Whatever Happened to Holiness?

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in al you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

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As the body of Christ, you and I must understand that every sin damages the entire body; When someone in the body of Christ does something that is less than honorable, it affects us all. There has been n epidemic of misconduct in the church in recent years that ranges from sexual immorality, child abuse, molestation, incest, drunkenness, drug abuse and even divorce. Technology makes it all accessible but to be honest nothing surprises us anymore. We know from experience that Christians tend to sweep things under the rug. I know this for fact because I grew up in church. It seems easier to hide things as opposed to dealing with them, and that is most definitely not what Christ had taught us. Christ came to bring darkness to light and not the other way around.

There comes a time when you and I have to be serious about out heavenly Father's business.  We must be serious about the cause of holiness. God is Holy and He wants the body of Christ to be just like Him: holy. We cannot and should not use being human as an excuse for dwelling in sin. Christ's death forever change our sinful nature. It is your responsibility and mine to strive for holiness, and to look like our Father. We should not live our lives like the people we see in multiple reality shows. We must keep certain standards. We are the light of the world. We should be afraid to stand for core values. It bothers me a great deal when the voice of immorality is louder than holiness! Listen, were are in the world but we are not of this world. We must not follow the crowd. We must follow Christ.

I suppose Matthew 5:13-14 expresses it best: "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? can you make it salty again? You are the light of the world means you are like this house on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Whether you realize it or not people are watching you.  The world just loves it when a prominent church leader is revealed to be less than honorable. Nowadays there isn't any difference between the way Christians live and the way the world lives. Christians want to fit in. Holiness is simply not a popular topic in this "laissez faire" culture.  Some church leaders are more interested in building their own empire than building the kingdom of God. Just recently a popular televangelist revealed her sexual sin as tough it was nothing in an effort to glorify it in order to relate to mainstream and the ideology of our time. What is going on?

I think it was the prophet Malachi who said that marrying unbelieving women, divorcing the wife of one's youth, and the worship of other gods (sex, money, position, children, spouse, ect.) is an act of treachery against the whole body. Sin is never honorable. We confess sin in order to be forgiven not to minimize it. Remember, sin is bad news. It is a disobedience to God and should never be embellished or downplayed. Church cannot exhort the congregation to repentance because they are too busy leading their sinful lives oblivious to repentance. Each time that the church chooses not to call its member to repentance, the body gets hurt. The world is always observing. God is always watching. Our lives should be a testimony. Who is standing for the Lord? You and I should. It is our responsibility as believers.

Let us stand together for holiness and righteousness! Let's go back to the business of soul seeking and not membership growing and empire expanding! Let us (you and I) together make the choice to buildup the church as instructed by the lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Let us Pray!
Father how grateful I am for today's word! Thank you for sending your son to die for the forgiveness of my sins. Help me live daily in a way that is honorable and pleasing to you. Help me resist the temptations of this seductive world. My desire is to be more like every day. I honor you and I love you.  Amen.

Praise the Lord!