Marks of a Christian
Luke 11:37 – 12:48 Read it here
How do you recognize a Christian?
It really isn’t as easy as it sounds. Is it church membership? Church attendance? Following a set of rules?
In his criticism of the Pharisees and experts in the law, Jesus suggests some ways. (He, of course, would not have used the word “Christian,” as it didn’t come into use until years after his death. Since he is speaking of someone who follows God in a way he approves of, though, I think it’s appropriate for us to use it here.)
In his criticism of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, Jesus makes it clear that the determination is based on internal, not external, criteria. “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”
The place to look, it seems, is inside, not outside.
The Pharisees focus their righteousness on things that are visible to the outside observer: ritual hand-washing, careful tithing and such.
What matters most, though, is what is inside a person. Greed and wickedness are bad. Good things are such as generosity to the poor, justice and the love of God.
Later in today’s reading we see other attributes of the Christian: focus on heavenly rather than earthly possessions, freedom from worry, watchfulness and faithfulness.
Notice that all of these marks of a Christian are things that take a long time to develop and even longer for others to recognize (not that recognition by others is the goal). They are not about actions as much as identity: we aren’t called on to just do a generous thing, but to be a generous person; not just to make one or two just decisions, but to be characterized by justice and so forth.
That is what Jesus means by cleaning the inside of the cup. He wants to change not just our actions but to change us at the very core of our being—to remold who and what we are from the inside out.