Is Cleanliness Next To Godliness?
I’ve been watching a show called, “Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners,” and let me tell you, they are obsessive. The people on this show vacuum their homes many times a day. They have kitchens that are never used so they can’t get dirty, but they clean them anyway. They have toilets that are so clean that they say they will drink the water in them, and they do. They go through bottles of bleach every week, sanitising every surface. The obsession becomes clear in interviews with these people when they reveal that, despite everything they’ve done, they still don’t think their homes are clean enough.
On the show, these obsessive cleaners are teamed up with people who haven’t cleaned their homes in years. These are people who live in filth and who homes overflowing with rubbish. Just looking at their toilets makes you want to vomit. The idea is that the obsessive cleaners will spend four days cleaning these messy homes but, through exposure to the dirt, realise that they don’t need to be so obsessive with their own cleaning. I find that every time I watch an episode, I find that I get an almost uncontrollable urge to clean something.
You may have heard the expression, “cleanliness is next to godliness.” This show makes it clear that outward cleanliness is possible for anyone who wants to put in the effort, but what about godliness? Jesus points out a fundamental human problem. “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. From within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness” (Mark 7:20-22). Jesus equated godliness with inner cleanliness. Job, in the Old Testament, asked the question, “Can any mortal be pure?” (Job 15:14). Jesus’ answer is, “no,” or at least, “not through your own efforts.” No matter how obsessive we are about godliness, or being good, we can never be good enough.
But there is another wonderful story in the bible where a man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged to be healed. While leprosy is very treatable today, in the ancient world it was not. Lepers were feared. Anyone with leprosy was excluded from their community and cut off from human contact. This man came to Jesus and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Jesus’ response was to do what no-one else would. “Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed” (Mark 1:41-42). Just a touch from Jesus, and this man’s life was changed. The disease that cut him off from even the most basic of human connections was gone.
Our inability to be godly is like a disease. It harms us, our society, and it cuts us off from God. But, if we ask him, Jesus does what no-one else can. He reaches out and touches us and cleans us from the inside out. Cleanliness may not be next to godliness, but Jesus is.
Neil Percival
On the show, these obsessive cleaners are teamed up with people who haven’t cleaned their homes in years. These are people who live in filth and who homes overflowing with rubbish. Just looking at their toilets makes you want to vomit. The idea is that the obsessive cleaners will spend four days cleaning these messy homes but, through exposure to the dirt, realise that they don’t need to be so obsessive with their own cleaning. I find that every time I watch an episode, I find that I get an almost uncontrollable urge to clean something.
You may have heard the expression, “cleanliness is next to godliness.” This show makes it clear that outward cleanliness is possible for anyone who wants to put in the effort, but what about godliness? Jesus points out a fundamental human problem. “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. From within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness” (Mark 7:20-22). Jesus equated godliness with inner cleanliness. Job, in the Old Testament, asked the question, “Can any mortal be pure?” (Job 15:14). Jesus’ answer is, “no,” or at least, “not through your own efforts.” No matter how obsessive we are about godliness, or being good, we can never be good enough.
But there is another wonderful story in the bible where a man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged to be healed. While leprosy is very treatable today, in the ancient world it was not. Lepers were feared. Anyone with leprosy was excluded from their community and cut off from human contact. This man came to Jesus and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Jesus’ response was to do what no-one else would. “Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed” (Mark 1:41-42). Just a touch from Jesus, and this man’s life was changed. The disease that cut him off from even the most basic of human connections was gone.
Our inability to be godly is like a disease. It harms us, our society, and it cuts us off from God. But, if we ask him, Jesus does what no-one else can. He reaches out and touches us and cleans us from the inside out. Cleanliness may not be next to godliness, but Jesus is.
Neil Percival