The hole in our holiness is that we don't really care much about it. Passionate exhortation to pursue gospel-driven holiness is barely heard in most of our churches. It's not that we don't talk about sin or encourage decent behavior. Too many sermons are basically self-help seminars on becoming a better you. That's moralism and it's not helpful. Any gospel which says only what you must do and never announces what Christ has done is no gospel at all. So I'm not talking about getting beat up every Sunday for watching SportsCenter and driving an SUV. I'm talking about the failure of Christians, especially younger generations and especially those most disdainful of "religion" and "legalism," to take seriously one of the great aims of our redemption and one of the required evidences for eternal life - our holiness.
J.C. Ryle, a nineteenth-century Bishop of Liverpool, was right: 'We must be holy, because this is one grand end and purpose for which Christ came into the world....Jesus is a complete Savior. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer's sin, he does more - he breaks its power (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 12:10).' My fear is that as we rightly celebrate, and in some quarters rediscover, all that Christ has saved us from, we are giving little thought and making little effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to. Shouldn't those most passionate about the gospel and God's glory also be those most dedicated to the pursuit of godliness? I worry that there is an enthusiasm gap and no one seems to mind.
(The Hole in Our Holiness, pp. 10-11)
This has been weighing heavily on my mind recently. Ever since I started college, there has been a tension between what I have always believed and what I am surrounded by. In the first two years, I've tried to negotiate how I can reconcile the two, and most of the time it's ended up with me just fumbling my way through. This summer it became obvious that I needed to put my money where my mouth is, and decide once and for all in what direction my life is headed. God used several friends to remind me of the beauty of what I believe and has mercifully renewed my love for my heritage. I'm seeing how much I have undervalued these relationships in favor of others that are less edifying. It's scary to think how easily I could have lost what I have spent the last ten years of my life building.
Looking back, I'm seeing that in these last two years, my walk with God has been mainly just coasting. In the business of college-dom, I've become distracted from the end goal: To love God and serve his people. Sin has begun to lose some of its ugliness. Holiness has gotten a little...dorky.
If sin is no big deal, neither is the Gospel.
I don't want to be complacent anymore. I'm done with talking about loving God instead of actually loving Him. My faith without works is dead.
When shall we know thee as we ought,
And fear, and love, and serve aright!
When shall we, out of trial brought,
Be perfect in the land of light!
Lord, may we day by day prepare
To see thy face, and serve thee there.
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