Holy is as Holy does

Holiness......

The word itself conjures up images and ideas without any further provocation. For some, it manifests in an old blue-haired woman with a beehive hairdo and a dress from one of Laura Ingles' books. For others, it is a disheveled looking man with a scraggly beard and a three day-old hangover weeping with hands lifted high in adoration of the One who has set him free. Both have their merits, and both their demerits.

But defining Holiness is much simpler than arguing about a particular standard or set of convictions. It is best defined as "Christ-likeness". We can point to those of extreme conservativism and select men and women who made a mockery of their clothing choices by committing heinous perversions of trust and confidence. Likewise, we can discover those who mistook liberty for licentiousness and soiled the name of Grace with misconduct that would and should be condemned. At the end of all of our looking, we can merely say, as Solomon pronounced, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!"

Our best efforts to be recognized by our peers or admirers as Holy are, in fact, counterproductive. Holy lifestyles become unholy whenever they are a source of pride when comparing ourselves among ourselves. That means we also cannot compare others to ourselves and deem them unrighteous or unholy. The sole standard for holiness always has been and always will be the Messiah Himself. Pointing to others and exposing their unholiness is a pretty easy task. Look hard enough, and even the most pious of all saints is a filthy mongrel of ill repute when all of their flaws are illuminated.

I have journeyed through many circles in search of where my view fits in. Unfortunately, in most cases, I am too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives. This has left me with an odd choice. I can either change to fit, or allow myself to be left out of the mainstream processes that most ministers crave. But, I have also found that holiness isn't at all about what others see in you. It is about what Jesus has done in you. That's why when I hear of great names who fall into great sins, I simply shrug and say to myself, "Another one bites the dust". Eventually, we will all bow down and admit that we are unworthy. The question is, will we do it by choice out of a revelation of Jesus, or will we do it by force, out of a revelation of our sins?