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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
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/
