following verse, in which God tells us the type of person He is impressed by:
‘These are the ones I look on with favour:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word’ (Isaiah 66:2).
Lord, am I pleasing to you, or is there something in me which is ungodly, vain, false, or even dark? Am I really following in your ways, or am I pretending? Am I fooling other people, or can they see what a fake I am? Lord, make me real. Make my inward life beautiful, so that I can be truly beautiful on the outside and pleasing to you. Help me take away the mask: my fake appearance and my self-deception. Teach me to be genuinely godly while I listen to your Spirit. Help me to shine like a bright light in this dark world.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 