One of the things I find annoying is hypocrisy. One of the things I find incredibly annoying is expectations from a place of hypocrisy. It’s like this: a person who teaches financial management classes because they are rich, while their riches were gained through money laundering; annoying. A parent grounding their kid for the way they talk, demanding better behavior all while dropping every curse word in the book on a social media rant; incredibly annoying.
As a leader in an organization, I have to remind myself of this on a daily basis. I get to maintain the cultural expectation. Hours, serving, readings, giving, #loveONEloveALL, and so on. It’s hypocritical on my end to say it’s important while never doing it myself. It’s the next level to expect (uphold it) all while I ignore it myself.
You may not be a CEO, business leader, or boss, but where do you have influence? Perhaps as a teacher? A parent? A coach? An instructor? A doctor? An older sibling? If you give yourself five minutes, I’m sure you can think of a situation where you’re capable of acting this way.
Isaiah 6:3 “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Acts 3:14 “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,”
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 7:26 “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”
Ok, we get it. God is holy. He is God, He is supposed to be holy. EXACTLY. God is not a money launderer expecting financial integrity. He is not a "potty mouth" expecting us to throw out sweet rays of sunshine. He is the perfect, holy, LORD OF ALL upholding the expectation of holiness. God’s expectation of holiness flows from His holiness. He is not unholy expecting holiness.
On one hand, this leaves us utterly hopeless. To everyone reading this, are you perfect, holy, and righteous? No. For everyone reading this, the answer is no. Ok, fine, God demands holiness from a place of holiness. That may be fair, but now we are all screwed.
Yup. That is the beauty of 2 Cor. 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This all happened for our sake. Without God’s intervention, we are damned. So for our sake, God made Him who knew no sin (insert holiness, perfection, righteousness) to be sin. God made the perfect, holy Son to be sin. He was not sin, but God made Him to be sin. Why? So we might become the righteousness of God. This means God placed our sin on Jesus. Jesus died as the Sacrifice in our place. Then we GAIN His righteousness. So God is holy and He is GRACIOUS to give His holiness to those who believe in Christ Jesus. God demands it. We fail. So He provides it through Jesus!
Now, this blows my mind:
Fair? Just? It’s not fair or just for God to punish our sin twice. He punished Jesus in our place. The punishment is fair and just. We should have paid for it. Jesus died. It’s done, it’s finished. He said so. Now, for those that have accepted it through Christ, it’s done. It’s not fair, just, or righteous for a penalty paid in full to be demanded again.
Have you said yes to this gift? It is that simple. Take it. How? Pray. Say, “God, I don’t know much about this praying thing, but I need to tell you I am sorry. I am not holy. I can’t claim to be. I am sorry. I’m asking for forgiveness. God, you are perfect. You died for me. You paid my penalty. I accept it. I believe you died for me. I believe you rose from the grave. I believe through your death and resurrection that I now have life. I now have your perfection. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making a way. I accept it. I want to live like you. AMEN”
You have? Do you live out of His righteousness? Do you strive for it? Do you lead by example? Do you strive to be fair, just, and holy? Be holy as He is holy. That is the goal, though we fail daily we strive for it. Why? He is worth it.
It’s great. Go tell others. They need to hear about this. Keep praying for One-
Keep Praying for One,
Written by Pastor Jason Coache,
Lead Pastor of Wellspring Church
