“Love- the heart of God’s character”… Character: “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual”. How does “Holiness” fit in the picture of love- Christ’s love? As the authors write about ”contributor” and “core” I think of the verse in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body”. Holiness: Its is a shared life, a life of communion. “Sharing life and the goods of life with one another.”
Holiness: A life of togetherness, and inside of that, loving one another, as he commanded us. It is active participation in the love between God the Father and God the Son- the power of presence and God the Spirit. What is active participation and what does that look like? How can we be active participants in this holiness living conversation? Why is it a conversation? How about “holiness” as a lifestyle, one that is lived out through practice? What does a life of togetherness look like?
Sacrifice, inconvenience and humility all play their own roles in this holiness life. If these are the pieces to holiness, what is holiness a piece of? Love has to be the ultimate goal of holiness. One might say holiness should have these characteristics: ”Personal Piety” (which is essentially pure reverence and being a completely devoted individual) “Mission Focused” (heavenly motivation, kingdom on earth and in heaven). “Sanctified” (set-apart for something)… The list could go on, but when it comes down to it, these terms are pieces of holiness and just that: terms.
Without love being the motivator, “terms” are worthless and individualistic. Individualism has no place inside of holiness or the “Holiness Movement” (talked about in chapter 6) this needs to be taken seriously by seriously loving one another and living life relationally. Relational Holiness is the only way this “Holiness Tradition” will survive; essentially it has no role in our lives if we are going to be holy on our own. Holiness has to be messy, because people are messy, and loving people is messier and God loved people. God loves. God loves me, a messy person; I love messy people because God loves those messy people and me. That is holiness. Living and sharing in each others messiness and making something beautiful out of “His Kingdom Come”, here on earth. God is love and God loves. This has to be the root, the goal, the ultimate, and the piece of the puzzle that drives us to be a holiness people.
As people gather together, (friends, families, neighbors) lives change and holiness takes place as we invite each other into our lives. Coming together creates a place for people to find God. To find true friendship that was made for us from Christ through us, to share in communion with Christ and those around us. As John Wesley said, “There is no holiness outside of relational holiness”. True holiness is found through love.
I'm really glad Chanelle brings up the issue of inconvenience. This is an interesting part of the conversation for me because when I first think of the word, I think of things like traffic. But when I place it into this conversation and we think about the idea of being inconvenienced or sacrificing for a brother or sister, it becomes a privilege to take on this kind of "inconvenience."
ReplyDeletethanks for your perspective on this chan, really appreciated your statement of "why is it a conversation" I find myself asking that same question. i agree with you that it is about being in the mess of peoples lives with them, and them in my own mess. that this lifestyle is about movement and action.
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