Self Portrait - 010 - 2010In today’s sermon, Jacob said a phrase that struck me: “Who is fighting for your holiness with you?” One of the failures of the Christianity I’ve grown up with is showing the battle for holiness as a solo engagement – you against yourself, the world, and the Devil himself. While it is important to recognize the fight as our own, we quickly learn it’s a fight we usually lose. A battle for holiness is a battle against sin in our own lives. Paul clearly teaches us that, as Christians, we are no longer slaves to sin but we are now slaves to righteousness. Yeah. I feel that. Not.

Richard and I have made great strides in using each other in our battle against sin – our battle for holiness. We’ve also both learned the importance of incorporating your family in that fight. But it isn’t far enough and, frankly, Richard and I don’t challenge each other on topics of sin nearly enough.

Who’s fighting with you for your holiness? At Soma, there is a serious effort to revealing the importance of a community in the battle for holiness and the life of the Church. I have a diverse background (raised Catholic, became Baptist, became Charistmatic, became a Reformed Charismatic), but the common theme throughout all of those experiences was personal holiness. How you got there varied from denomination to denomination, but a confessional community was never part of the equation. The only aspect of community that existed can be summed up by the phrase “hang out with good people and you have a better chance of being good people.” It’s never worked and, as the saying goes, insanity is continuously doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome.

Holiness is a personal responsibility, but it is not a battle to be waged alone. Why? Because I can’t trust myself to keep me holy. I won’t do it. I don’t do it. Other people need to know what sin looks like in my life so that those trusted people can help me fight my sin while I help them fight theirs. It’s supposed to be a mutually shared fight. All of us, together, working towards holiness… together.