Aspects of a culture of holiness

“For I am the LORD your God.  Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”
-Leviticus 11:44

Next to godliness?
“Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Growing up, we all probably heard that dictum more than once (usually as we were whining about having to take a bath or clean our room). Parents naïvely continue to believe that a child’s natural penchant for filth can be overcome by a pithy saying. Yet there is a kernel of truth to this familiar proverb. While our parents may have stretched the application of Leviticus 11 somewhat, there are still principles of cleanness to be discovered in those ancient laws. Christians do well to heed them even today, for, as general principles, they teach us how to think about our corporate experience as a redeemed people among the lost nations of the earth.

Leviticus 11 provides a catalog of unclean animals – those the Israelites were forbidden to eat – together with disciplines on how to recover from ritual uncleanness through contact with these animals. It’s not entirely clear why God chose to keep these animals out of the Hebrew cuisine. The explanations He gives are straightforward enough, but they still leave us asking, “Yes, but why?”

Some commentators have suggested that health reasons were the main motive. Among the forbidden creatures were those that lived off carrion and the droppings of sea creatures. How good can it be to eat such things?

However, Jesus has pronounced all foods clean, including these formerly proscribed creatures (Mark 7:9; Acts 10:13-15).

Others claim that Israel was to steer clear of these creatures because they were considered prime fare by the pagans, perhaps even having religious significance. That may be closer to the mark, but it seems irrelevant today. Lobster tail, barbecued pork, and perhaps even hasenpfeffer are now included in the diets of Christians and pagans alike, with no religious or ritual significance for either party.

Called to stand out
Still, some combination of these reasons may have been in God’s mind as He proscribed these animals for His people. More importantly, abstaining from these common creatures would have marked Israel as distinct from the pagan nations they were to dispossess. It would have been clear to the surrounding peoples that Israel was different, not just in what they ate or did not eat, but in many other ways as well. The Law God gave to His redeemed people was designed to mark them out as wholly unlike the nations around them (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). Not only were they to stand out in terms of diet and cleanliness, they were to be a people whose culture and ethics were defined by divine decree, a people wholly consecrated to the Lord.

While the specific laws concerning clean and unclean things are no longer in effect, the principles of cleanness and consecration remain even today. Cleanness is defined as being distinct from the practices of the unbelieving world. Consecration means being wholly set apart unto God. Like the people of God in Old Testament Israel, the redeemed of the Lord today are called to be separate from the world. We are to stand out like lights in a dark place, shining with the brilliance of God’s glory according to principles of cleanness and consecration set down in His Word. And these principles, as suggested by Leviticus 11, challenge us as to ask, “In what specific ways should we embody a culture of holiness before the watching world?”

The first and main principle of a culture of holiness, which we may discern in Leviticus 11, is self-denying love. This principle, adopted as a personal practice and a cultural norm, comes to expression in four primary ways.

Frequent, fervent worship
We may have difficulty thinking of “love” as a cultural norm. In most people’s minds, “culture” probably refers to physical things such as books, art exhibits, and so forth. But if we define culture in the broader sense as the artifacts, institutions, and conventions by which people define, sustain, and enrich their lives, then we can perhaps more readily see how love fits into the notion of a culture of holiness. In any cultural activity, the presence of self-denying love should make our culture significantly different from the “me first” culture of our materialistic age.

A culture pervaded by love begins in frequent, fervent worship of God. As we know, to love the Lord our God is the first and greatest commandment. Worship, whether personal or corporate, is the primary place where love comes to expression. If we are not expressing love for God in worship, we will not be likely to do so elsewhere.

This concept also affects the way people use their time, as well as the thoughts they entertain in their minds. Thus, in a culture of self-denying love, people will readily find ways to recover more of their time and focus more of their heart on the categories of worship (such as the practice of spiritual disciplines). They will seek more opportunities for corporate worship, where they can reinforce one another’s love for God through mutual encouragement. They will train their minds to rest on sweet images of Him, to recall His many and mighty works, and to meditate on His precious promises. Where love for God is the touchstone of a culture of holiness, those who create that culture will be seen as a people who jealously guard their time against every temptation that takes them away from engagement with their Savior.

Simplified lives
As you might suppose, everything else in our culture of love comes under the heading of loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). “Neighbor love” begins in cultivating a simplified lifestyle, one free from the demands of getting, spending, and having. This kind of love resolves to possess only what is necessary for contented existence in a materialistic age (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Let’s face it, there’s a little of Imelda Marcos in all of us. But love for our neighbors and love for our family, will not allow us to accumulate more “stuff” than is absolutely necessary (although “necessary” will allow some latitude of definition, depending on circumstances). In other words, love for our neighbors will discourage us from incurring debts beyond what is reasonable. It will thereby encourage thrift and foster concern for the material needs of both the poor and future generations.

Christians must not allow the culture of conspicuous consumption to define their use of the good gifts of God. Instead, love for neighbors must be the guiding factor in helping us determine how much of this world’s goods we must have. Would this principle, consistently applied, create a community and culture that stood out in the midst of an age gone mad with the love of things? It would, I suspect, if coupled with the third expression of a culture of love: generosity and hospitality.

Generosity and hospitality
The first Christians did not regard their possessions as their own, even though they possessed them until they freely gave them to others (Acts 2:44,45; 4:32). They stood out as a generous and hospitable people, and extended these virtues not just to their fellow church members and near neighbors, but to peoples far and wide who were in need. Following the example of the believers in the Book of Acts, Christians in the early middle ages created hospitals, way stations for travelers, homes for the poor, and ministries for widows and orphans. They gave generously, and opened their homes and churches to meet the needs of those around them.

To their great credit, Christians today are among the most generous and hospitable of people. But these principles still haven’t become the common expression of the Christian presence everywhere. Luther once declared, “There shall be no poor or needy in Wittenburg.” He clearly understood that a culture characterized by generosity and hospitality would surely stand out as one sustained by powers beyond what this materialistic age can summon.

Sacrificial service
Finally, Christians should express a culture of love through sacrificially serving others. At present, pastors struggle to find people to fill the needs in their church ministries. How many service opportunities are missed because Christians are unwilling to sacrifice time, energy, and resources to meet the needs of their neighbors? Christians can’t do everything, it’s true; but many of us are doing nothing when it comes to serving the needs of others. And our present church culture supports our sluggardly ways by not enforcing ministry as the peculiar calling of the saints of God (Ephesians 4:11,12). If Christian churches nurture a different kind of culture, one in which everyone is expected to serve (think of the Mormons), that would surely help us to be a community that stands out in the eyes of the world.

The primary characteristic of a culture of holiness (one, following Leviticus 11, that demonstrates Christians are a people separated from the world and consecrated unto God) is self-denying love in all these ways and more. It’s not enough to talk about such a vision, or merely preach about it. It is the responsibility of church leaders to make love for God and neighbors the first priority. It should really be the chief identifying feature in the communities they serve (John 13:35). A culture of self-denying love provides a solid foundation on which to build other elements in a culture of holiness.

For more insight to this topic, get the book, The Mark of the Christian, by Francis A. Schaeffer, from our online store.

Or read the article, “Worldview, Worship, and Way of Life,” by David Naugle.