a higher standard...

God stirs ideas and trains of thought around in me for a while and then brings me to an inevitable point where I have to write them down and put some skin on them.

This is one of those days.

Lately, I’ve been on a literal quest to learn what it means to be holy. Now, in the event that you’re tempted to think “wow…how self righteous is she?”, let me assure you that the reason that I’m on this quest is because I’m confronted daily with how miserably I am failing at this concept. I’m doing a study on the fear of God (which I don’t recommend unless you want to have your world rocked) and am realizing with each passing day how easily I diminish God and fit Him into my world. I know, I know, I’ve listened to enough John Piper in my life to grasp the concept of the supremacy of God in all of life, right? Sure. What I don’t think I’ve started to grasp until just recently is what the supremacy of God looks like in all of MY life. I mean, it’s really easy for me to say “Obama’s president because God is sovereign and He placed him there,” or to say “I believe God’s in charge of everything and could’ve healed him or her of cancer if He’d wanted to, but He’s God, so I trust Him.” I can also sit at the greatest conferences in the world and listen to this generation’s foremost communicators extol the majesty and holiness of God and be stirred to my very core by the truth they speak. Then, moments later can be led quite literally into the throne room of God by worship leaders whom He’s inspired to give voice to the praises that are due Him and believe with everything in me what I’m singing. But…what then? What does God’s supremacy look like in MY life, and what does it look like for me to answer the call of 1 Peter 1:15-17 “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written ‘Be holy because I am holy.’ Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live as strangers here in reverent fear.”

I gotta tell you…I don’t feel like a stranger here. I’m pretty comfortable in this world and in my life. And, let’s be honest…compared to the pagans I see and even some of the Christians, I’m not doing too badly at this holiness thing either. “That’s not your measuring stick.” Ummm….perhaps I could pause long enough from patting myself on my self-righteous back to let that sink in. “That’s not your measuring stick. The pagans of the world and even the other Christians of the world are not your measuring stick. I am your measuring stick. Be holy because I am holy.” There’s a snap to perspective for you. When true holiness is on the line, the God-kind, it’s suddenly quite clear how short I fall.

Who am I kidding? I’ve actually had the audacity to create a hybrid version of holiness! Some kind of worship singing, church serving, sermon listening, family presenting, good deed doing, tithe check writing, republican voting, cause supporting, mission trip funding version of holiness that still allows me to cater to my gossip spewing, partiality showing, tv show craving, addiction feeding, possession loving, superior attitude sporting, language using, judgment rendering, “secret” sin fostering lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed, with a few well-placed “that’s what she said” moments on the top, just because they’re darn funny. I mean, I’m sure I’m the only one who struggles with this, but in my world, I really want to know what it means to actually BE holy, not just talk about it. I want to know what needs to change about my life if my measuring stick really is the holiness of God.

I think the founders of that whole “what would Jesus do?” movement, had it right. I don’t know that the execution of it was great, and it’s sad when it’s even made fun of in Christian circles, but the premise is right. What would it look like if Jesus were walking with me through my days? How would having a truly holy person walking by my side impact my decisions? If I knew that Jesus were watching me, what would I do differently? Oh….wait…aren’t all of those things true? Isn’t that EXACTLY what is happening? Don’t I have the Holy Spirit of God living inside me empowering me with the same power that raised Christ from the dead? Of course I do, but I don’t want to leave the comfort of my world-influenced life most of the time to walk in that reality. Well, it’s getting old. This ride of pseudo-holiness is losing it’s luster. It’s time to set a higher standard and use the ultimate measuring stick to evaluate the progress. But then again…maybe that’s just me.

peace.