Every Christian one day or the other grapples with the question “what does it mean to live a holy life in an unholy world?” For centuries many Christians struggled with this question and came up with different suggestions and ideas that in some sense shaped our understanding of holiness. Holiness and worldliness were always understood as opposite positions and to grow in holiness people tried to keep themselves as far as possible from worldliness. However in a sincere search for holiness sometimes Christians literally avoided contact with the world because they believed it is the contact with the sinful world that corrupted their souls
Church history shows that there were some Christian ascetics and monks who literally isolated themselves from the rest of the world so that they can escape the influence of worldliness in their lives. I am not trying to settle this age old debate, but it is my desire to provoke our thinking to examine how we live our lives as God’s children here on earth. A plain reading of the Bible (especially the New Testament) makes it obvious that God has called us to live a holy life in an unholy world. We are called to abstain from the sin in the world, yet to be Salt and light to a decaying world. Realizing the power and the irresistible influence of sin on human life some Christians have come to the conclusion that the only way we can live a holy life is abstinence or by isolating ourselves from the world as much as possible.
A plain reading of the Bible makes it obvious that God has called us to live a holy life in an unholy world.
If all we were concerned was to protect ourselves from outside influence of sin, may be isolation/abstinence would solve the problem of sin. Not watching TV/ movies, not listening to worldly music, not going to bars and not participating in any worldly affairs could stop outside invasion of sin in our lives. However, we have to always remember that each of us have to deal with sin at two different levels, our sinful nature inside and the worldliness outside. Our battle is not just with the penetrating sin from outside (even though this is a very important battle), it’s important to understand our fallen nature and its power to drag us into sin with or without outside temptations.
Each of us have to deal with sin at two different levels, our sinful nature inside and the worldliness outside.
When Christians abstain or isolate themselves from the worldly activities, people say “Don’t bury your head in the sand”. This is an old myth that Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they see danger come close to them. Our daily bread devotion on 9th Jan, 2006 mentions that “Contrary to common belief, the ostrich does not bury its head in the sand to ignore danger. An ostrich can run at a speed of 45 miles per hour, kick powerfully, and peck aggressively with its beak. As the largest and fastest bird in the world, it doesn’t need to bury its head.”
Researchers and biologists say that “ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. When sensing danger, an ostrich remains still with its head and neck flat on the ground in front of it. The head and neck blend in with the color of the dirt, so from a distance only the body is visible making it look like the head and neck have been buried. Ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. In fact, ostriches merely lower their heads to the ground to avoid detection while keeping an eye out for danger.” Wow, great skills, maybe we Christians can learn from the ostrich to keep our head low (stay humble) and always be watchful for our enemy who is roaring like a lion to attack us.
Holy living is not just a matter of avoiding the influence of outside sin; it’s not a passive abstinence. It involves an active relationship with God where we are constantly cleansed from within and are energized to reach out to a world that is lost in sin. Unfortunately many Christians just focus on the external influence of sin while unconsciously neglecting the sin within. John Fisher says “Struggling with evil exclusively on an external level often conceals our own sin, leading to self-righteous piety instead of real purity. Hiding from the garbage that’s already in us keeps us from our point of contact with a fallen world. We lose our sense of compassion, become judgmental, and end up condemning the world rather than identifying with its fallenness and bringing it the good news of salvation as Jesus did.” Remember the perfect example demonstrated by Jesus while he lived here on earth, He was never afraid to associate with sinners, but also made sure his association did not affect his holiness. He was in the world but not of it, so should be our lives, in the world but not of it.
“Struggling with evil exclusively on an external level often conceals our own sin, leading to self-righteous piety instead of real purity.” – John Fisher
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
