It’s not too uncommon for me to wear my shirts inside out, particularly when I play pickleball. Usually, I dress in a hurry and neglect to give much attention to my clothing other than to make sure it’s functional for some pickleball fun! To this end, I can’t count how many times my partner will tell me that my shirt is inside out, and we have a good laugh. It doesn’t stress me out, usually, because I make sure my shirts are clean and freshly laundered.
This whole inside-out adventure came to my mind recently when I was reading Jesus’ criticism of the religious powers of His day. In Matthew 23:25-28, Jesus accentuates the contrasts between the external appearances and actions and the interior motives and ugliness. In these verses, He brings to light the religious practices like ritual washings and maintaining beautiful exterior appearances. In earlier verses, He points out that the religious leaders made a show of lengthy prayers, religious clothing and hyper-legalism.
While Jesus observes all of these practices and appearances, He exposes the ugly interior behind the ritual observations and detailed piety. Consider what Jesus says lays at the heart of various religious rigors:
- “But inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence” (verse 25). Jesus exposes the motives of religious people who keep a clean exterior but their internal motives revolve around acquisition and pleasure.
- “But inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (verse 27). Jesus exposes the motives of looking pretty on the exterior (white-washed tombs) but letting the proverbial skeletons in the closet and uncleanness drive our choices and outlook.
- “But inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (verse 28). Jesus exposes the external righteous and upstanding living when the internal living accommodates and justifies hypocrisy and lawless existence.
I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ words and insights because I don’t want to ignore or dismiss what He says, full stop. I understand that He was talking to Jewish leaders in His day, but I also think that Jesus’ words have timeless application. As such, I want to always be open to digesting His words—and even His criticisms. So I want to take seriously His observations about motives and interior living.
As I think about this, I believe that Jesus is keenly interested in our interior life, even more than how we look on the outside and any rigor to maintain pious living. If there’s selfishness, decay, uncleanness, hypocrisy, or lawlessness enjoying riotous living in our thoughts, imaginations and private lives, then we need to pause and make some adjustments in our interior living. It’s not enough for us to be religious for external observation. It’s not enough for us to strive for pious legalism in expressing devotion to our biblical convictions.
Ultimately, God wants three things from us, based on Micah 6:8:
- To do justice
- To love kindness
- To walk humbly with our God
Maybe it’s really okay to wear our clothes inside out to remind us to keep our heart and motives as a higher priority than our external appearances. Inside out might be the upgrade to outside immaculate!
