REFINE – The Necessary Purge

The Fifth of Seven

He had no choice. To remain faithful to Yahweh, King Josiah was compelled to make the agonizing, unpopular decision to set the people of God right. He knew a fundamental truth: knowing the right thing must lead to doing the right thing—even when it is painful.

And make no mistake: purging is always painful.

With the covenant renewed and priorities refocused on God's Word, the next step in our journey of renewal is inevitable and intense: to Refine. This is the necessary purge of anything that competes with our exclusive devotion to God.

What Josiah did next was shocking in its scope and violence. He unleashed a sweeping, methodical purge of every trace of idolatry from the land. This was not a symbolic gesture; it was spiritual surgery without anesthetic.

The Depravity of the Day

Reading 2 Kings 23 reveals the sheer scale of this operation. Josiah did not just preach against idols; he dismantled the infrastructure of hell. He dragged the sacred objects of Baal and Asherah out of the Lord’s temple and burned them to ashes in the Kidron Valley.

But he went further. Verse 7 tells us he tore down the living quarters of the shrine prostitutes who were operating inside the very courts of the Temple. Think of the horror of that image: for years, as faithful families walked into God’s house to pray, they had to navigate past rooms dedicated to ritualized sex and the weaving of occult tapestries. The holy place had become a brothel.

Josiah then marched to the Valley of Ben Hinnom—to the place called Topheth. This was the site of the ultimate nightmare, where parents, deafened by the beating of drums, passed their children through the fire to the bull-headed god Molech. Josiah did not just break this altar; he defiled it. He spread human bones and refuse over it, rendering it ritually unusable forever. He ensured that no child would ever scream in that valley again.

He traveled north to Bethel to desecrate the rival altar King Jeroboam had established centuries prior. He smashed. He burned. He tore down. He defiled.

To grasp the necessity of this purge, we must understand that this was not a "benign, multicultural spirituality." It was a demonic cancer rotting the nation from the inside out. Josiah’s violence was the inevitable expression of his love. He cut out the tumor to save the patient.

The Modern High Places 

A powerful modern parallel to this "tearing down of idols" is the process of addiction recovery. An alcoholic cannot simply decide to "drink a little less." True, lasting recovery requires a radical purge. It means pouring every bottle down the drain. It means deleting the phone numbers of old drinking buddies. It means avoiding the bars and parties that trigger the craving.

It feels like a death because it is a death. It is the death of the "Old Man." But this death is the necessary, refining fire that purges the dross so that the true gold of a redeemed life can emerge.

The Bible uses this same active, violent language regarding our sin. Colossians 3:5 commands us to "put to death" the deeds of the body. Jesus says if your right eye causes you to sin, "gouge it out" (Matthew 5:29). This is not a gentle negotiation. It is a declaration of war. As the Puritan John Owen famously wrote, "Be killing sin, or it will be killing you."

Identifying Your Idols 

So, what are the "high places" and "Asherah poles" in your heart? What rival loves compete for the worship only God deserves?

• The Idol of Comfort: Avoiding difficult conversations or obedience to maintain a false peace.

• The Idol of Approval: Living in terror of what others think, weaving tapestries of people-pleasing to cover our insecurity.

• The Idol of Control: Reacting with anger or anxiety whenever life doesn't go according to your plan.

• The Idol of Power: Trusting in political ideologies or career status more than the providence of God.

To refine means to name those idols and, with the power of the Holy Spirit, tear them down. It means deleting the app that fuels your lust or envy. It means canceling the subscription that drains your stewardship. It means ending the toxic relationship. It is active, decisive, and necessary.

Refining the Church 

And as a church, we must be willing to refine our practices. We must ask the tough questions and answer them truthfully:

• Do we cater to consumerism, treating the church as a vendor of religious goods?

• Have we allowed political ideologies to become functional idols that shape our fellowship more than the Gospel?

• Does our community resemble a country club more than the dangerous, sacrificial church of the book of Acts?

Refining means having the courage to prune ministries that look busy but don’t bear fruit. It means establishing clear, biblical guardrails for integrity, holiness, and purpose. It means we stop doing good things so we can devote ourselves to the best things.

