WIDE BUT NOT DEEP

Seven of Seven

We have walked through the five-step cycle of renewal: Remind, Review, Refocus, Refine, and Reform. It is a powerful pathway. But if we stop here—if we rely solely on our ability to execute these steps—we are in danger of repeating one of the most tragic failures in biblical history.

The story of King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23) is the ultimate case study in the limits of human willpower. Josiah was the perfect reformer. He didn't just suggest change; he enforced it. He pulverized the idols, fired the corrupt priests, and re-instituted the Passover. He scrubbed the nation of Judah clean.

Yet, the biblical postscript to this golden age is devastating. Immediately after listing these triumphs, the historian writes: "Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath" (2 Kings 23:26).

How could that be? The reform was wide—it covered the whole map—but it was not deep. Josiah changed the nation’s behavior, but he could not change the people’s hearts. The moment he died, the nation snapped back to idolatry like a rubber band. They had stopped the rituals, but they hadn't stopped the longing. God’s accumulated wrath in judgment came swiftly, just as Huldah the prophetess had warned.

Josiah’s story shows us the absolute limit of human-led reform. Don’t misunderstand me: It is vital. It is necessary. But it is not ultimate. It can clean the outside of the cup, but it cannot make the inside clean.

This brings us to the crucial question: Why does "white-knuckled" morality fail? And how do we find a change that lasts?

The Boy Who Tried to Undragon Himself

C.S. Lewis provides a great illustration of this Josiah Paradox in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

We meet a boy named Eustace Scrubb—a selfish, greedy child who, through a magical mishap, turns into a dragon. The external transformation merely reveals his internal reality: he had a dragonish heart, so he became a dragon.

Desperate to be a boy again, Eustace tries to fix himself. He scratches at his scales, peeling off the dragon skin layer by layer. He steps out of the old skin, feeling smooth and renewed, only to look down and see that a new layer of scales has already grown back. He does it again. And again.

"I could see my own reflection in the water... it was no good. The rough, scaly look was there all over me just as before."

This is the failure of religious reform. We can scratch off the "scales" of bad habits. We can stop drinking, stop yelling, or start reading our Bibles. But if the nature of the beast remains, the scales will always grow back. 

We are trying to cure a heart condition with a dermatology treatment.

The Need for a Greater King

Josiah was like Eustace scratching at the scales of Judah. He was a good king, but he wasn't a saving king. He could find the Law, but he couldn't fulfill it for the people.

We need a Greater King.

• Josiah found the Book of the Law and shouted, "Obey!"

• Jesus fulfilled the Law and whispered, "It is finished."

We need a King who doesn’t just tear down idols, but who becomes the ultimate sacrifice on a cross to bear the judgment our idolatry deserves. We need a King who doesn’t just read the covenant from an old scroll, but who establishes a New Covenant in His own blood, and who, by His Spirit, writes the Law not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshy tablets of our hearts.

Theologically, this is the difference between a mirror and a surgeon. The Law (Josiah) is a mirror; it shows you that your face is dirty, but the mirror cannot wash you. Jesus is the surgeon. He doesn't just demand a clean heart; He offers a transplant.

The prophet Ezekiel pointed to this thousands of years ago: "I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). 

The renewal King Jesus offers is eternal and internal. He doesn’t just call us to reform our lives; He gives us a new life altogether. He doesn’t just call us to clean the house; He moves in and makes our hearts His home.

We don't need a remodel; we need a resurrection.

The Responsibility to Stand Alone

There is a sobering corollary to this truth. If we rely on external culture—a Christian nation, a good church, a godly family—to sustain our faith, we will crumble when those props are removed. When Josiah died, the people drifted because their faith was in the king's reform, not their own God.

We are called to possess a faith that stands even when the culture collapses. 

Please forgive me for another Chronicles of Narnia reference, but this idea is illustrated beautifully through the character Puddleglum in The Silver Chair.

Trapped in the dark underworld, an evil Witch tries to brainwash Puddleglum and the children, convincing them that the sun, the sky, and Aslan (the Lion) are just children's stories. She almost succeeds. But Puddleglum stamps out her enchanting fire with his bare foot and declares:

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself... Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones... I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead."

That is the heartbeat of a true disciple. When the "Josiahs" of our world die and the culture reverts to darkness, the person with a New Heart says, "I will live for the King, even if I have to stand alone.”

Taking a stand is clarifying. But you may ask, “How do I get there?” My advice is to discover where you are now on the Cycle of Renewal. Once you know that, the next question is, “Where do you need to begin this cycle today?” Consider the following:

• Do you need to start by Reminding yourself of your true identity in Christ?

• Do you need the courage for a "mirror moment," to Review your life honestly in the light of His Word?

• Do you need to Refocus your cluttered life on His priorities?

• Is the Spirit calling you to Refine your heart by tearing down a hidden idol?

• Or is it time to Reform your habits and build new structures of faithfulness?

Wherever you are on that pathway, the first step is the same. Look honestly and turn decisively. Think of the Cycle of Renewal as a descending spiral. With each circular path traveled you go deeper with God, but as you grow deeper your influence widens. Terry Walling, in his book “Deciding” wrote, “God often needs to do a deeper work in our lives before he can do a greater work through our lives.” So, turn to the only One who can bring true and lasting change.

As with the other blogs, I’ve created a worksheet to help identify where you are on the Cycle of Renewal and to take the first steps in that location to move deeper with God. It is for those who suspect they are wide but not deep. You can download the worksheet at the end of this blog.

But for now, let us close by praying two prayers together. First, the prayer of the Psalmist, who longed for this kind of deep, internal cleansing that only the Lord can do. The next prayer is one in which you commit to being proactive in your responsibilities for changes in your own life. 

The Cleansing Prayer

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

The Commitment Prayer

Father, by Your Word and by Your Spirit, give us the honesty to see the rubble in our lives and in our church. Give us Josiah’s penitent heart to grieve what we see. We don’t want a religion, We want the true soul-changing experience of knowing Christ in the power of His resurrection and to share in the fellowship of His sufferings, even becoming like Him in His death. Give us His courage to tear down the idols that You reveal. And most of all, draw us and the church we belong to back to You, our great Restorer, through the grace of our Greater King, Jesus. It’s in His name we pray, Amen.

The Cycle Worksheet