It has been an emotionally and spiritually challenging week for a lot of us, but it isn’t the first one we’ve lived through, and it’s not likely to be the last. Election Day finally came and went, and hopefully the post-election mood swings experienced by many are diminishing. No doubt the midterms left a lot of uncertainty and a multitude of questions in their wake. But for the moment, I’m content to defer to the hordes of TV “news” anchors, political pundits, analytical “experts” and social media trolls flooding the airwaves to share their proposed answers. I’ll leave that pursuit to them and choose to go in a different, but not entirely unrelated, direction. 

Ordinary Things – Profound Lessons ~
God seems to love using commonplace, insignificant things to direct our attention to concepts that have profound implications. He apparently likes to insert those unexpected revelations in the midst of a normal day, at times when we aren’t in one of those deeply reflective, spiritually engaged situations. He did that again recently in the context of an activity that I never saw as having any divine implications. Here’s how the whole thing unfolded.

It was a relaxing, ordinary Saturday until we began to notice that awkward feeling that comes with the realization that we were among the handful of people in town who had failed to make their way to our local Costco store. So, in spite of the threat posed to the welfare of our family budget, we headed out for another tour of duty in the big-box merchandising war zone. 

A Disturbing Realization ~
After having overcome the temptation to buy another 25 lb. bag of dried pinto beans because it was on sale, I was feeling pretty good. Then my euphoric sense of victory was interrupted when I noticed something disturbing. The bright sunlight revealed that our beautiful family chariot was filthy. She had bug guts all over her face, and the rest of her gleaming white coat wasn’t gleaming anywhere. Her chrome didn’t shine, her glass didn’t sparkle, and she just looked gray and dingy all over. She looked neglected to the point of vehicular abuse, and it was embarrassing. I knew something had to be done.

As we settled into the ritual associated with getting underway, I said, “We’ve really gotta get Miss Torie (that’s our car’s family name) cleaned up,” Diane smiled and nodded positively, as she’s prone to do any time an idea emerges that involves some association with the word “clean”. The fact that Costco had a drive-through car wash right there in front of us made it clear that this was a divine appointment, so off we went. 

An Effortless Process ~
The whole process was quick and easy. We just sat there in Torie’s climate-controlled cabin and watched as the mechanism pulled us along. They sprayed her all over with a soapy cleaning solution. Then giant rotating brushes descended to scrub the dirt off on all her painted surfaces while other brushes worked on her wheels and tires. Finally, high pressure nozzles thoroughly rinsed the soap off, and powerful fans blew her dry. We rolled out the other side with her white coat gleaming, her chrome shining, and her glass sparkling. 

The whole thing took about 10 minutes and required no physical contribution from either of us. I was enjoying a satisfying “mission accomplished” feeling when it was wrecked by yet another revelation. Miss Torie was looking really good on the outside, but as the sunlight streamed in through her newly cleaned windows, I could see that everything inside looked awful.

Class Begins ~
“Okay,” I thought, “At least she looks good on the outside, and nobody else sees all the smudges and accumulated dust and dirt in here.” I told myself that I’d give her  a good cleaning inside as soon as I could get around to it. Besides, it’s not such a big deal because other folks can’t see inside anyway. God took note of the situation and saw it as an invitation to declare that class was in session. After making it clear that He wasn’t interested in detailing cars, He went on to address a variety of issues. I’ll just highlight a few of them because there’s a main point I want us to get to. 

• • • Light is indiscriminate. It will expose the dirt as readily as it makes clean things sparkle. 
    • Drive-through cleaning is relatively quick and effortless.
    • The job doesn’t end when the drive-through ride is over. 
    • It’s easy to put off addressing the dirt inside when the outside is looking good.
    • There’s no “drive-through” machine for scrubbing the inside.
    • Inside cleaning is a demanding, do-it-yourself job.
    • Internal cleaning takes time, additional supplies, and hands-on effort.
    • Everyone can see the result of a drive-through cleaning, but others won’t know about the surroundings you ride in day-to-day unless they’re invited in. 