Let us be like Josiah. Let us not tolerate the high places in our hearts or our houses. Let us invite the Refiner's fire, knowing that He burns away the dross not to destroy us, but to reveal the image of Christ within us.

As a practical help, I have created The REFINE Worksheet with biblical and insightful questions for you to first ask for yourself (the inner temple), and then, a second section for the church corporate (the outer temple). 

You can find it here. 

REFINE Worksheet

REFOCUS: Anchoring to the Unshakable Word

The Fourth of Seven

When you look at yourself honestly and see the gap between where you should be and the place you now find yourself, you have a decision to make. You can look away and pretend everything is fine or you can decide to do something about it. 

King Josiah looked into the mirror of God’s Word, he grieved the gap. But after grief there should be purposeful action. The third step in the renewal cycle is to Refocus. We must let God’s Word set our direction. No matter where you find yourself, God will help you to navigate yourself back to where you should be if you will make God’s Word the priority in your life. 

Josiah’s response after tearing his robes is decisive. He doesn’t form a committee. He doesn’t launch a new marketing campaign. He gathers everyone—from the least to the greatest—at the temple. And what does he do? 2 Kings 23:2 says, "He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant". He then stands by the pillar and leads the entire nation in a public renewal of their covenant with God, pledging "to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book".

The Word of God, which had been the source of their conviction, now becomes the source of their direction. It is recentered as the absolute, non-negotiable authority for the life of the nation. Everything else would now have to align with the Book.

Think about the return of Steve Jobs to Apple in 1997. The company he came back to was just 90 days from bankruptcy. Why? It was suffering from a catastrophic loss of focus. Apple was producing a bewildering array of products—dozens of different computer models, printers, peripherals—and none of them were great. They were trying to be everything to everyone and were failing spectacularly.

In one of the most legendary meetings in corporate history, Jobs, as the new interim CEO, walked up to a whiteboard and drew a simple two-by-two grid. Across the top, he wrote "Consumer" and "Pro." Down the side, he wrote "Desktop" and "Portable." He then turned to his executive team and said, "This is our new product line". He slashed over 70% of the company’s products, refocusing all of Apple’s immense talent and energy on making just four, world-class computers. He cut away dozens of good ideas to refocus on a few great ones. This radical act of subtraction and refocusing saved the company and paved the way for the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone.

Jobs's first major act was not to add something new, but to cut away the clutter. Similarly, Josiah’s first public act was not to launch a new festival, but to re-center the existing Word of God. The lesson is profound: renewal often requires the discipline of subtraction before the work of addition can begin. We must clear away the complexity that chokes out our primary purpose. This is the biblical principle of pruning: God cuts away branches that are unfruitful so that the fruitful ones can bear even more fruit.

What is the "whiteboard" of your life? If keeping the same grid, what are the four essential quadrants God has called you to? Your relationship with Him, your family, your vocation, your church community? Many of us are living cluttered, busy, unfocused lives, doing many good things but failing at the great things. To refocus means having the courage to say "no" to the good so that you can give your best "yes" to God’s best.

And as a church, we can suffer from the same mission drift. We add programs, events, and ministries until our calendar is full but our people are not being transformed. We must constantly refocus on our "four quadrants": the apostles’ teaching (the Word), the fellowship (Christian Community), the breaking of bread (Lord’s Supper/Worship), and the prayers. We must restore the public reading of Scripture, doctrinal clarity, worship, and earnest corporate prayer to the very center of our life together. 

In an effort to not just “preach” to you about the importance of refocusing the church, I have created another worksheet for you to evaluate what may need refocusing and then, what to do about it. I’ve sought to keep it as simple as possible without compromising effectiveness in self-assessment. I call it the Acts 2:42 Church Focus Assessment. You can download it, no strings attached, by clicking the button below. 

Acts 2:42 Assessment

If you have not taken advantage of the other free downloads in this series, you can find them at the end of each of the blogs. They are:

• Remind: Who I am In Christ Handout

• Review: The “One Another” Self Evaluation and Growth Plan

REVIEW: The Courage for a Mirror Moment

The Third of Seven

Never skip step one: Remind. It isn't enough to simply know who we are. We have to tell ourselves that story every day, and pass it on to the generation behind us. Identity can't just be a concept in our heads; it must live in our souls.

