Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Does Holiness Matter?

I noticed an interesting news story yesterday regarding college students and marijuana use. See this link:

www.redorbit.com/news/health/955445/marijuana_is_a_popular_part_of_student_life_college_students/index.html?source=r_health

One quote in particular stood out to me: "Other friends prefer to go out and drink a coffee or juice," Gabriel said, "and I'd rather stay at home and smoke a doobie." I find his statement simultaneously amusing and saddening.

The university where I serve is rather conservative socially, so I am not certain if the statistics in the article hold true here or not. I occasionally encounter students struggling with illegal drugs, but it seems that alcohol is the drug of choice amongst our student population.

I have, however, witnessed the same cavalier attitude amongst Christian college students toward the issue of alcohol abuse. In particular, underage drinking and excessive drinking do not seem to be quite as taboo for churched students as they were when I was college during the 90s. There were certainly Christian students who abused alcohol, but their sense of shame was stronger; it was more of a social no-no, so to speak.

I am a big proponent of the doctrine of grace. I believe it, teach it, and try to model it. I strongly believe that we are justified by the grace of God alone, apart from works. I cringe when I hear preachers adding works to the Gospel or implying that a person cannot be a Christian and struggle with sin at the same time. I also cringe when external factors (drinking, smoking, dancing) are consistently used as the primary measuring stick for spirituality.

That having been said, I wonder if the evangelical church has done a poor job in the past half-century of encouraging believers that holiness is worthwhile (perhaps out of a fear of being legalistic). This issue of substance abuse is a case in point. When students are blatantly violating Romans 13 and Ephesians 5 with no apparent sense of remorse, something has gone wrong.

I think what has gone wrong is that they do not understand that holiness goes hand-in-hand with fulfilling our purpose in life. We cannot effectively glorify God by reflecting His character if we willfully disobey Him. What do we stand to lose? A purposeful and eternally significant life. The praise of our Savior at the judgment seat of Christ (Mt 25:23). Eternal reward (2 Tim 4:7-8).

If those who minister to these students do not spur them toward holiness, I fear nobody else around them will. So how well are we fulfilling our task, to raise up disciples for the next generation?

4 comments:

The Uptons said...

Wow--what a great posting and reminder about how I need to be pursuing holiness if I have any hope of leading college students to do the same. The Lord has really been pulling at me about this lately and your blog points to that again. May I be a person who pursues holiness every day. --Matt U.

Shannon said...

How do we practically balance holiness and grace? We are certainly not the Lord, yet we are also seeking to be conformed more into His image. So how do you think we should work with college students to get them to have a proper balance?

Matt said...

Good question, Sharon (just kidding).

I think it is a matter of wisdom in each situation. Usually a person needs one of three things: Instruction, rebuke, or encouragement. Jesus used all three at different times.

If the person is simply ignorant of the right course of action, instruction is probably best. If the person comes to me dejected or sad or in pain, encouragement and grace is usually my response. But when a person knows what is right and is actively doign the opposite, that is where rebuke and a reminder of holiness often comes in.

I often ask: "What does this person really need? Will extending grace or reminding of holiness be more effective to draw this student closer to Jesus?"

Hope this helps.

Shannon said...

That's great, Matt! Thanks for answering so quickly!