What is holiness to us as Christ followers?

As I read ths morning from another passage from the Old Testament, I was struck once more with the holiness of God. He struck Miriam with leprosy and told Moses to banish his sister outside the camp for seven days. Miriam and Aaron had questioned Moses' leadership. And the Lord was not pleased. In fact, in the New Living Translation, it says, "The Lord was furious with them, and he departed."

Wow! What would it be like to be in the presence of God and have Him be furious with you? The closest imagery I can relate this incident to is when I was in second grade and one of the nuns in my Catholic school pulled me out of the classroom. She beat her finger on my chest and scolded me (for some behavior that I probably deserved, being the knucklehead that I was). I remember so well looking up at her, terrified by the harsh look on her face as she towered over me in her black and white habit. I think the fear of this teacher motivated me to toe the line from then on....at least for awhile.

As we think of the holiness of God as believers of Jesus, now that we know that He has taken out His wrath on His Son on the cross and we are forgiven by Him, what does it mean to be holy as He is holy?

Twenty-six years I bought a powerful little book while I was in seminary that had a profound influence in my thinking about holiness and obedience to Christ. It's called The Liberty of Obedience by Elisabeth Elliot. Her name is quite relevant to a recent film you may have seen. Her husband, Jim, was one of the five men speared to death by Auca indians in Ecuador in the 1950's. Their story was featured in the great film, End of the Spear.

As you may know, Elisabeth returned to Ecuador and worked among these indians, the very ones who left her and four other women widows. She served these people and shared the gospel with them. Many of them came to Christ.

During her stay in South America and after her return to the U.S., Elisabeth went on to be a popular writer and speaker. Of course, her story of her husband, based on his journals (The Shadow of the Almighty) had a profound impact on many, many people -- including me when I read it in the mid-1980's.

However, this other book of hers, The Liberty of Obedience, is not that well known. Yet it is so insightful -- and shakes up your theology. Living with the Aucas for all those years caused her to re-think what holiness is. From her experiences there, and from re-reading the Bible (especially Paul's letters), she came to believe that holiness may not be so cut and dry for every believer. Here are few quotes that I especially liked:

":We must admit that we do not know all the answers about good and evil. We cannot always tell what is sin. But if we love God, we have begun to learn. We are on the way to maturity. Who are the mature? Hebrews 5:14 says they are `those who by reason of use (practice) have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.' It does not take practice to read a rule book.,,It does not call for discernment. "

"In the early church there were arguments about morality. Paul pointed out in one instance that a man might eat a plate of food for the glory of God, and another man mighty glorify God by abstaining from the same food. "

Now here is the quote from Elliot that has especially impacted me:

"It apears that God has deliberately left us in a quandary about many things. Why did He not summarize all the rules in one book, and all the basic doctrines in another? He could have eliminated the loopholes, prevented all the schisms over morality and false teaching that have plagued His Church for two thousand years. Think of the squabbling and perpexity we could have been spared. And think of the crop of dwarfs He would have reared!

"He did not spare us. He wants us to reach maturity. (From Rom. 8:28) note that He is not interested in conformity to a static code but to a person, the likeness of His Son,' the living expression of Himself, the very Life of all the ages." (bold letters my emphasis).

I remember when I was a new Christian and worked as a waiter at a restaurant. A group of men came in whom I knew were believers in Jesus. And I was so shocked when they ordered wine! When I brought the wine to them (it's funny how I made a living serving wine but at the time didn't think it was right for a Christian to drink wine), I found them holding hands and asking the Lord to bless the meal. Sadly, in my heart I thought,"What hypocrites."

O, Father, please deliver me from "static codes of conformity" and from spiritual pride thinking that I understand all of what holiness is about. Keep me most of all focused on You and Your Son, Jesus, allowing Your Holy Spirit to conform me more into Christ's image. And I know that as I do so You will show me what it means to be holy, within my culture. And please give me the humility to realize that holiness to another believer may not look quite like my interpretation of it. In the Name of Jesus, the Holy One, Who alone makes us holy. Amen.

What do you think, bloggers, about this notion of what it means to be holy? How should we deal with our differences over what we think holiness is all about?

Do you have any stories of your own about holiness?

Jim