A Thought For The Week of September 24

"What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.'” (Matthew 15:11) Food and eating habits were a big part of life in Jesus' day - they are in ours too! In this verse, Jesus is replying to the Pharisees who had criticized his disciples for not washing their hands before they ate - a tradition of their elders. (And a pretty good one, too!) After pointing out that the Pharisees could come up with ingenious ways of violating God's law, but insisted on adherence to every word of their own traditions, Jesus offered the words above. In The Message, Euguene Peterson translates the words as "It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.” Here's one of the few times I think Peterson isn't helpful. The way he translates the words makes it seem like the issue is eating and food and sanitary habits. The words go far beyond eating habits. I think what Jesus was saying was that what comes out of our mouths (our words, our attitudes, our anger and hatred and judgment) are a reflection of what's already inside us. When we give these things free reign, so that our daily life is punctuated by such negative things, we're showing that we're not honouring God with how we live, even if at the same time we manage to spout pious and very religious sounding words. If what comes out of our mouths makes us unclean, then surely our goal should be to speak and express ourselves in ways that honour God and build up those around us, rather than making a mockery of our faith in God and tearing others down. Let's make that our goal. Have a great week!