WHEN A PERSON DEFILES THEMSELF

The Word We Pretend We Don’t Need Anymore

“Defilement” is one of those biblical words we assume belongs in a museum—right next to the bronze laver, the ephod, and whatever a “wave offering” was. But Jesus refuses to let the concept retire. He drags it straight into the present, right into the human heart, and sets it on the table like a spiritual MRI. And then, with the kind of holy satire only He could get away with, He announces that the real contamination problem isn’t out there in the world—it’s in here, inside us. This is the same Jesus who mocked the Pharisees for being so spiritually nearsighted that they would “strain out a gnat and swallow a” hippopotamus—a satirical stand‑in for the original image of Matthew 23:24. They were scrubbing hands; He was diagnosing hearts. They were polishing cups; He was exposing souls. Their obsession with microscopic impurities only highlighted the monstrous sins they refused to confront. Jesus’ satire wasn’t for laughs—it was for revelation.

The Ancient Warning We Keep Repeating

The Old Testament is filled with warnings about defilement, and not one of them is about catching spiritual cooties from unbelievers. The danger was always moral, not microbial. “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things,” God says in Leviticus 18:24, after listing the practices of the nations that had forgotten Him. The issue wasn’t ritual contamination; it was moral compromise. Daniel understood this when he “resolved not to defile himself” with the king’s food (Daniel 1:8). Babylon wasn’t going to shape his loyalties, even if the menu looked fantastic. The prophets warned Israel that defilement happens when the heart drifts from God and begins to resemble the idols it worships. And idols always deform their worshipers. They shrink the soul. They twist the conscience. They turn the image of God into a caricature of self‑rule. Isaiah mocked idols that needed to be nailed down so they wouldn’t fall over. Elijah teased the prophets of Baal about their god being on vacation. Holy satire has always been a tool for exposing unholy hearts.

Jesus’ Diagnosis: The Heart Is the Contamination Source

When Jesus lists the things that defile a person—“evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19)—He is not giving a random catalog of sins. He is describing the natural outflow of a heart that has stopped loving God. Defilement is not an accident; it is a direction. It is the slow drift from holiness toward self‑rule, from worship toward self‑justification. And Jesus names the symptoms with surgical precision. Murder begins with contempt. Adultery begins with a glance. Theft begins with entitlement. Slander begins with resentment. Every outward sin begins as an inward seed. And Jesus, with His characteristic satirical edge, reminds us that the heart is not a neutral organ. It is a factory. It produces something. And if left unguarded, it produces spiritual pollution.

How People Defile Themselves Today (Without Even Trying)

Modern Christians may not bow to Baal or carve wooden idols, but we have our own altars. A person defiles themselves today whenever they allow sin to take root and bear fruit in speech, behavior, or relationships. It happens when bitterness becomes a pet instead of a poison. When lust becomes entertainment instead of temptation. When deceit becomes a strategy instead of a sin. When slander becomes a prayer request. When pride becomes a personality trait. When political identity becomes a functional savior. Jesus would have a field day with our modern forms of defilement. He might say, “You tithe your social media posts but neglect justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” Or, “You clean the outside of your public persona, but inside you’re full of outrage and self‑importance.” Or perhaps, “You honor Me with your hashtags, but your heart is far from Me.” His satire would not be cruel. It would be clarifying. It would expose the gap between appearance and reality—the very essence of defilement.

How to Recognize a Defiled Person by Their Fruits

Jesus never told us to read minds, but He did tell us to read fruit. “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Not by their charisma. Not by their platform. Not by their theological vocabulary. Fruit is the evidence of the root. And rotten fruit never lies. A defiled person may speak the language of faith, but their life smells like something left too long in the sun. Their words tear down instead of build up. Their habits reveal appetites they refuse to surrender. Their relationships leave a trail of wounded people. Their humor corrodes rather than heals. Their loyalties drift toward idols that promise power, pleasure, or control. They may claim purity, but their fruit testifies otherwise.

Jesus’ satire would have been sharp here. He might have said, “Do people pick figs from thistles, or grapes from a swamp bush?” And then added, “If the fruit tastes like bitterness, don’t pretend the tree is planted in My vineyard.” A defiled person produces fruit that contradicts the gospel they profess. Their speech is seasoned not with grace but with venom. Their decisions reveal a heart discipled by resentment, lust, or pride. Their influence spreads decay, not life. The most telling sign is this: a defiled person resists repentance. They defend their sin, justify it, rename it, or blame others for it. They treat conviction as an insult rather than a mercy. And over time, their fruit becomes predictable—anger, division, manipulation, impurity, deceit. Jesus never said, “You will know them by their intentions.” He said, “You will know them by their fruits.”

What It Means When a Christian Follows an Unrepentant, Defiled Person

There is another layer Scripture refuses to ignore: what happens when a Christian begins following someone who is openly defiled and unrepentant. Paul warns that “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33), not because Christians are fragile, but because sin is contagious in ways righteousness is not. Holiness must be chosen; corruption only needs to be tolerated. When a believer aligns themselves with someone who refuses repentance, they are not merely observing sin—they are apprenticing under it.

Jesus’ satire would have been blistering here. He might have said, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the same swamp” (Matthew 15:14, adapted), and then added something like, “And if the swamp is full of muck, don’t be surprised when you smell like the person who dragged you into it.” Following an unrepentant person is not discipleship; it is drift. It is the slow, subtle reshaping of conscience by someone who has already silenced theirs.

Scripture warns that Christians who attach themselves to unrepentant people eventually begin to excuse what they once resisted. They adopt the tone, the habits, the justifications, the resentments. They begin defending what Jesus condemns. They start calling darkness “a different shade of light.” They become, in Jesus’ words, “twice as much a child of hell” as the person they are following (Matthew 23:15). This is the quiet road to apostasy. Apostasy rarely begins with denial of Christ; it begins with loyalty to someone who denies Him. It begins with admiration, then imitation, then justification, then participation. A Christian who follows an unrepentant, defiled person eventually becomes the kind of person who no longer recognizes defilement at all.

What Christians Should Do Instead

Discern Without Delusion

Jesus commands, “Judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). Discernment is clarity, not suspicion.

Rebuke Without Self‑Righteousness

“If your brother sins, rebuke him” (Luke 17:3). A rebuke is rescue, not attack.

Judge Without Hypocrisy

“Are you not to judge those inside the church?” (1 Corinthians 5:12). Accountability is love.

Pray Without Pretending

Prayer is intercession, not performance.

Call to Repentance Without Shame

Repentance is liberation, not humiliation.

Restore Without Reluctance

“Restore him gently” (Galatians 6:1). The church is a hospital, not a courtroom.

The Hope That Cleanses What We Cannot

God promises, “I will sprinkle clean water on you… I will give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:25–26). Christ “purifies our conscience from dead works” (Hebrews 9:14).

A Community Cleansed and Cleansing

A church that confronts sin with humility, truth, prayer, repentance, and restoration becomes a living testimony to the cleansing power of Christ. This is our calling. Not to stand above others in judgment, but to stand beside them in grace. Not to ignore sin, but to address it with courage. Not to despair over defilement, but to trust in the One who cleanses. Not to walk alone, but to walk together as a people being purified, sanctified, and transformed by the Spirit of God.