Only when we are grounded are we ready for the second—and hardest—step: Review. We have to look our reality in the face.

When the high priest’s secretary reads the newly discovered Book of the Law to King Josiah, his reaction is not defensive. It’s not dismissive. It’s not, "Well, that was then, this is now." His reaction is visceral. 2 Kings 22:11 says, "When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes".

In that culture, tearing one's robes was a public act of the deepest grief, horror, and repentance. The Word of God became a mirror held up to the soul of the nation, and for the first time, Josiah saw the massive, terrifying gap between God’s holy standard and Judah’s lived reality. He saw their polluted worship, their neglect of the poor, their rampant injustice, their spiritual apathy, and it broke his heart. He didn't make excuses. He didn't blame his ancestors, though he could have. He mourned the deficit.

This kind of honest reflection is terrifying, but it is the only path to health. Consider the story of another massive turnaround. When Alan Mulally took over as CEO of Ford Motor Company in 2006, the company was on the verge of collapse, projecting a $17 billion loss. He quickly discovered a corporate culture that was deeply dysfunctional. The company was structured into competing fiefdoms, and most dangerously, everyone pretended everything was fine. It was a culture of fake harmony.

Mulally instituted a mandatory weekly "Business Plan Review" meeting. Every senior leader had to present the status of their projects using a simple color code: green meant on-track, yellow meant caution, and red meant there was a problem. For weeks, every single chart presented was green. Green, green, green—even as the company was bleeding billions of dollars. No one was willing to admit failure, fearing they would be fired. Ever seen something like this before? Certainly. It's human nature.

Finally, an executive named Mark Fields, who later became CEO himself, bravely put a red mark on his chart for a major issue with the new Ford Edge launch. The room went silent. Everyone expected Mulally to explode. Instead, Mulally started to clap. He said, "Mark, thank you for that visibility. Now, what can we do as a team to help you?"

That single moment shattered the culture of fear and denial. Suddenly, "red" was not a mark of personal failure; it was a catalyst for collective problem-solving. By creating a culture where it was safe to be honest about the problems, Mulally was finally able to review the reality of the company's situation and lead one of the most remarkable turnarounds in corporate history.1

Do you see the connection? Mulally’s applause created a culture of grace. Only in that safety could the truth emerge. It is no different for us. Josiah’s profound repentance was met immediately with a word of grace from God. Through the prophetess Huldah, God said, “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD… I also have heard you” (2 Chron. 34:27). 

God’s grace makes it safe for us to be honest about our failures. We can afford to look in the mirror of God’s Word and see the "red" areas because we know that in Christ, our sin doesn't lead to final condemnation, but to forgiveness, restoration, and help. Without the Gospel, honest review is terrifying; with the Gospel, it is liberating.

Let me ask you personally: When was the last time you let the Word of God make you uncomfortable? When did you last allow it to reveal a 'red' area in your life—your pride, impatience, lust, love of money, or apathy toward your neighbor? True repentance begins when we stop making excuses and, like Josiah, allow our hearts to break over the gap between our lives and God’s call.

As a church, we must have the courage to conduct a 'Bible-in-hand audit.' Let’s hold up the mirror of the New Testament’s 'One Another' commands:

• Are we truly loving one another as Christ has loved us?

• Are we bearing one another’s burdens?

• Are we forgiving one another as we have been forgiven?

• Are we stirring one another up to love and good works?

• Are we speaking the truth in love to one another?

This isn’t even a complete list, but the question must be asked: Where are our 'red' areas as a church family? You know they’re there. It isn’t easy work; if it were, everyone would be living out the 'One Anothers' perfectly. We can’t fix what we are unwilling to face. If we want to please the Lord as Josiah did, we must have the courage to Review.

You can't bypass any step and expect to achieve renewal. To assist with this 'Mirror Moment,' I've created a self-assessment tool, which includes the 'Sinful One Anothers' to help pinpoint vulnerabilities. You can view and download by clicking the button.

One Another Evaluation

I pray we take a hard look at ourselves, see the gap, and mourn the deficit. But let us also take heart in the grace of God, seeking to close the gap between who we are (identity) and how we live (reality)."

1. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/organizations-fail-when-employees-afraid-bring-problems-robert-glazer/