Holiness??? Uh ... What's That?

This is a picture of my Aunt Edna, circa the 1940s, and an unidentified woman (I apologize for the arrow--someone drew it on there and I couldn't figure out how to get it off--I need one of those eraser apps, I guess). Notice their long dresses and sleeves. Even today there are denominations that embrace similar dress and call it "holiness."

In Leviticus 19:2, God directs Moses to tell all the Israelites, "Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." If you google the meaning of the Hebrew word holiness (what the Old Testament was written in) and the Greek (what the New Testament was written in), you come up with similar meanings: set apart, as from sin and from the world. We find this call sent out to God's children in the New Testament (1 Peter 1:15) as well as the Old.

My mother's family came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the same holiness movement from which my father's family hailed. When I was growing up, most people knew what being from a holiness denomination meant: no makeup, long hair for women, no jewelry, modest clothes, no pants for women. Unfortunately, all the "no's' (as in, don't do this, don't do that) gave holiness a bum rap. After all, rules in themselves can't develop the likeness of Christ in us. If they could, we could have just kept on with the Old Testament laws and Jesus wouldn't have had to come. But maybe, just maybe, we've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

I'm pretty sure that nowadays most of my younger family members would look at me with the proverbial question mark hovering over their heads if I asked them what holiness was. Now, don't get me wrong. Although I still embrace modest clothing for women (1 Timothy 2:9), I have softened up insofar as hair, makeup, and jewelry go. But recently a meme on Facebook struck me hard.

Taken from Michael Kelley's Holy Vocabulary, this meme referencing Isaiah 6:2-7 reads, 'By calling God 'holy' three times, the seraphim were pointing to the absolutely essential and foundational nature of God's holiness. They didn't chant 'loving, loving, loving' or even 'glorious, glorious, glorious.' They opted for 'holy.' Therefore, in order to understand a bit of who God is, we must start with this characteristic."

Wow. Holy. That's what the seraphim in Heaven were chanting. That was the characteristic of God that they were exalting. Maybe Michael Kelley is right. Maybe it's time to rethink holiness.

I think this is something each of us has to delve into the Scriptures about. Some holiness characteristics are easy to see, like lust and behavior (1 Peter 14-15), while others are more of a personal interpretation. When Timothy advocates modest apparel for women (1 Timothy 2:9-14) I think there's a reason why he didn't qualify the length of dress, the length of the sleeve, etc. Apparently our merciful God was making allowances for the decade and culture in which we live. A modest dress today would have women fainting in the 1800s when the "brazen" show of an ankle was considered scandalous. But while much is left to the believer's integrity and interpretation, there are principles set forth in God's Word that can guide us. Did you know, for example (and thank you, Cookie Grandma, for pointing this out to me) that in the Old Testament the priests had to wear breeches "to cover their nakedness" when they came to the altar to minister (Exodus 28:42-43)? Apparently God likes our sexual parts covered when we go before Him. He created sex, sex is honorable in the marriage bed, but when we go before God our thoughts should be on Him, not that other. And, by extension, what we wear should help others think on Him and not the other. But the exact "how do I do this" is left up to you.

We do not want to be like the holiness movement in Mexico that once asked, in a convention for ministers no less, the first lady of the movement why their denomination required women to wear a head covering in church. The lady was sitting in the middle of the congregation and every head swiveled to look at her and hear what she had to say. Everyone held their breath to hear what this pioneer of the faith would reveal. Surely she would put forth some mesmerizing Scripture to back up the belief. Uh ... not so much.

The precious older lady stood up and bared her soul. "Well," she said, "when we came to this country," (she and her husband had come from a European nation as missionaries to Mexico) "we noticed that all the women entered the churches with a head covering--" (those would be Catholic churches, this woman and her husband had come to introduce a personal relationship with Jesus as opposed to the mere rituals espoused by Catholicism) "so we did the same."

You could have heard a pin drop. This movement, so rigid in their beliefs that I had seen women resort to using diapers to cover their heads when they didn't have a doily at hand (and I still bear the scars of the elbowing I got from Sister Maria Elena when I dared to snicker at the sight), had a "holiness" rule that had nothing to do with the Bible. It came straight from adopting the rituals held fast by the country's culture. Ha!

Long story short, you have to walk with Jesus, read His love letters to you (the Bible), and figure out for yourself all that walking in holiness entails. Some things are easy, some might take some prayer and study, but if holiness is God's defining characteristic ... I want more of it.

When Aaron and his sons, the priests in the Old Testament, were being consecrated to God, Moses took blood from a sacrifice and put in on the lobe of their right ear, the thumb of their right hand, and the big toe of their right foot. What they heard, what they saw, and where they walked--all had to be consecrated to the Lord. Set apart. Like we are called to be.

I don't know about you, but in this crazy time in which we live when evil is called good and good is scorned and laughed at, and sometimes it's hard to tell what's right, I want to say with Peter, "Lord, (wash) not my feet only, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:8-10). I want to be holy, even as He is holy.

God help us, one and all, to be even as He is.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1-2).