Inside Out

Who's job is it to change people? The President? The Preacher? Who has the authority? The right? Even if a person did have the right and the authority, can a person really change another person? Maybe, if we're talking about outward change. A plastic surgeon can change a person's appearance. A personal trainer can make you loose pounds and change your weight and body build. But, does outward change really change a person? It may give a person more self-confidence. A person may feel better about themselves. We all know this to be true. But, where does real change begin? Where does lasting, enduring, transforming change take place? I grew up in a church where real change was looked at as something that affected you mostly on the outside. There wasn't a written list of "do's" and "don'ts", but you heard about them all the time. You knew what they were because they were mentioned in every sermon. When a person came to a service dressed differently, they would get the stare, or someone might even say something to the effect, like, "we don't dress that way around here." Growing up in that atmosphere, you always felt guilty, judged, and bound up. You really never felt "free". What I discovered over the years is that a list of rules that attempted to change me on the outside to conform to someones idea of holiness, never really changed me. In fact, it only made me desire to go against those ideas all the more. At Mosaic Church we don't hand people a list when they walk in the door. We don't tell people this is what you need to start doing and this is what you need to stop doing. It's not my job. I don't have that authority. But, there is someone here at Mosaic who does. His name is Jesus and by his Spirit he will change us from the inside out. That's what he came to do. We need to stop trying to do His job. Holy Spirit change me! Change us! Cut out everything in me that doesn't look like you.

As he preached he said, "The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will change your life. I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism--a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit--will CHANGE YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT."
Mark 1:7-8 (The Message)
Duane