I don’t want to sound flippant about comparing the indescribable gift Jesus bestowed on us by comparing it to a car wash. I just want to highlight the point that our cleansing and forgiveness required no effort or physical contribution on our part. He did it all, and it was a transformational and eternally efficacious cleansing. But we weren’t immediately transported to Heaven. Instead, we were sent into a world infected with sin. The morally contaminating influence of the world around us is pervasive – and deceitfully appealing and seductive. The result is that all of us pick up activities, attitudes, and practices that interfere with our fellowship and pragmatic partnership with Jesus.

Inside Work Needed ~
Here’s the point. We pray for a revival, and desperately need to see a restoration of righteousness, justice, and peace in the land, but God won’t simply descend from Heaven and do it without us. God has proven that He will use all kinds of human instruments in bringing cleansing and revival, but one thing is fundamental. They must be more than just clean on the outside. Having made a trip through what we’ll call the “Gospel Car Wash” alone won’t do it. Working with Jesus in carrying out the mission of the Church is a partnership that requires dealing with the sins that creep into our lives. Providing our salvation and equipping us for Heaven is all Him, but being fit for service down here requires some personal, hands-on activity from us. Notice the emphasis we tend to ignore in these passages

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV)

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20–21 NKJV)

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7–8 NKJV)

We have thousands of churches in America where millions of “Christians” gather to sing songs about victory and overcoming power. Meanwhile, the nation around us wallows in a moral and spiritual cesspool. The Church looks good on the outside, and our testimonies of a salvation experience abound. We’ve been through the “Gospel Car Wash,” so to speak, and look good on the outside, but what about the part that others don’t see? What about the internal part that  doesn’t gleam so brightly when the light hits it? 

God isn’t withholding the revival we desperately need because He doesn’t want it, or is  powerless to bring it about. But like the passages above indicate so plainly, there’s some internal “detailing” needed to equip us to work in intimate partnership with Him, and He isn’t going to do it for us. He’ll illuminate the parts of our lives that need attention and provide just the right Truth needed to clean them up, but the application requires some hands-on effort on our part. 

There’s a message once heard from our pulpits that maybe we should resurrect, and it seems like an appropriate way to close. With a passionate love for God in their hearts and tears of grief in their eyes over sin, the old preachers would fill their lungs and thunder out something like this: 

“There’s a spiritual drought plaguing the land and the souls of our people are parched and dry. Revival and flourishing can come again, but God won’t send the water of life to thirsty souls in dirty vessels.”

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the pull quotes below.  Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .

• • “The morally contaminating influence of the world around us is pervasive, deceitfully appealing and seductive. The result is that all of us pick up activities, attitudes, and practices that interfere with our fellowship and pragmatic partnership with Jesus.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
  • “We pray for revival and desperately need restoration of righteousness, justice and peace in the land, but God won’t simply descend from Heaven and do it without us … Being fit for service down here requires some personal, hands-on activity.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
  • “We’ve been through the “Gospel Car Wash,” so to speak, and look good on the outside, but what about the part that others don’t see? What about the internal part that doesn’t gleam so brightly when the light hits it?” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
  • “God will  illuminate the parts of our lives that need attention and provide just the right Truth needed to clean them up, but the application requires some hands-on effort on our part.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  

Check out Ron’s book, “Right Side Up Thinking in an Upside Down World ~ Looking at the World through the Lens of Biblical Truth” 

 The Kindle e-version is just $1.99. No Kindle device is needed. E-book readers are included on most computers, tablets, and smartphones. If you don’t have one, the free Kindle app can be easily downloaded directly from the Amazon site on almost any device.

Click here for a “Look Inside” preview at Amazon.

© 2022 Gallagher’s Pen, Ronald L. Gallagher, Ed.S.  All rights reserved