“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  The word “holy” appears eight times in scripture, and every time I read it, I pause and ask myself, “Am I holy?”

During one of my Zoom Bible studies, that question was asked.  None of us could answer “yes.”  Then the leader questioned if we knew anyone who is holy.  I was the only one who could list someone.  She is unique.  Separated from most other Christians because her entire life is dedicated to following God’s will for her life.  She lives sacrificially.  Humbly.  She starts every day by asking her Father to give her opportunities to talk about Him to others.  She takes Jesus Christ seriously.

In C.E. Montague’s novel, Rough Justice, one scene describes a little boy, Bron, going to church for the first time with his governess. He watches attentively the entire service. The preacher climbs into the high pulpit, and Bron hears him tell terrible news. It is about a brave and kind man who was nailed to a cross, terribly hurt, a long time ago, and who still feels a dreadful pain even now, because there was something not done that he wants them all to do.

Little Bron thinks that the preacher is telling the story because a lot of people are there and they will do something about it. Bron sits impatiently on the edge of the pew. He can hardly wait to see what the first move will be in righting this injustice. But he sits quietly and decides that after the service someone will surely correct this wrong. Little Bron begins to weep, but nobody else seems at all upset. The service is over. The people walk away as if they had not heard such terrible news, as if nothing remarkable had happened.

As Bron leaves the church, he is trembling. His governess looks at him and says, “Bron, don’t take it to heart. Someone will think you are different.”

(And we all know that no one wants to be “different.”)

In The Message, Eugene Petersen’s rendering of the Bible, he takes “different” to a new level by describing it this way: “energetic and blazing with holiness.”  Any takers?

For some reason, being holy conjures up live in a monastery, fasting, praying, and never socializing, and even though some have been called to that life, for the majority of us, that’s not the case.  Holiness does not mean we have to trade in our Ford pick-up and walk barefoot through brambles or move out of our house and into a cave.  It does not mean we can’t laugh with friends, drink a latte, get a massage or take a cruise.

God’s kind of being different begins with the transformation of our minds.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).  When my husband coached, he had a poster in his office that made clear how important our thoughts are.

Watch your thoughts; they become your words.

Watch your words; they become your actions.

Watch your actions; they become your habits.

Watch your habits; they become your character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Pastor Rick Ezell wrote about being different.  “Today the world has a desperate need for people who are different. We need people who will carry their faith into the office, into Congress, into society, into the school, into the home. We need people who will be different even if it will cost them their social popularity, their economic fortunes, or their very lives.

“One does not obtain that kind of distinctiveness except through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ… He calls us to be different.”

So the question remains: Am I willing?