Cleanliness

[Darnell Richards]

I remember hearing that cleanliness is next to godliness all my life and that it is in the bible. I'm having trouble finding it. Is this a scripture or just something passed down through the years? And is it true that cleanliness is next to godliness?

[Cassidi Perot]

I don't believe it's in the Bible, Darnell, but the idea was probably birthed from the principle that God is a god of ORDER and not DISORDER, therefore, having everything clean and in its place is more like Him.

I am so convicted right now!

[Lindsay]

This expression is definitely not found in the bible, but it did come from a preacher. It is attributed to John Wesley (1703-1791) from a sermon he preached.

However John Wesley did not originate this saying; it is believed to be an ancient Hebrew saying.

[bethany sandoval]

"The world and all that is in it belong to the LORD: the earth and all who live on it are his."
Since we are Christians we live by higher standard, Because God owns it, We must take the best care of it that we can. He is trusting us with everything that he gives us and we must show that we are worthy of that trust. Even when its not ours especially like at the Retreat, Jen and Cass asked us to clean the houses even cleaner than we received it. Those houses look like Molly Maid came in, they were cleaner than we received them,that was awesome! We took care of it like it was ours and we should do that anywhere else too and even in our own homes because it belongs to GOD!
John, Joi, even Carlos, and I are reading "The Purpose Driven Life" together each day. I learned about this from chapter 5.
love,
Beth
[/i]

[lyndie]

I always understood this to be a joke from anyone who said it b/c they always pretended like it came from the Bible. Not that I don't think cleanliness is important or that it can't be contributed to God, b/c I do think it, and order, are important, and that God can be glorified in it/through it/because of it. At least from my little experience it makes life so much easier/better. However, from what I know and have heard it's definitely not in the Bible.
In my opinion, I think we should show responsibility with what God has given us but I also think that the issue of "neat and clean" is subjective to each individual according to our lives, demands, personalities, etc. We shouldn't be lazy or filthy, but we shouldn't be Martha's either. Sometimes the cleaning cycle is never complete at my house. In fact, it seems like a never-ending process and I only have one small child and a husband who does a fairly good job at helping pick up. But I try not to let that be an excuse for me to just never clean at all just like I TRY not to let my need and desire to have a clean house keep me from spending time with Jesus either. Make sense?

[Matthew Perot]

Great topic!

A few scrjptures come to mind,

"Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth"

"A little sleep a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit . . ."

Mankind's purpose and function is to rule over or be stewards of the earth. Also, God has prepared good "works" in advance for us to DO and my faith/trust is matched by my deeds.

With that said, Righteousness/godliness is only obtained through faith in Jesus. I often times have to keep my heart in check that I'm not seeing someones outer appearance (car, house, physical condition) as a certain level of maturity in Jesus.

My most favorite scripture of all that helps me with this is Philp 4:12

"I have learned the secret of being content in every situation . . ."

vs 13 - "I can DO all things through Christ who gives me strength"

Good stuff!

[Mandy Wakefield]

Just my thoughts (hopefully my greek mind won't get in the way!)

The Jewish nation was obsessed so to speak with cleanliness (maybe more than any other people group) because God specifically made a distinction for them between things that were clean and things that were unclean. To be unclean in any way meant being cut off from their people.

Lev 7:21 If anyone touches something unclean—whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean, detestable thing—and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.' "

If God set up the laws, and told them to avoid things that were unclean, then God himself must be clean. Therefore, it would seem reasonable that they believed to be clean meant being pleasing/closer to God.

The Pharisees took Jesus to task on this very subject of cleanliness being next to godliness:

Mark 7:
1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])
5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[b] 8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

9And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,'[d] and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'[e] 11But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "[f]

17After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

To me, Jesus makes it clear that our idea/level of "cleanliness" (whether our homes, hands, etc) is not what makes us godly. The question is not whether our laundry is done and our house is dusted, it's are we free of evil in our hearts? Do we have feet that rush to do evil, or our we peace makers? To have clean hearts means to be godly.

Psalm 24
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. [a]

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

If cleanliness is next to godliness, it's only if the cleanliness refers to the condition of our heart. I don't think we can apply this tradition/saying as a means to convict our hearts to be better house keepers or to take better care of what we have. You could have a floor you can eat off of and be a horrible wife/mother and a nonbeliever. In fact I can think of people i know who have the cleanest houses but are no where near godliness (God) b/c their hearts are filthy!

We don't need tradition to beat us into submission (i just made that up!:D) The Word gives us clear direction as to our roles and we do have an obligation to maintain what is given to us:

Watch over the affairs of our household and not eat the bread of idleness (proverbs 31)
To be busy at home and love their husbands and children (titus 2)

I really don't think God cares about how often you dust or vacuum. I do think your husband and children care because it makes life easier for them when they have clean clothes to wear, dishes to eat off of, etc. To not do these things could very easily create a problem between you and your husband (rightly so) which could build a ceiling between you and God. We clean/manage our households (which includes a lot more than cleaning) because we love and want our actions to show it to our husbands, children, and to God.

P.S. Although addressed mostly to the wome, men/husbands, it applies to you as well!

Col 3:23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

[lyndie]

That was a great reply Mandy. I enjoyed it. Thanks.

[Darnell Richards]

Thanks to all of you who replied to my question. I will look at the statement of "cleanliness next to godliness" with new eyes from now on.