Who Is My Neighbor?

Dr. Seamands gave a talk this morning on holiness. I found it interesting the way he distinguished between personal, communal, and social holiness. Holiness is more than personal. It is lived out in close-knit groups of people and it is also lived out in the world at large. I want a holiness that abandons ME and edifies JESUS CHRIST. That kind of holiness has to be displayed socially. I want to pay attention to Jesus walking the streets of Lexington with nowhere to sleep. I want to pay attention to Jesus in the nursing home with no family to visit him. I want to give where there is need. I want to act when there is reason for action. I want holiness to invade me until it becomes so much a part of who I am I don't notice it's there.

And why do I want it? I want holiness in my life so that people will experience Jesus. I want people to look at me and say to themselves, "There's no way she is doing that on her own. This God of her's must really be amazing. I want what she has."

So the question I've been pondering (for reasons I won't go into here) is 'what role do I play in my own holiness?' Now this can be treading on sticky theological ground here. I've been tiptoeing around word choices such as this all day. I do not for one second want to espouse the idea that I earn my holiness by works or that my own good works make me holy. Holiness comes from God and it is only by his grace and power that I become holy. But isn't some of the responsibility put on me to seek after holiness? I cannot buy into the idea that when I was converted God said (much like Emeril) "Bam!" and I became as holy as I could ever be. I cannot buy into the idea that I need not concern myself with holiness because God forces His holiness on me whether I like it or not. If God worked this way, why did Jesus say, "Be holy as my Father in heaven is holy" ? If there is no choice on our part to pursue holiness then why was Jesus concerned with telling the Jews how they should be living? Why would there be any instruction for life in the Scripture if God is the only one making decisions in our lives?

I have to choose Jesus every day. I have to choose to open myself up to Him and ask Him to refine me. When I was saved I said yes to Jesus and to holiness. But I can't say I've said yes to Jesus everyday since then. I wish I could but I can't. I've seen myself make horrible decisions and my behavior has led to the opposite of holiness. Do people who think I have no choice when it comes to holiness think that God also chooses for me to act against Him and hurt other people? Either that would be true or else I am not a Christian. One of these two must be true if I have no choice.

I am being challenged through meeting new people and discussing these beliefs. I generally have the tendency to shut down when I encounter people who believe differently than I do because I view myself as inept at defending my own beliefs. I fear hurting people's feelings so I retreat and become bitter or disheartened. God is showing me it doesn't have to be that way. Part of holiness is loving my neighbor no matter how different he is from me. Jesus calls me to love those who differ in race, in gender, in socioeconomic status, in personality, in interests, in age, and also in belief. These are all my neighbor. And when disagreements arise in these types of conversations it is important to remember that we serve a holy and magnificent God and we are all still in need of His grace. Our human minds cannot comprehend the magnificence and complexity of His ways but it is important we keep seeking His face.