The Challenge of Holiness in a Postmodern Culture

How do we live a life of holiness amid our current culture? Do we even know what holiness is? What about the idea of being “set apart”? How does that fit in? Can we be holy without being considered out of touch? When we consider the lifestyles of celebrities and other influencers, we may think being “set apart” is easy. After all, the moral standard of our lives may be completely different. Is that all there is to holiness? Simply following God’s moral law? Or just being a decent person?

This topic is a rich one, and there is no way I can tackle all of it. But there are some elements I’d like for us to consider. And in the process, challenge us to think about what it means, as a Christ follower, to be set apart, or to be holy. As it wouldn’t be fair to write a post like this without being transparent with you, toward the end, I share a part of my personal journey.

Throughout this post, I will include some journaling questions for your personal reflection. In addition, I have written a full journaling exercise you can work through at a slower pace. It is completely free. You don’t even have to be on my subscriber list to download it. You can access it at the bottom of this post.

Recently I listened to a song that had the phrase “even if I have to” in the lyrics. In this song, the vocalist wants to be holy, even if it means she has to be set apart—as if being set apart is a bad thing.When you hear the phrase “even if I have to,” what comes to mind?

For me, it’s what comes after that phrase. For example:

• I’ll do whatever it takes to get healthy, even if I have to give up potato chips.
• I’ll do whatever it takes to get healthy, even if I have to walk 2 miles every day.

Each is a little different. One conveys the idea that if we want something badly enough, we’ll sacrifice something else that is equally or more important to us. The other one says that instead of sacrificing what we like or love, we’ll do something we don’t want to do. Both communicate that in order to have the first (which you may or may not like), you’ll do something you do not want to do.

I don’t think that’s what God had in mind with His desire for us to be set apart.

When you read the words set apart in the New Testament, they are translated from the same Greek word that is often translated as holy. I think the following verse captures the idea beautifully.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  (1 Peter 2:9–10) 

Declaring and Describing God’s Holiness

The question remains, what does it mean to be set apart, or to be holy?

Before we answer that question, however, we must look at who God is and what holiness looks like in His character. Isaiah described it like this:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:1–3) 

Jerry Bridges explains, “The Hebrew language uses repetition to indicate emphasis, as we do by italics or underlining…To say something three times makes a statement even more emphatic. It expresses a superlative degree or indicates totality. By employing this threefold repetition for His holiness, God is exalting His holiness to the highest possible measure.” ¹

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.  (Psalm 22:3) 

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.  (Psalm 30:4) 

Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?  (Psalm 77:13) 

Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.  (Psalm 93:5) 

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake…Let them praise your great and awesome name—he is holy. (Psalm 99:1, 3) 

The Bible gives us the truest picture of how God describes His holiness. After God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites crossed over safely away from the Egyptians, they sang: 

Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?  (Exodus 15:11) 

There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.  (1 Samuel 2:2) 

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”  (2 Chronicles 20:21) 

Words like majestic, awesome, glory, splendor are used. It’s clear the Israelites recognized that God’s holiness made Him unlike anyone else. Again, Bridges describes God’s holiness:

Our Holiness

When we understand what God’s holiness represents, we have a better understanding of our sinfulness and our utter unworthiness to be allowed in His presence, much less receive His mercy and grace. Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sin separates us from God. Isaiah recognized this when he said:

My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty! Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”   (Isaiah 60:5-7 NLT)

Yet mercy and grace are exactly what God gives. As God did for Isaiah, He does for us. First and foremost, when we choose to accept Christ’s death on the cross as payment for our sin, we experience a beautiful exchange. Christ took on our sin; we receive His righteousness. Our sin no longer separates us from God. When God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. (Romans 3:22) 

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  (1 Corinthians 1:30) 

And to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  (Ephesians 5:27) 

We have a part in this as well. Our lives should reflect this God-given attribute in the ways we think, speak, and act. When the world looks at us, they should see us differently from our culture. Not in a way that makes them think, Gross! I don’t want any part of that! But in a way that makes them think, Wow. Our lives are very different! No, they don’t do everything I do, but they seem fully satisfied. They have a peace and a contentment I want! Is this what it’s like when God is in your life?

God’s holiness and great love captivate our hearts, fill us with humble gratitude, and stir us to declare God’s holiness in our worship, as many inspired songwriters have done. But the highest expression of our love is to fully devote our lives to God.

The highest expression of our love for God is to fully devote our lives to Him. Share on X

For it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”  (1 Peter 1:16)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  (Romans 12:1) 

It may seem as if God asks the impossible of us. Choosing to live a holy life is not easy. Going against the grain of our culture can garner a few eye rolls. But this is a life that pleases God.

Paul’s Challenge to the Corinthian Church 

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul reminds the church that they are God’s temple and asks them how light can live with darkness? He poses several questions. From the New Living Translation:

• How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness?
• How can light live with darkness?
• What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?
• How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
• And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols?

Then Paul quotes several Old Testament promises.

• I will live in them and walk among them (Leviticus 26:12).
• I will be their God, and they will be my people (Ezekiel 37:27).
• I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters (2 Samuel 7:14).

Tucked in all that, Paul clarifies:

Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17)

Following this section, Paul begins Chapter 7 saying:

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

Wow. That’s a lot! And overwhelming to some degree. But it can also be a great encouragement when we remember the second part of this passage. God lives with us. He is our Father. We are His children.

