Holiness has a bad rap. Why are we cringing? The very word may even deter you from wanting to read my blog, which is exactly why you should. =)
When did a true pursuit of holiness begin to be dismissed as being "religious"? Since when did an authentic desire to draw close to the Lord and show Him love by obeying him begin to be looked down upon as "outdated" or old-fashioned?
A few years back, a dear friend of mine got married. During the ceremony, she kissed her husband for the first time, ever. I remember standing there watching this bride kiss her husband, with something in my heart judging them for such a thing. It seemed so old-fashioned, so goody-goody, and even proud, as if they were trying to be super-religious or even a little better than everybody. Now, I didn't believe this whole-heartedly, but this viewpoint did lurk in some dark places in my heart.
A couple of years later, I sat in my living room with my very own husband and this very-same first-kiss-on-their-wedding-day couple, relating to us why they had chosen to do such an "unconventional" thing. I mean, the Bible most certainly does not contain the command, "though shalt not french kiss your husband until your wedding day." But, as they told their story, and their motivations toward such a decision, my heart was confronted with a purity in their motivations that convicted me to the core.
Speaking of her husband, the wife related, "when I realized how tempting certain things could be, I decided not to do ANYTHING that would cause any impure thoughts or resulting actions," right down to the clothes she chose to wear around him. She loved her fiance so much, that she shuddered at the possibility of causing him to sin, or to even be tempted towards anything sexually immoral. I could feel the purity in her words. Not once did either of them consider themselves better than anyone else in this decision. Rather, out of their true respect and very sincere love for one another, they could not even imagine doing something that would hurt, disrespect, or ultimately cause the other one to do something that they knew they really did not want to do.
The purity of their commitment to one another came crashing into my own judgment towards them, and I realized that I had falsely perceived their motivations. How could I EVER have had such thoughts towards someone who was trying to emulate the very attitude that Jesus displayed?
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant." (Phil. 2:5-7)The bottom line was that this couple, privately, had decided to lay aside their own selfish desires for affection from one another prior to marriage, and committed not to kiss each other until their wedding day (or even touch each other, it turns out), in an effort to honor one another and to prevent any kind of sexual immorality. They didn't care how it was perceived publicly. They were
"do(ing) nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider(ing) others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Phil 2:3-4) and, ultimately, honoring the Lord, who said,
"If you love me, you will obey what I command... Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him... If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." (John 14) (You get the point. But, Jesus is the one repeating himself here! Do you think this is important to Him?)
My friends taught me something that day, and gave me a fresh understanding of what it means to be pure in heart. They were obeying the command to, "
Flee from sexual immorality," and, thereby showing the greatest love for one another. Don't take my word for it. Jesus himself said, "
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
What gives? What is inside of us that causes us to inwardly cringe whenever another believer chooses a course of action or conduct that is found described within the Bible? What is happening to a generation of believers who think it's okay to become drunk with alcohol, have sexual experiences outside of marriage, and a slew of other things, in the name of "learning to be free" or "living under grace," or "not wanting to be too religious?" What are we going for here? Are we playing around with boundaries to things just to see how far we can go? What is happening?
Paul addressed this very attitude very clearly in Romans, chapter 6,
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What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?...
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!"
Many of us have read and know these scriptures, so what gives? I am not brow-beating here; I am far from becoming perfect, although I endeavor to "be perfect, even as 'Jesus' is perfect." I am speaking more to motivations within our hearts, and attempting to ask a provocative question, in hopes of encouraging you to choose the Lord.
Can you relate to the story that I shared about my friends? Have you questioned or even judged someone or some choice as being overly religious, and later, wondered about it?
Let me encourage you. James wrote that, "
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." Refusing to let the world pollute you, corrupt you, to remain uncontaminated.
When you first received the Lord, you likely knew very little scripture or very little of the commands of Jesus. But, your heart was so tender, so grateful. All you wanted was to get close to Jesus, to learn about Him, and to show your love for Him with your life. Somewhere along the way, your devotion may have become challenged. The Bible tells us that we are in a war, a spiritual one, and that our weapons are powerful. But, often, we do not see the pressure being put on us by the world, the pressure to conform to the world and to the standards of unbelievers.
I want to encourage all of us (even myself) to refuse to let our devotion to Jesus to be corrupted by the world. We have been given a marvelous gift, not only of eternal life, but to live free from sin. And, this gift was bought for us by the precious blood of Jesus. We have in our possession an opportunity to fearlessly and relentlessly love the Lord and to let our lives reflect our devotion to Him. The commands of Jesus are little more than instructions about what sin-free living is all about. They are not meant to be a heavy burden to our spirits, rather a new way of life that reflects the way creation, all of us, were originally intended to live before sin entered the world and enticed our flesh to corrupting, death-bringing choices. How is it then that disciplining ourselves, practicing self-control, or otherwise restricting ourselves from sinful indulgences has become labeled as "legalistic", even Pharasaical?
I write this blog with this intention, not to condemn you, or to put a heavy weight on you, but to encourage you. "For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return." (Phil 1:10) Not that I have fully achieved my goal, but that this is my pursuit. To live the life that Jesus bought for me and to know Him.
We have a choice, an opportunity to choose Jesus. To do what pleases Him, for Him. To love Him with our lives. We have a chance (and this is mind-blowing) to live in holiness. We have been cleansed by His blood into freedom. Will we now let the world, the pressures of this life, the desire for man's approval (and any other motivation you can think of) steal this gift away from us?
Pure living comes from a heart that loves purity. God looks not at how we appear to others, but by our motivations and what is within our hearts. He sees us and He knows. Isn't that comforting? Even when I wrongly judged my friends as being haughty in some way, He knew the true motivations of their hearts. "
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Sam 16:7)
Who are we living for and what are we trying to achieve? The next time your heart is pricked by something like the example of my friends' first kiss, let it challenge your own heart towards purity, and ultimately towards deeper devotion to Jesus. Reject condemnation, yes. But, use your new freedom, given to you by Jesus, to keep yourself pure.
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If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts." (2 Tim 2:21-22)
"But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight." (2 Peter 3:13-14)
And, this is our promise, and, ultimately all of our hope- being with Him, seeing Him.
"God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." (Matt 5:8)
Together, let us set the example in our generation, and refuse to be corrupted by the world. Let's keep our hearts pure, and see God.
