Holy Living

In writing and speaking about God, I often focus mostly on the reality of grace, and of forgiveness, provision, mercy, etc. - the benevolence of God. I tend to focus on how God's actions and thoughts toward Christians are more in response to Jesus than they are in response to us as individuals - that God's end of His relationship with us individually looks mostly to His approval of Jesus, and then embraces us individually because of Jesus; because we are united with Jesus in His personal holiness and newness of life.

I sometimes get a bit of chiding from other believers though because I have so little to say (seemingly) about good behavior, and the importance of good behavior in Christian practice. Some believers seem to get the impression that I have no doctrine of holiness that requires holiness to be accomplished here and now.

So in response to these people, I would like to offer some of my thoughts on the issue of Christian behavior, and a Christian's moral obligation to be holy; for certainly, we are obligated to be holy.

First, I will say that I have little confidence in anyone's ability to better themself out of shear willpower. I think that the ideas of "self-control" and "self-discipline" need to be abandoned as independent principles, as though they could be fostered and cultivated from within ourselves. I do not mean to suggest that the principles of self-control and self-discipline are bad or unattainable: I am rather suggesting that both principles are in every way dependent principles, and cannot thrive by mere good intentions. I think that when either principle is evident in our lives, it is such because of the correctness of other, more formidable factors of influence.

The Apostle James writes: "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin..." (James 1:14)

We sin because we are "drawn away," and we are drawn away from the inside out - by our own personal desires. So we cannot blame sin on someone else, not even the devil - we own the desires, and we are responsible for regulating them, and we are responsible when they become enflamed and out of control. Sin is the byproduct of failing to regulate desire, and the sinful state of desire comes to us, usually, by impulsive suggestion. When we act upon those impulsive suggestions, and do not give place to good conscience, we sin against God. So, it is the regulation of desire that I consider at the center of holy living:

I think that people are much like plants: We are very much constructs of our environment, and we live, somewhat unintentionally, as an expression of our environment. I think this is true both acutely, and on the larger scale. We soak up the resources around us, the energy around us, the nourishment most near to us, and then we try very much to follow the course of our own specific nature within that collective circumstance. Like plants, our success is dependent upon the virtue of the resources that we draw from.

I think that Christians should be greatly concerned with their surroundings and with the environment that they create for themselves, for it is out of the environment that personal desires are either entertained or neglected, swaying the course of both impulse and behavior.

We can all agree for the most part on what the goal is - it is holiness: blamelessness, a commendable spirit before God, commendable speech and behavior. It is harmlessness, tact, good reservation, and perfect love toward others. It is favoring mercy, regarding self-sacrifice as better than indulgence, and having moderation with all things that might distract us from the good focus of prayer. It is moderating pleasure with duty, and preferring instruction and understanding to self-expression. It is the purposeful evaluation of others as being greater priority than ourselves, inducing compassion that supersedes personal want. It is prayerful reflection in place of compulsive, nervous activity, and is faith in place of complaining.

In seeking this, I personally think that what makes or breaks us is what we are living in immediate response to: relationships, ethical ideals, the use of appetites, the contrast between rest and productivity, conversations, noise and peace, exposure to beliefs, and so on.

Regarding the more traditional discussion of what is "good" or "bad," I do not think that what goes into the body is very important as long as it does not impede worship and prayerful focus. However, if something is blatantly destructive to the body, I do not think that is wise before God. What people do for amusement, I think, generally needs to follow the same rule - does it impede worship or enflame personal desires in a dangerous or distracting manner?

I would warn Christian's against any careless habit of being entertained; television, music, and aimless social events included, as all these can readily appeal to the indulgence of personal appetites in place of good reservation and a sober mind.

I also suggest that single men have nothing exclusive with women until they have already reasoned in prayer that they will seek a wife.

"Beauty is fading and the heart deceitful, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." -(Prov. 31:30)

I think that single women should also be mindful of how easily the giving of their attention to men or behaving seductively can distract an otherwise Godly man, and women should keep themselves with modesty in every public environment, understanding what influence they may bring to the situation if they are careless.

So in conclusion, I think that if Christians wage their fight for holiness on the grounds of controlling desire, and not in trying to resist enflamed desire when it already has momentum, victory is generally easy. If you put "enflamed desire" and "distraction from prayerful focus" as your clearly identifiable foes, you will usually know right from wrong and will behave in such a way that will please God and promote your relationship with Him.

Under the Circumstances

The desert has a way of quieting my soul like nothing else I have found.

Perhaps it is that the desert is too vast and lonely for anything but prayerful reflection: The nearly hostile emptiness, and the impressive resilience of it is exactly what I need to feel a renewed sense of invitation unto God once I have lost it elsewhere, in the routine of daily distractions. There is truly nothing out there that might lend itself to the soul of a man except God Himself.

It is ironic to me though, that I find any solace in the desert: I live in a society which is so intricately designed to sustain, comfort, and please me; yet it is in a place so contrary to life that I find myself up against the odd suggestion that I am nearing the best experience of it.

It makes no sense at all unless I have first acknowledged that God Himself is what I need, more than any other amenity or prospect. So it is that where I find myself feeling nearest to God, I feel I am where I need to be.

There is a problem with this though: I obviously cannot spend my life alone in the desert - or at least, this would not be a very meaningful Christian life. I have to exist, generally, in the hustle and bustle of society in order to be a reasonably happy and fulfilled person.

What I am finding to be true is that it is possible for me to have the best of both worlds:

The real joy of being alone with God is how easy it is, there, to live in response to Him. What we are in response to God is usually a great thing - it is everything else we respond to that makes us into monsters: traffic, bills, work stress, time schedules, routines, chores, and so on.

I think we generally "are what we are" in response to something else: We generally live "under the circumstances."

What I am finding to be true is that there is an alternative to this, which is living in response to God rather than in response to other people, circumstances, mere emotions, etc., as a regular practice.

The mechanism of isolation is sometimes helpful because it removes just about everything you might respond to other than God, but there is a real joy in discovering that isolation is not necessary for being able to respond to God all of the time.

We have this other asset - The Holy Spirit, who enables us, through a cultivated relationship, to live in response to God throughout our every daily experience.

I have been experimenting with this, and it works wonders:

For a week or so now, when something has been irritating me, or when stress is getting to me, when or I am just really not enjoying a conversation that I am in, I have made it a practice to think "I will respond to the Lord right now, and not to this circumstance."

Suddenly, I find myself completely able to behave appropriately, to be generally happy, and to be truly indifferent to negativity. I am not sure how this works except to say that by the mere suggestion that the Lord is with me, I find myself able to live in response to Him and not to what is around me.

I have heard another Christian explain this as "practicing the presence of Christ," which also emphasizes the promise of Jesus: "Behold I am with you always."