The inner life doesn't really become important to our society until there is a reason for it. As long as it is "under control" or at least "manageable", then one feels okay. It is like the old saying "children are better seen than heard". As if one could calm the inner life by telling it to be quiet and sit in the corner.
The inner life is a scary environment. It is full of all the monsters that have scared us, all the
rules that have broken us, all the moments that
have shaped us.
"When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You."
-Psalm 73:21-22
We are complicated creatures. We feel in control only when we don't have any issues. Jesus has powerful words regarding this...
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish,
but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence."
-Matthew 23:25
"No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of hell in it; no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather."
In "The Great Divorce" C.S. Lewis expounds on this:
"Both good and evil, when they have fully grown, become retrospective. Not only in this valley [heaven] but all their earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only their twilight in that town [Hell], but all their life on Earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell...both process begin before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven; the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness.
And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blesses with say 'We have never lived anywhere except Heaven,' and the Lost, 'We were always in Hell'. And both will speak truly."
This is the gravity of our inner life. It is constantly shaping and forming an eternal reality within us. By love the Holy Spirit works Heaven into our hearts and lives. And through sin and deception Satan fosters Hell. And though some areas seem grey now, it will be black and white very soon.
"Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom."
-Psalm 51:6
God desires an unashamed honesty with us. Jesus praised those who came to him sinful and broken. He often rebuked those who did not. How have we twisted His gospel so much?
Or I think, "I cannot let Him see me like this..." as if keeping my darkness from Him is some sort of religious pity on Him (Yet dark and light are alike to Him).
Even deeper, I wonder if Jesus can handle my sin. "No one else could deal with me. I can't even deal with me sometimes. How could Jesus?"
Each of these hesitating questions shrinks my view of God and avoids my true state. In essence, this is blindness.
12 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
-Hebrews 4:12-16
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