INSIDE-OUT FAITH - When religious activities become the driving force of our faith, our relationship with Jesus gets pushed to the back burner - we close our ears and our hearts to the strength, guidance, and encouragement of Jesus - we end up taking on too much under our own power - Is your faith inside-out? If it is, you may not even be aware of it. “Inside-out faith” happens when the doing of our faith eclipses the being connected to Jesus. It’s religion over relationship. It’s faith the way the world would do it. Packed full with stuff – works, activities, committees, and to-do lists. The New Testament sisters Martha and Mary are perfect examples of inside-out and right-side-out faith. When Jesus came to the sisters’ home for a visit, Mary sat at His feet soaking up His teaching. But Martha, who frantically ran around hostessing, complained to Jesus that her sister wasn’t helping. I can just imagine the kindness in Jesus’ response. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” Martha was “distracted”. She was “too busy, over-occupied, drawn away.” Martha wasn’t doing anything “bad.” She had simply allowed too many good things to crowd out the best. She missed sitting in the presence of God Himself. Sadly, many of us fall victim to inside-out faith. We fill our lives with too many good things, leaving no room, for the better thing, the best thing.

 

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Inside-Out Faith

3 Consequences of Inside-Out Faith

When religious activities become the driving force of our faith, our relationship with Jesus gets pushed to the back burner - we close our ears and our hearts to the strength, guidance, and encouragement of Jesus - we end up taking on too much under our own power

by Kathy Howard

 

Is your faith inside-out?

If it is, you may not even be aware of it.

“Inside-out faith” happens when the doing of our faith eclipses the being connected to Jesus.

It’s religion over relationship.

It’s faith the way the world would do it. Packed full with stuff – works, activities, committees, and to-do lists.

The New Testament sisters Martha and Mary are perfect examples of inside-out and right-side-out faith (Luke 10:38-42).

When Jesus came to the sisters’ home for a visit, Mary sat at His feet soaking up His teaching.

But Martha, who frantically ran around hostessing, complained to Jesus that her sister wasn’t helping.

I can just imagine the kindness in Jesus’ response. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).

Martha was “distracted” (Luke 10:40).

She was “too busy, over-occupied, drawn away.”

Martha wasn’t doing anything “bad.”

She had simply allowed too many good things to crowd out the best. She missed sitting in the presence of God Himself.

Sadly, many of us fall victim to inside-out faith. We fill our lives with too many good things, leaving no room, for the better thing, the best thing.

We put the religious motions of our faith over the relationship with the Object of our faith. And the consequences can be profound.

3 Consequences of Inside-Out Faith

1.  Legalism – When the activities and work of faith overshadow the point of our faith, we lose our joy! And when “serving” drives our behavior and attitude we also become critical of others. That’s exactly what happened to Martha.

2.  Busyness – Our culture perpetuates the false idea that a full calendar somehow defines our value, who we are. But when our calendars rule our lives, our families, our health, and all our relationships pay the price. The worst result is that often we are too busy for God’s purposes and plans for us.

3.  Burn out – A serious commitment to church can hinder your faith! When religious activities become the driving force of our faith, our relationship with Jesus gets pushed to the back burner. We close our ears and our hearts to the strength, guidance, and encouragement of Jesus. We end up taking on too much under our own power.

None of us purposefully choose this kind of faith.

Sometimes it’s all we’ve known. Sometimes, we slowly slip into it.

However it happened, it doesn’t have to be this way!

Kathy has been teaching the Bible since she fell in love with God’s Word almost 30 years ago. She speaks regularly at women’s retreats and events across the United States and internationally. The author of eight books, including five Bible studies, Kathy writes to have something to do while she eats chocolate and drinks coffee. She has a Masters in Christian Education and a certificate in women’s ministry from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary.In recent years, God has been teaching Kathy more about His abundant grace. Through her own relationships and life experiences, she is learning to extend the grace God has so lavishly poured out on her own life.On a personal level, Kathy calls herself a “confused southerner.” Raised in Louisiana, she has moved with her engineer husband around the U.S. and Canada. She says “pop” instead of “Coke” and “you guys” as often as “ya’ll.” But she’s still a southern girl at heart!Kathy and her husband now live in north Texas. They have three children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, four precious grandsons, and one tiny diva granddaughter. When the family gets together there are also five dogs in the mix.(Download Kathy’s One-Sheet for more information.)

https://www.kathyhoward.org/3-consequences-of-inside-out-faith/