Still Under Construction

F

or a little over a year a construction crew had been working at a feverish pitch to erect a new science building on campus.  This new building just happened to be adjacent to the building where I teach and I had grown accustomed to the sounds of cranes, jackhammers, and forklifts as well as the all the accoutrements that accompany a construction site.

The speed with which the workers had constructed the outer shell amazed me.  The previous spring the workers had dug a huge hole, making provision to pour the concrete slabs and pillars that would form the building’s foundation.  Now they were laying brick on the outside, closing in the walls, giving the building its final appearance.

But the construction was by no means complete.  The entire inside had to be built.  There were no walls yet, none of the electrical connections were made, the air conditioning and the heating systems weren’t yet in place, and it seemed as if they had as much work to complete on the inside even as they were finishing the façade.  No matter how complete it appeared on the outside, construction was still necessary on the inside in order to finish the building.

This concept is also directly applicable to the Christian’s walk with the Lord and was a major idea Jesus wanted the Pharisees of his day to understand.  These men were the most religious men of their day.  The kept all the requirements of the law and devoted their lives to following God’s commands.  But somewhere along the line, they misconstrued God’s intentions and were more concerned with outward appearances than inner purity.  Like our building, the outside look great but the construction was far from over.

In Matthew 23:25-26, Jesus warns them of the danger of their hypocrisy, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

This passage from Matthew’s gospel comes for a list of woes that Jesus directed toward the Pharisees. He wanted them to understand the importance and the seriousness of ensuring the inside of the bowl, the human heart, was clean before God.  Jesus knew and spoke of the roel the heart played in man’s relationship to God.  Man’s live is based on the condition of the heart and its purity; if it is clean, the man is clean.  That is why Jesus says here that the inside of the cup and dish should be clean.  If they are clean inside, they are also clean outside.  God is not interested in outward appearances; He sees the heart and He knows whether we are clean or not.

The construction workers continued laying brick and completing the work on the outside of the building.  The real work, however, was still to be completed.  The project would not be completed until the last nail was placed on the inside of the building.  Then, once it passed inspection, the facility would be open for business. 

And what about you today?  Are you still under construction?  Is God working in your life, completing, molding, and shaping the different areas of your life today?  I hope so!  God knows that the important work is what’s on the inside and He will not stop until our lives mirror the image of Jesus Christ.  Please let him continue His work today.