Sanctified and Sent
My own reformulations of a holiness doctrine start from this text:
"17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." (John 17:17-19)
I have been trying to explore the connection between mission ("sentness", apostolicity) and holiness (sanctification, sent apart). Clearly Jesus moves smoothly from one to the other and back. There is no disjunction in his mind. Although more could be said, it seems that holiness is the chosing and setting apart of creatures for divine use, in this case to be sent into the world to proclaim the truth of Christ. The vessel of this message must be holy, of course. But this is only to serve the mission (e.g., to have integrity, not just to be good people as an end in itself).
I wonder if we attach the reality of holiness to the mission of the church, we will find greater support among a wider ecumenae.
posted by JohnLDrury @ 3:14 PM
9 Comments:
A few of the voices at the "Saving Grace" conference had the same sort of "protest" as you and David, if memory serves. They felt that if "holiness" was not accompanied by mission, then it was stagnant and probably not, in the end, holiness.
John, you and I are almost on the same wavelength. I use Exodus 19:4-6 to talk about the same thing. "Kingdom of priests" = mission/agent of blessing to others and "holy nation" = set apart/reflectors of God's character to the nations.
I am actually giving the Holiness Lecture at Asbury's Orlando campus this Fall and I am using the working title: "Holiness and Mission."
So I'm no Bible Scholar and I realize that but I think James 1:26-27 really plays into this. Religion (or more appropriately worship) is useless if not backed up by helping orphans and widows, and keeping unspotted. So true worship is done while helping others and being unspotted? So what is unspotted and how do we get there. I'm really hoping that you guys can answer that for me.
Is this the best paraphrase of JW for today's church ?(emergent & otherwise)
"There is no other holiness but missional holiness"
Any one else talking in terms of a "missional holiness"? Does it have any history in the overall Holiness Movement?
What are some of the questions that we should be asking about such a formulation?
I don't know. Where is Bounds when you need him?
"To spread scriptural holiness throughout the land" as the line goes. I think its always been about spreading, and the history of Wesleyan/Holiness/Pentecostal missions bears this out (cf. David Bundy's work in this area).
Thanks John. I wonder, however, if the mission to "spread Scriptural holiness" has been lost on the local level. When I think of mission, I don't equate it with somewhere far from my locale. I think of those around me who do not know Jesus (let alone the possibility of holiness of heart and life).
I want to articulate a missional holiness that has implications for every believer on the local level. In other words, Entire Sanctification, if it has truly been experienced, ought to produce persons who are empowered to live a missional/evangelistic lifestyle in Jerusalem (wherever one's Jerusalem happens to be). This is where one's holiness or lack there of will have maximum impact simply because there are possibilities to build lasting relationships.
Dad/Keith pointed out so prophetically that the loss of this "spreading" element is part of what put the dead holiness grandma in the attic.
This is getting mildly exciting to me. I've always had the inner jones to bring the "spreading holiness across the land" back somehow. The idea of "missional holiness" may just be the ticket.
Regarding the statement "there is no holiness but missional holiness" - I would say that holiness is made up of qualities such as purity and integrity and unity... so it would be dissonant to me to see "internal" holiness without the "external" fruit-bearing.
Part of the royal priesthood, the holy nation,
Dave
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