holiness starts with the small things

June 3, 2011

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[d] is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2)

Since we are still in this flesh, most of us still love the things of this world. We are held in bondage to some of its entertainment and activities and we don't even know. Sometimes we're told of the potential harmful effects, yet we cling to our worldly loves and believe ourselves exempt from the potential harmfulness. Why do we do that? If one were told that sticking your hand into a tank full of sharks will result in a chance that one's hand gets bitten off, would we still stick our hands into the tank? Or believe us exempt? On the other hand, if there was but a slight chance of winning BIG, aren't we naturally inclined to try at it? Isn't this why people so easily fall into gambling or buying lottery tickets or playing claw machine games? Because at little cost, there is a possibility of winning big? Then why is it that as Christians, when there are certain activities that may possibly result in harm, we do not stay away from them? Or if there are certain activities that if we choose not to do and would result in us possibly growing and maturing in our spiritual lives, we do not take the opportunity to give up? I can think of four main reasons why it is so hard for our natural selves to give up the things of this world or to fully realize that some of the activities we partake in should be eradicated from our lives that we may pursue after holiness and God.

1. We trust our own wisdom/knowledge above what we are told. "[Insert certain gray area activity] does not affect me; it hasn't affected me so far.'' This is often the first thought that pops into my head when I am convicted of some activity, like watching too much TV, or read about the potential harmful effects of certain books I like, like Harry Potter.

I'm not going to go into whether Harry Potter or TV is good or not, but just the common reasons or inclinations we have to outrightly reject the notions that these could be bad. We are blind to our true spiritual state and the spiritual warfare going around us. Our physical eyes do not see the possible effects and so we naturally think that there are no effects of our doings. However, we do not know if something truly affects us because maybe we've become use to it, and not until we stop doing something, do we realize the effect and the addiction. Too often we think we are wise and know ourselves and are stronger than others and so we reject the notion that the activities we so enjoy could possibly hurt us. Sometimes we may even think we are serving God with our actions but we may not be. I was once talking with a friend about drinking alcohol and he said that he felt drinking alcohol could be a form of witness since it would allow nonchristians who drank alcohol to be more comfortable with Christians. I respectively disagree with that reason because Christ did not have to become a prostitute to relate to prostitutes, nor become a tax collector to reach out to tax collectors. We must be careful of what we find to be wise or what our motivations are because sometimes the world influences us and tells us we are wise, when we are not.

2. We use others as an excuse for our behavior. I do this often as well. "Well it must be okay for me to watch this movie because that pastor/godly mentor/leader in the church did too." But we are held responsible for our own actions. Just because someone else does or does not do something does not give us a reason to do or not do a certain activity. In the end, the consequences of all our actions will fall upon ourselves and one day at the judgment seat of Christ, the excuse that "he did it" will not hold. Adam was equally at fault as Eve was. Why are we held responsible? Because we have the Holy Spirit in ourselves and the word of God to read for ourselves. We do not just blindly follow what others do or don't do; we must take everything before God in prayer, evaluate the activities through God's word, and wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit. We do not know the struggles other people go through, and just becuase on the outside they seem holy and godly doesn't mean everything they do we can do. What's more is that we also tend to pick and choose who we follow or listen to based on how well they fit with what we already believe or are inclined to. We have an inherent bias within us already and our fleshly inclinations are never a good indicator of where the Spirit could possibly lead us to.

3. We are short sighted. Just recently, WHO officially announced that cell phones indeed may increase the chance of getting brain cancer, but it's hard to tell because such effects only show in the long term. We often just look at the short term and think since we see no effects we're fine. We're like the proverbial frog in the pot of water that is slowly heating up, and even though moment to moment, we don't notice any terrible effects, we are blind to what will happen in the long term, until it is too late.

For example, let's look at an activity that most, if not all, Christians believe to be sinful: pornography. Often people get sucked into thinking, 'just once or twice won't hurt right?' Look at any secular blog on pornography and one will easily see that the majority of the secular world sees pornography as just another harmless activity. Ask any secular pornography user if they feel that this activity harms them, and they most likely will say it doesn't affect them. But what about the people who HAVE admitted to the evil effects? What about Ted Bundy, the serial killer, rapist, and necrophile, who has talked about how it was because of pornography that led him to all his gruesome actions? What about all the testimonies of those who were caught in the bondage of pornography and how it so adversely affected their lives? We often think 'I won't be like that guy; I don't watch that much; I'm notaddicted'. But must we wait until we are caught in the bondage of the long term effects before we would even think of giving up these things we hold so dearly to ourselves? The sad irony is that, by the time we realize the harmful effects, we will be in such strong bondage to the activity that it'd be so much harder to stop than it would've been at the onset. Now pornography is one of those things that Christians generally agree to stay away from. But what about secular music or any other type of media? Sure, in the short term it would seem that it doesn't really matter what we watch or listen to, we're still living in Christ, still reading the Bible, still praying. We don't see much of the adverse effects, or do we? Do we really believe that as children of God, as followers of Christ, we should be immersing or opening ourselves up to so many negative messages, so many crude materials, etc.? I believe the harmful effects can be seen, though the sad part is that people who partake in those activities too much cannot see it in themselves. Go to any high school or junior high fellowship and you can easily see the effect the media has on the way they dress, the way they talk, the way they think, and what other activities they do in their lives. But one may argue 'they're younger though, I'm older and more mature, it doesn't affect the way I dress or think or talk', which leads me to my next and final point.

