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Personal Holiness
The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. God is not an eternal blessing machine for men. He did not come to save men out of pity; He came to save men because He had created them to be holy.
Oswald Chambers
The theology professor walked into the lecture hall for the final class of his fifty-year teaching career. The auditorium buzzed with the usual before-class chatter. The professor was about to complete his teaching, entitled "The Life of Holiness." Holiness was a favorite topic of his, but throughout the semester a bitter undercurrent of argument and debate had marred the graduate-level class. No one, it seemed, could agree on the meaning of holiness. One group of students claimed that holiness had to be lived one way, while another faction claimed that a life of holiness was not even possible. All had a Scripture verse to back up their individual claims, and nobody would back down or even listen to another's reasoning or perspective.
Now the professor looked out over the lecture hall. Pockets of students sat in isolated clusters. The conflicting theological divisions in the auditorium had dogmatically and harshly argued with each other, to the point that they had physically and emotionally separated from one another. For nearly the entire semester, he had labored to break through their judgmental attitudes and independent spirits. After pacing for days in his book-lined basement library, searching for a possible solution, he had come up with one last idea.
The professor slowly wrote one solitary word on the middle of the blackboard. He then stared at it, drawing every eye in the classroom to the one word: trunks .
He turned to face the class and in measured tones said, "This session may be the most challenging of your graduate career. Please discuss and define this word with the students seated around you and list every reason why you believe your definition is correct. Do not discuss your thoughts with another group. No questions will be entertained at the lectern. In ten minutes, be prepared for your group's official spokesperson to stand and read your written answer."
A long pause followed. The professor then said, "Let me advise you from the outset, students, that there is only one correct answer to this question, and your written answer will weigh heavily on your final grade for this class." With that sobering revelation, he calmly turned on his heel and walked resolutely from the room. The corners of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly as he walked down the hallway, wondering about the debates raging back in his classroom.
Ten minutes passed. He strode back into the room, opened his grade book, faced the class, and asked for a group to volunteer. No one spoke. The professor waited for what seemed an eternity. "Then, if no one will volunteer, this option is hereby closed. Please pass forward your written statements with the name of each person in your group signed at the bottom."
From the back of the room came a rumbling. "This isn't fair! What do trunks have to do with a life of holiness?" Without acknowledging the outburst, the professor turned to the blackboard and in front of the word trunks added three more words: the big gray .
"After further consideration," he said, "I've softened my previous position and decided to give you a second chance. Follow the same instructions precisely. Let me advise you again, there is only one correct answer and your written answer will weigh heavily on your final grade." The classroom nearly exploded in frustration. But the professor quietly departed.
Ten long minutes passed before he returned to the same stupefied silence. Once again, the groups' papers were collected and neatly stacked on top of the previous ones, deliberately placed next to his grade book.
For a third time, the professor turned toward the board. This time he added six words. The board now read, The big gray trunks bounced down the dusty African road . With exaggerated emphasis, he placed the period at the end of the sentence.
"After further deliberation, I have elected to provide you a third opportunity. Follow the same instructions precisely. Let me advise you again, there is only one correct answer and your written answer will weigh heavily on your final grade." He paused for a minute before adding, "Oh, and because of the importance of this paper on your theological future, after you have completed your answer, please debate your findings with the groups around you in order to consider all perspectives."
As the professor left the room this time, he turned to the right and headed upstairs to the sound booth overlooking the auditorium. He wanted to observe firsthand the results of his assignment.
Chaos reigned below as the students vented their pent-up frustrations. Debates and arguments flooded the room, not only between groups but also within groups. Voices were raised and arms waved. Finally, after fifteen minutes of discussion, the professor decided to cut off the debate.
For the final time, he entered the auditorium and began to challenge the students' thinking. First, he asked the various groups to list on the board what the word trunks meant in the context of the sentence. There were four different interpretations: the trunk of a car, the trunk of an elephant, a suitcase or chest, and the midsection of a person's body.
The professor then asked whether anyone had changed his or her mind in the course of the debate. Almost all admitted that they had changed their answer at least once. The professor repeated his assertion that there was only one correct answer and then asked the groups if any would like to risk their semester's grade on their response. No one moved. "Why won't you risk your grade?" he questioned. "Aren't you sure you know the answer?"
A student in the back nearly yelled, "No, because we don't have all the necessary information!" For once, heads all around nodded in agreement.
Slowly the professor nodded and turned yet again to the board. With great care, he touched his chalk to the period at the end of the sentence and dramatically added a long tail, making it a comma. He scanned the faces in the room, heightening the implications of his unexpected action. Then he finished the sentence: The big gray trunks bounced down the dusty African road, as the boy who was wearing them ran by .
Everyone groaned. Not one group had come up with the correct answer. With the first smile of the day, the professor asked a pivotal question: "Now how many of you would be willing to take another shot at it and risk your semester's grade on your answer?" Every hand shot up. "What changed to make your confidence so complete?"
One of the older members of the class, a young man who spoke only on rare occasions, stood and summarized for everyone. "We finally have all the parts we need for the answer. Before we had only one word, and we were wrong. Then we knew only fragments, and still we were wrong. Then when you wrote about `bouncing down an African road,' most of us changed our minds, thinking we finally had the answer. It was only after you gave us the complete sentence that we knew the whole truth."