There will always be areas in our life that the Holy Spirit is refining. We never “arrive” at holiness, and we won’t as long as we live on this earth. But little by little, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we are formed into the image of Christ.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  (2 Corinthians 3:18)

On the days we feel we’ve made a mess of everything, we can remember that God freely offers His grace to start over. Plus, He gives us the desire and the ability to live a holy life (Philippians 2:13).

Grace

When we decide to go all-in in our pursuit of holiness, we will undoubtedly be humbled as we deal with our sin. We may even be afraid. But we do not need to fear. Our Heavenly Father loves us so and is waiting with open arms for us. When we confess our sin, He forgives us immediately (1 John 1:9) and restores to us the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12). With forgiveness comes much freedom. God freely forgives. His grace and mercy are a gift.

And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24)

My Struggle with Holiness

It wouldn’t be fair to write a post like this and not share my own struggles. A big one is with my choice of TV shows. For a while (a long while), I enjoyed watching “Grey’s Anatomy.” While I am being transparent, I will not share how many times I watched the series. To give you an idea how much I loved it, I made a playlist of my favorite songs from the show. The Holy Spirit had His finger on this for a long time, but I refused to release it. I had “become friends” with the characters, and I didn’t want to lose that connection. I just loved the stories so much. But that’s how it is with the world. The more we hang on to things, the harder it is to let go.

It’s been a while since I watched an episode, but the pull is still there. Even today, a scene from one episode has replayed in my mind. I don’t think there was a thing inherently wrong with that episode. But what did I have to go through to get to that one?

You may ask, What’s so wrong with “Grey’s Anatomy”? It pains me to say … so. very. much. Sex outside of marriage. Homosexuality. Deception. Hypocrisy. Even the one character who was supposed to be a “Christian” was not represented accurately. But what do you expect from non-Christians? They don’t know what it means to be a true Christ-follower, so they can’t portray an accurate representation.

I didn’t listen to the playlist many times at all, but when I finally went to delete it, it actually hurt as I removed song after song. It felt like I was leaving friends behind. The images of what each song represented played through my mind, many of which were not God-honoring, reminding me that I knew this was what I had to do in order to please the Lord.

I recognize that much of our culture’s entertainment viewing is filled with all of these things. “Grey’s Anatomy” is an example of one area where the Lord is working in my life. Also, I know my viewing choices are probably different from yours. What’s important is that you take time to evaluate your own choices and know you are walking in obedience to what God has called you.

A Note to Leaders

I will note, however, if you are a leader, you are held to a much higher standard than others (James 3:1). It is crucial that any “gray area” in which you live is not one that could cause a struggling believer to sin. 

Getting back to the lyrics that troubled me—even if I have to.

The difficulty is to shift our thinking away from what we perceive to be negative about pursuing holiness. In John 10:10, Jesus told us He came so we would experience a fully satisfying life. Not just an existence, but a life that the Greek language describes as over and above, more than enough, superabundant, and vehemently beyond measure.³

There are still areas in my life where the Holy Spirit is working. And He will be until He takes me to my eternal home. When the struggle is painful, I have to remind myself who God is. What He sacrificed on my behalf and the gifts He gives me for a fulfilling life here on Earth and eventually in eternity.

Father God thought I was worth sacrificing His Son. Isn’t He worth my sacrificing some temporary pleasures?

Going Deeper

How God works in my life is going to be different than how He works in yours. The areas I struggle with are not the same as yours. And that’s ok. What’s important is that we sit humbly before the Lord and ask Him to show us where He wants us to change.

Life-change is a process. As we offer our lives to God, we can be confident that He is faithful to complete the work He began (Philippians 1:6). I think the pursuit of holiness is worth it. What about you?

I’ve developed a worksheet for you to use in your personal time with God. It includes all the questions in this blog post (along with space to answer them), plus some more to help you work through this oh-so-important aspect of our relationship with God. It’s completely free. You don’t even have to sign up for my newsletter to access it. Also, at the end of this post is a suggested playlist of songs I love that focus on God’s holiness.

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Holy, Holy, Holy 
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Reginald Heber (1826)

Suggested playlist of contemporary worship songs about God’s holiness

• “Holy, Holy, Holy (We Bow Before Thee)” – Shane & Shane
• “Holy Forever” – Christ Tomlin
• “Agnus Dei” – Michael W. Smith or Live from the 2024 Passion Conference
• “Holy, Holy” – Evan Craft
• “Holy” – Jason Morant
• “After All (Holy)” – David Crowder Band
• “Stranger to Your Holiness” – Steve Camp
• “Holiness” – Wayne Watson
• “Your Name is Holy” – Phil Wickham
• “Holy” – Matt Redman
• “Endless Praise” – Charity Gayle
• “Holy” – Steffany Gretzinger
• “Build My Life” – Pat Barrett
• “Behold Him” – Paul Baloche (Featuring Kim Walker-Smith)
• “Only a Holy God” – CityAlight
• “Holy” – Catch the Fire Music (Featuring Jonathan Clarke)
• “Holy and Anointed” – Vineyard Worship (Featuring Harmony Smith)
• “Forever YHWH” – Elevation Worship (Featuring Tiffany Hudson)

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¹ Bridges, Jerry. I Exalt You, O God: Encountering His Greatness in Your Private Worship (Colorado Springs, Colo: Waterbrook Press, 2001), 62.
² Bridges, I Exalt You, O God, 69-70.
³ Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, 2000.