DARK SIDE OF CHIMPS

Mark 7:14-23
14 Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, "Listen to Me. . . . 15 Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' . . . " 17 After 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'? 19 For 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.") 20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"

National Geographic aired a disturbing program called The Dark Side of Chimps. Most of us think of chimpanzees as funny performers in an animal act. But out in the wild, things are very different. In the jungle they develop a taste for raw meat--even human flesh. In fact, in the documentary, male chimps were seen literally trying to "rob the cradle." Fortunately, an alert older brother called for help and the villagers were able to rescue his baby sister from the clutches of a hungry male chimp.

Sharpshooters with bloodhounds and scoped rifles were brought in to hunt down the chimpanzee. When the renegade chimp's body was sent to scientists for autopsy, the villagers were troubled to hear that he was completely normal. No brain tumor or other malady drove him to seek out humans as a source of food.

It is interesting that National Geographic would call their program The Dark Side of Chimps. What the program chronicled was a wild animal seeking out a food source.But when it comes to people, "the dark side" rings true because it refers to the moral evil in the human heart (Mark 7:21-23).

In 1961 Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi engineer of the death camps, was put on trial for war crimes. One of his former victims, who saw him in court, was overcome with emotion. He said, "This Eichmann was an ordinary man . . . . I saw that I am capable to do this. I am exactly like him." Eichmann was a human being, and you and I are as capable of sin as he was!

But the universal reality of human sin has a remedy. Jesus died and rose from the grave to redeem us from the penalty and the power of sin. The dark side shouldn't be rationalized away but submitted to God for redemption. For the spiritual seeker this means believing the gospel. For the believer it means living it. --Dennis Fisher

destination
points

* Jesus showed compassion to sinners and outcasts, yet He talked about evil in the human heart (Mark 7:14-23). How can I imitate His example?
* Who are the people I know who need to hear the good news?
* What sinful attitude or action do I need to confess to God to experience His cleansing? (1 John 1:9).

LINKS:
Nat'l Geographic Channel USA
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel/

Jane Goodall Institute
http://www.discoverchimpanzees.org

bottom line: The gospel cures the dark side of the heart.

soul journey