The Glass House

Proverbs 23 gives us instructions about how to live wisely. We are advised not to set our eyes upon riches, for they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. We are advised not to speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. We are also advised against looking unto the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. Above all, we are advised to BUY the truth, and sell it not. To BUY the truth, and sell it not! But what does it matter how we live? What does it matter what we do? Will one drink really send us to hell? Will one party be the death of us? Will the way I dress really result in the eternal torment of my soul? Maybe… maybe not… but here’s what the Bible does say.

II Corinthians 6: 17 urges us to come out from among this world and separate ourselves from it. Acts 2:40 warns us to save ourselves from this untoward, corrupt, perverse, crooked, and evil generation. All the way from the Old Testament we see God calling his followers to live a life set apart for him. In Leviticus 10:9-11 God calls Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from unclean things so that they may be an example to the children of Israel as priests. In Numbers 6: 1-21 God describes the Nazarite vow taken by Nazarites. The vow required all Nazarites to, among other things; abstain from wine and strong drink. What’s interesting is that the word Nazarite comes from the Hebrew word Nazir which means “consecrated” or “separated”. All through the Bible we see God putting up stipulations and regulations for those consecrated to or set apart for him to follow.

So where does that leave us? We know that God requires us to live separate from this world, to live in this world but not be of it, but what does that mean?

- To be separate from the world means to draw close to God (Ro. 12:1-2, Ro. 13:14, 1 Pe. 1:15-16)
- To keep our eyes from taking pleasure in evil (Ps. 119:37, Is. 33:15-16, Lu. 11:34-35, I Jn. 2:16)
- To keep our conversation godly (Pr. 6:16, 19, Mt. 12:34, 36-37, Col. 3:8-9, Tit. 3:2)
- To keep our hearts undefiled (Pr. 23:7, Mt. 15:19-20)
- To keep our thoughts pure (Ps. 19:14, II Cor. 10:5, Ph. 4:8)
- To keep our hearts free from the thorns that choke out the Word of God in our hearts and make us unfruitful (Mt. 13:22).
- To be separate from this world is not be distracted by the riches and cares of this world (I Jn. 2:16).

But why? Why must we do all these things and abstain from all these things? The purpose of living separate from the world is two-fold, one for your own sake and two for the sake of others.

For Us

Hebrews 12:14 says without holiness we shall not see the kingdom of heaven.
A few posts ago I told the story of the crow who wanted to fly with the doves to their promised land. The crow, unfortunately, did not make the journey because he took his eyes off his destination and began to focus on the pleasures below him. Much like the crow in this story, we must remain holy with our eyes fixed on God if we are to make it to heaven.

Separating ourselves from the world is how we make sure our eyes stay fixed of our destination, which is heaven. When we abstain from indulging in the idle pleasures of this world and instead choose to spend our time seeking and serving God we keep our fixed upon Jesus, the only one who can help us make it to our final destination; the author and finisher of our faith (He. 12:2).

For Others

As Christians we must remember that we live in glass houses. II Corinthians 5: 20 says we are ambassadors for Christ. When we want to know how people from a certain country behave or dress we consult the natives of that country, ambassadors or representatives of that country, because they would know best. When the world wants to know what God has to offer, what God is all about, what God requires of his people, they will look at Christians… at you. Knowing then that you are on display, it is in your best interest to make sure that you look your spiritual best all the time. I Corinthians: 8:13 tells us it is better to give up something you love so dearly if it weakens your brother spiritually than to continue to enjoy it. While some of the things required of us to give up may not be bad things in and of themselves, the effect they have on those who are watching us may be detrimental to their spiritual progress and so therefore are not worth it.

Mathew 5: 13 says we are the salt of the earth, but what is the point of salt if it has lost its savor? Verse 14 says we are the light of the world, but who lights a candle and hides it under a bushel? Will it still do its job of casting out the darkness if it is hidden under something? As the salt and light to this earth we have strict regulations to adhere to and we should be careful to do so or we might lose our savor and hide our lights under a bushel.

Is It Worth It?

The point is we were called by God to live separately from this world so that we may be an example to the world. So the next time we begin to ask ourselves if what we are doing really is all that bad, let us first stop and ask ourselves if it is worth it. Is whatever we want to do worth giving up our walk with God? Is it worth missing out on eternity with God? Is it worth sending our brothers and sisters to hell? Is it worth causing the weak to stumble and fall? Is whatever we are clinging onto, justifying, and fighting for really worth it? And if it’s not, why not let go?