Be Ye Holy, As I AM Holy
How??
I recently had a threaded discussion in one of my classes on the Pentateuch about holiness, specifically related to the book of Leviticus. The prompt was this: provide “practical church functions/ministries that (1) engage the local non-church community and (2) fulfill the requirements of God's holiness.” My response was as follows:
How can a person or a people be holy? This is something the very oldest religions wrestled with, and Judaism adopted it from other Near Eastern religions[1]: the way to be holy. What does it even mean to be holy? We really do not know the meaning of the word. It has been interpreted to mean “set apart” or “divine.” But the word actually means “to be clean or whole.” When God says, “You shall be holy for I Am holy” (or “Be holy as I Am holy”) (Lev 11:44), this is not so much a commandment as it is a “saying” or statement of fact. What we call the “Ten Commandments” were not known as “commandments,” but rather as “sayings” or statements. To be “holy” is to be like God – not by virtue of things we do or don’t do, but by virtue of the fact that we are the offspring of God, the sons and daughters of God, and we have God’s very nature within us. Eventually, when we grow up, we will look like our “Father.” As we hear God’s voice and follow it, God’s nature (aka holiness) will come forth – we are being “holy.” Thus, the ten sayings are how we will naturally conduct ourselves, because we are holy. Following commandments or “laws” do not and cannot make us holy!
Jeremiah (7:21-23), the Psalmist (51:16, 40:6-8), Hosea (6:6), and others testify that God never required(s) sacrifice or burnt offerings. God wants us to simply follow God’s voice (jer. 7:23). So how can we recommend “practical church functions/ministries that (1) engage the local non-church community and (2) fulfill the requirements of God's holiness”? What are the requirements of God’s holiness other than to love (Lev 19:18, Mark 12:29-31)? Even worship is not acceptable unless we are walking in love. “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Is 1:16-17). If I could recommend anything “practical” – that would be it.
[1] “Near Eastern sources…have contributed to their formulation.” Terence E. Fretheim, The Pentateuch, Interpreting Biblical Texts Series (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996), 123, Kindle Edition.