4. We believe ourselves mature because of our physical age or because of how long we've been Christian when spiritual maturity cannot be measured in this way.

Why is it that movies have ratings: PG, PG13, R, G, NC17, etc.? Why is it that certain CDs have an explicit label attached? Because we already know and believe certain people, particularly young children, should not be exposed to certain material. But as Christians, what makes us believe that just because we're 18 and above, we can be exposed to such material and not be influenced? Are we not children of God? Should we not seek to be as pure and holy and innocent as children? We often have this idea that since we're old enough, we can be exposed to such material and not be affected or influenced. I mean, it's not like if we watched a murder film, we'd go out and murder someone right? But every choice, every little thing we watch, listen to, or put into our minds has a consequence, even if it's small, it's still a consequence and an effect, even if we do not see it. We pride ourselves on being able to watch mature content or listen to music filled with crudeness or dirty words and not be 'affected', but in a sense, are we not already affected? Should we not instead be grieved at the fact that we're able to tolerate movies, tv shows, music, games, books, and articles that advocate slander against our God, justify and promote immorality in all aspects of life, use as humor the good and righteous, use violence, crude jokes, nakedness, and dirty words excessively to entertain, and play upon our emotions to make us view certain issues or topics as a gray area when Biblically it is black and white, and not be affected after being exposed to all those things not of God? not be disgusted? not be convicted? not be grieved at the state of our society and world? Have we not already been affected into desensitization? We've mistaken desensitization for maturity. As children of God, we need just as much protection from the influences of this world as children (in terms of age) do, if not more. I would actually argue that as we grow older, we need to be on guard even more than children, since as we grow older and become more immersed into society, we are exposed to even more of the world and if we are not careful, we'll easily fall into tolerating the things of this world, and dampening our passion and pursuit after God.

As we struggle to reprogram our minds against the negative input of past experiences, we are also confronted daily with an ungodly world system. Paul warned us, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2). As Christians we are not immune to worldly values; we can allow them to affect our thinking and behavior. But Paul insisted,"Don't let them influence you!" He also instructed,"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Colossians 2:8). A Way of Escape, pg 108

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3)

What's scary is that we do not realize our spiritual state. So often we think that just because we read our bibles and pray and go to church, bible study, and youth gruop, we are spiritually a-ok. But we do not realize the perils of not standing on guard towards every thing we allow into our lives.

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)

All in all, we must focus upon Christ. The above 4 mistakes we commonly make that lead us to cling too tightly to the things of this world all have one common point: we do not look to Christ for guidance. Too often we look to ourselves, to others, to what society says of us for guidance, and too little do we turn to God's word and take to heart what he says: 'be holy, for I am holy'. So often we ask the question 'what's so wrong or bad about it?' when we should be asking 'what's so right about it?' With every activity we need to ask ourselves 'will this acitvity draw me closer to God, glorify God?' If the answer is yes, then do it. If the answer is no or even a maybe, remember that when it comes to spiritual warfare, when it comes to our walk with Christ, it is a battle, and we should never take battle carelessly. It is better to be safe in battle than not to be. A soldier would be foolish to run into a field of potential mines without a care just because he does not see the mines or is not even sure if there are mines in the area. And we as children of God would be foolish to tolerate all activities that have even a potential or slight possibility to hurt us spiritually and draw us away from God just because we with our physical eyes do not see the negative effects in our lives.

I'm not making a stance for or against any of the issues brought up in this post (except pornography), but in everything, I believe that we must examine our reasons for choosing to partake in certain activities and choosing to not partake in others. We must be sensitive to where the Spirit leads us and go first to God for his leading and conviction rather than our first reactions to what pastors, other people, or Christian articles say may be potentially harmful. We must be alert to the devil's schemes (1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 2:11) and in everything we choose to do or not do, it must be for the glory of God ultimately.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 corinthians 10:31)