The other day, I was listening to one of my favorite preachers talk about holiness and sin. At first, I really got into what he was preaching. But then I wanted to cringe as he started to divert from what I believe is the true spirit behind the text and went to applying it to today's culture. He talked about how we no longer want to be separated from the world and really come out of it. He started talking about how the lines between Chrisitan and non-Christian lifestyles have become blurred. And while I agree with his point in general, I think that his application was misguied. He tried to connect holiness to many external things like hairstyles, body piercings and heavy metal or rock music.
Here is a man who is a mighty prophet of God, someone whom I respect. His ministry has had a global impact. I have even listened to him preach at the church where he pastors in a major U.S. city. But I wondered how he could be so far off the mark and stuck in the ditch of religiosity when it comes to cultural things. There is nothing that makes one hairstyle more godly than another. Spiked hair, mohawks, wild colors - it's all good as long as it is done in faith. Clothes and hairstyles are spiritually neutral. It only becomes a sin to have a mohawk if you are still a child and your parents forbid it. It only becomes a sin to wear clothes if they are too revealing, which causes others to sin. Rock music in and of itself is not wrong although the feelings and attitudes it may foster can be.
While we don't want to call good evil and evil good, we certainly don't want to become judgemental Pharisees either. Where does genuine faith stop and religiosity begin? Our freedom should not be used to see just how far we can get without angering God? Holiness should be our aim not a line in the sand we try to keep from stepping over. Why is it so hard to follow God's call to be holy as He is holy?
Oh, God, reveal to me what it means to be purified in You. Help me to discern Your path. Keep me from bashing people in the head with my Bible while preserving the integrity of Your Words in my life. May I not use the Bible as a tool to justify sin. Instead, may it be a guide to the best life possible. Help me to know how to be right in the right way with the right attidude. Amen!
