Friday, September 28, 2007
Holy Living
John Mark Reynolds wonders about what it means to be adult and Christian.
You see, I don't have the kinds of issues he discusses in the details. My fidelity to my wife in intact, I consume alcohol perhaps twice a year, in great moderation. For the moment, I have my food intake under control. But none of that changes the fact that I am just as fallen as the next guy.
We lose accountability structures because we do not "go deep." Those of us blessed enough to have a handle, by the grace of God, on the obvious sins tend to want to hold those that do not accountable, but who holds us? Do we allow it. Why then if we don't drink, but are otherwise complete jerks, should people feel compelled to seek holiness in the matter of alcoholic consumption? Under those circumstances, holiness looks just like everybody else, but without the booze. What's the point?
Here's a radical idea. I have known heavy boozers that had a handle on patience - something I struggle with. What if while I was working to hold them accountable on the booze, they were holding me accountable on the patience thing? Might that not motivate them just a bit?
Booze, sex, and other "obvious" sins are important first steps, but conquering them does not constitute conquering sin in our lives. If we want to call others down the path to holiness, we need to be walking it as well. We have not arrived at the destination, it is a life-long journey. We have to take it together.
My experience is that “after high school youth group” discussions of personal holiness (discussions with adults) about some areas of sin at best bring a yawn (”We’ve heard that.”) or hostility.I love this post - John Mark has hit on something really important here, and it should go farther.
The hostility seems directed at a perceived early “over-emphasis” in some church groups on certain kinds of sin. Purity is not (after all) just about chastity and avoiding polluting our bodies with bad substances. This is very true, but a weird thing happened on the way to balance in teaching in adults.
In some adults who are Christians, the reaction has led to an over-reaction leading to a near break down in any accountability for issues of holiness in these areas. It is not rational, but then human beings are often not rational when it comes to pleasure and passion.
[...]
Just because some youth groups said (or may have said) too much about this sort of sin does not mean that sinning is o.k. (in some sort of cosmic pay back). Being chaste in youth does not give license for being unchaste as an adult.
Of course, whenever I write this type of thing I am driven back to prayer. I am a sinner. I need God’s grace. I must NOT see the speck in someone else’s eye without acknowledging the plank in my own eye.
You see, I don't have the kinds of issues he discusses in the details. My fidelity to my wife in intact, I consume alcohol perhaps twice a year, in great moderation. For the moment, I have my food intake under control. But none of that changes the fact that I am just as fallen as the next guy.
We lose accountability structures because we do not "go deep." Those of us blessed enough to have a handle, by the grace of God, on the obvious sins tend to want to hold those that do not accountable, but who holds us? Do we allow it. Why then if we don't drink, but are otherwise complete jerks, should people feel compelled to seek holiness in the matter of alcoholic consumption? Under those circumstances, holiness looks just like everybody else, but without the booze. What's the point?
Here's a radical idea. I have known heavy boozers that had a handle on patience - something I struggle with. What if while I was working to hold them accountable on the booze, they were holding me accountable on the patience thing? Might that not motivate them just a bit?
Booze, sex, and other "obvious" sins are important first steps, but conquering them does not constitute conquering sin in our lives. If we want to call others down the path to holiness, we need to be walking it as well. We have not arrived at the destination, it is a life-long journey. We have to take it together.
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