What motivated you to ask this question? It could be the most practical and important question for a Christian to ask. Are you thinking of giving up dancing and going to movies?
The Hebrew word for “Holy” is kodesh, which means separate, set apart (Numbers 23:9). It was originally used to describe God’s “holy” people Israel set apart against the flow of history. This idea has now been transferred to the body of Christ-the present day “Israel”. The modern distorted Christian definition of Holy is centered on working to be perfect, sinless, and emotionally, even physically separate from the non-Christian world. This very soon becomes a legalistic set of guidelines to follow that implies being worthy of adoration. “Holy” does not mean being intrinsically better-it means being made visible as a symbol. Only God’s grace makes us holy through the blood of Jesus-it’s a position we have at the moment of salvation. The way we are set apart is by being plugged in to the higher reality of the Larger Story--to be a witness for a transcendent yet immanent Creator. This requires in intimate relationship with God and having knowledge of His larger reality and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it permeates life on earth. I guess it all comes down to where your heart is. If you are in love with God, plugged into the Larger Story, and hunting for His Truth as Proverbs says, you can’t help but be “set apart”. Even if you frequent places where low life dwells as Jesus did you can be holy. Holy has little to do with perfection or not making mistakes or to a certain extent even sinning.
Practically ‘set apart” has questionable meaning unless it is against a backdrop of what you are set apart from. A light is only good when it floods the darkness. Thus being holy may mean going into the darkness with light. How do you light the darkness is then the question. I don’t think you shine the light in non-Christians’ eyes-you shine the light so they can see the Gospel of Jesus Christ-the beauty of God and His love for them. How do you do this? Well, this is the challenge and the adventure, and the fun--its up to the individual to figure out how. As long as the individual understands the main point of communicating the Larger Story--I think it will come natural-no I mean supernatural.
What motivated you to ask this question? It could be the most practical and important question for a Christian to ask. Are you thinking of giving up dancing and going to movies?
The Hebrew word for “Holy” is kodesh, which means separate, set apart (Numbers 23:9). It was originally used to describe God’s “holy” people Israel set apart against the flow of history. This idea has now been transferred to the body of Christ-the present day “Israel”. The modern distorted Christian definition of Holy is centered on working to be perfect, sinless, and emotionally, even physically separate from the non-Christian world. This very soon becomes a legalistic set of guidelines to follow that implies being worthy of adoration. “Holy” does not mean being intrinsically better-it means being made visible as a symbol. Only God’s grace makes us holy through the blood of Jesus-it’s a position we have at the moment of salvation. The way we are set apart is by being plugged in to the higher reality of the Larger Story--to be a witness for a transcendent yet immanent Creator. This requires in intimate relationship with God and having knowledge of His larger reality and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it permeates life on earth. I guess it all comes down to where your heart is. If you are in love with God, plugged into the Larger Story, and hunting for His Truth as Proverbs says, you can’t help but be “set apart”. Even if you frequent places where low life dwells as Jesus did you can be holy. Holy has little to do with perfection or not making mistakes or to a certain extent even sinning.
Practically ‘set apart” has questionable meaning unless it is against a backdrop of what you are set apart from. A light is only good when it floods the darkness. Thus being holy may mean going into the darkness with light. How do you light the darkness is then the question. I don’t think you shine the light in non-Christians’ eyes-you shine the light so they can see the Gospel of Jesus Christ-the beauty of God and His love for them. How do you do this? Well, this is the challenge and the adventure, and the fun--its up to the individual to figure out how. As long as the individual understands the main point of communicating the Larger Story--I think it will come natural-no I mean supernatural.
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