The professor nodded. "So what percentage of you were mistaken about your earlier answers?"
"One hundred percent."
"That's right-all of you were mistaken. Despite the intense debates, all of you were wrong! Even though some of you were sure of your position, you did not have adequate information to believe so. We can't be dogmatic about things unless we have all the information."
Then, turning back to the board, he added, "Now let me ask you what another word means." With that the professor erased the sentence on the board and wrote the word holiness . Understanding flooded the classroom.
At that moment, the bell rang. The professor laid down his chalk and said, "Make sure you have all the information before making your decision." Then he smiled gently and walked to the door. Thundering applause erupted from the students, whose hearts had been touched by the truth.
Now that you are pursuing holiness, do you know where you're going and what you're looking for? Will you know when you have hit the target-not in your eyes, but in heaven's eyes? After all, holiness is not a human thought; it's a supernatural thought, right from the very throne of heaven.
If you are a bit unsure, then perhaps you may decide to stick around for a few moments after class.
Holiness Means Separation
The first step in pursuing holiness starts with a clear understanding of what God means by holiness. Holiness has been defined by individuals and denominations in all kinds of ways-with as much resulting rancor and emotional baggage as experienced in that classroom. The root concept of holiness is unmistakable, however, and is exposed in the Bible through the drama of the burning bush:
Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground ." (Exodus 3:3-5)
Holy ground? How could ground be holy? If Moses had taken a handful of "unholy" ground and compared it with the "holy" sand at the burning bush, would he have seen the difference? If during the previous week Moses had shepherded his flock through that same patch of the desert, would it have been holy then? Or if Moses had taken a few grains of holy sand back to his tent and studied them carefully, would he have discovered that the nature of the sand had been changed or that it was still just plain old desert dirt? Why did the Lord declare this ground to be holy?
Holiness Means Separation
If you had a big Hebrew dictionary sitting within arm's reach like I do, you could soon find the answer. You would quickly discover that the root concept of holiness lies in the word separation . The ground became holy simply because God separated it as the unique place where He would reveal Himself to Moses. In a sense, all the rest of the desert remained unholy because God didn't choose it to be the location for this meeting. If God had moved a stone's throw to the north and spoken there, that particular part of the desert would have been called holy.
Imagine that after one of the massive feasts conducted during King Solomon's reign, one of the temple priests went home to his wife with a request. "Sweetheart, I need a new holy knife for the temple. All of the knives there have dulled, so would you mind if I took one of ours?" The instant the priest dedicated the knife to the Lord's service, that unholy kitchen knife became a holy temple knife.
Holiness can describe the "separation" in a person's mind regarding a knife, a plot of ground, a city, or many other things. I call this mental holiness, as the separation occurs only in the person's thinking. For example, not only did the fundamental nature of the sand not change, but no one would have known the ground was "holy" unless God revealed it to him.
Holiness Requires Both Separation From and Separation To
Holiness requires separation from one thing and separation to a different thing. Think about that for a moment, and it becomes obvious that you can't have one without the other. For that knife to become holy it must be separated from the house and separated to the temple.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the root word holy and its derivatives are translated into such terms as set apart, dedicated, consecrated, sanctified, holy, separated, and saint . Whatever their particular context in the Bible, each is rooted in the concept of separateness. Holiness requires division. Up to the moment the temple priest took the knife from his home, that knife couldn't become holy. Why not? Because it was with all the other knives and not distinct. Until the Lord set that particular part of the desert apart from the rest of the desert, He couldn't call it holy. Holiness, then, requires withdrawal. Holiness requires disconnection. For a person to become holy in this sense, he must depart from anything unholy, or holiness is impossible.
The second side of separation requires that the knife become united or devoted to something else. The priest took the knife from the kitchen and placed it in the temple. Holiness requires reconnection.
Holiness requires subtraction and addition. New people, new practices, and new pursuits must be added to your life to replace the old unholy patterns. We abandon our unholy ways and pursue His holy way. Without both aspects of this separation, biblical holiness is simply not possible.
The believer must flee from something and then follow after something else. We find these two distinct parts in 2 Timothy 2:22:
Flee [separate yourself from] also youthful lusts; but pursue [separate yourself to] righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
So much of the negative perception regarding holiness is a result of harsh teaching and fiery sermons on "fleeing." Holiness is not about living in the world of No; it's about leaving the world of No in order to enter the world of Yes! But whenever a person seeks to fulfill only one half of this equation-pursuing righteousness without fleeing youthful lusts, for example-imbalance and error will eventually disrupt his life.
But practical holiness for the Christian occurs when we leave behind the patterns of this world in order to become more Christlike in our character and conduct. The apostle Peter wrote:
But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16)
This is a person-to-person call placed by the Lord God to you. The Lord is calling you to be holy. He beckons you to come out from all conduct that is inappropriate and be separated to Him, to depart from everything that isn't like Him and devote yourself fully to Him.
You see, holiness is the center of God's will for you. The Holy One Himself wants you to be holy. May your heart discover the incredible power of release and reattachment. May you depart from all that isn't holy and pursue all that is.
Holiness Has Standards
Every known culture in this world honors some form of holiness.
Continues...
Excerpted from Set Apart by Bruce Wilkinson Copyright © 2003 by Bruce Wilkinson
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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