It’s the Inside that Counts

As construction on our new kitchen progresses, it illustrates a great Kingdom principle. It is not the outside that matters – it is the inside.

The most attractive Hollywood star can be sick and perish. The champion show dog can be deathly ill and his lifeless body will win no more shows. We have even seen highly successful comedians in the past two decades who could make us laugh on the outside, but who were dead on the inside.

Our construction is at a point where observers “ooh and aah” at the appearance of a kitchen that formerly laid in ruins is being transformed into something nice. But an attractive kitchen isn’t enough. If a nice -looking kitchen does not have the mechanical systems to heat and cool (along with good duct work), then the kitchen cannot fulfill its purpose. If we go to a new pretty kitchen, but none of the appliances work because there is no electricity or lights, then the nice-looking finish only stands as a reminder of how useless an exterior is. If there is no hot and cold running water, or running water at all, then a nice-looking kitchen is merely a nice-looking closet.

Jesus said, in Matthew 23:27-28, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

How silly would our building be without any of its internal functions operating properly?

 That sentence, intentionally, has a double meaning. Think – what is the most important thing in the Kingdom of God. It is how we work together, internally, for his glory! It is our deep dedication to his Word that overshadows anything this building  or out outward prosperity could possibly portray.

Though our building is getting stronger and stronger every day – are we? Be a disciple, who is being discipled, and who is making disciples.