David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 7:20-23

And [Jesus] said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

When he was running for President of the United States Bill Clinton made a now famous statement: “I when I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale it, and never tried it again.” That statement endeared him to some, provided fodder to late night talk show hosts, and infuriated others. On the other end of the silliness spectrum was a conversation among a group of pastors who were talking about this passage. We determined that the problem was not inhaling, but exhaling. It would be OK if one smoked marijuana as long as he didn’t exhale. After all what defiles a person is what comes from within, not what goes into a man. What foolishness.

Such an attitude is another way in which we tend to trivialize sin and defilement, perhaps evil itself, thinking of it as mere external behavior, and not a matter of the heart. That’s bad enough, but worse yet is the idea that defilement is something we must either hide, or remove – like dirt from the body. The reality is that defilement is evidence of a far deeper problem.

If a young person engages in cutting or other self-destructive behavior, we realize that there is an emotional problem. We treat the physical wounds to be sure but look deeper into the heart and seek to bring a measure of health to her being. When an alcoholic goes on a binge, we may let him sleep it off, but we realize there is a need to address a deeper problem. The symptoms are bad enough to be sure, but the disease or the spiritual, psychological, emotional turmoil is the greater concern.

If we are to battle these evil things that Jesus speaks of here, we must see them for what they are: symptoms of a diseased soul. To that we must apply copious amounts of grace and truth. The truth is that these things – some of which may be appealing on some level – are harmful to us. These symptoms are the evidence of a war within a war for our souls, and we must stand firm against them. The grace is that Jesus is the great healer and physician of our bodies and souls. The hauntingly beautiful African American Spiritual (song) says it well:

There is a balm in Gilead To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin sick soul.

We will not experience the fullness of that healing until the Great Last Day. But we will find great joy and healing grace whenever we turn to Jesus in repentant faith. His grace, truth, love, mercy, forgiveness, and hope is the healing balm for our souls.

Mark 7:14-23

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” ¹⁷ And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”