Take A Bath

“When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Ex 40:32 AV)

I have sat on many a visit of people who have left the church because there was too much preaching on sin.  Sanctification and holiness is not seen as a goal of life.  Righteousness and godliness are seen as subjective things.  Purity and Christlikeness are seen more as an emotional state than a way of life.  Pleasing men to the detriment of pleasing God is seen as admirable.  If one does pursue personal holiness, he is often seen as self-righteous.  When it comes to what the LORD expects, He says, “Be ye holy as I am holy; this saith the LORD.”

God takes holiness so seriously, in the O.T., if someone knowing attempted to approach God in an unholy state, he would jeopardize his life in doing so.  If the blood of a sacrifice did not cover the sins of the high priest before he entered the holy of holies, he was a dead man.  In our passage, Moses and Aaron made the extra effort to come to the door of the congregation (the tabernacle) only after they had physically and ceremonially cleansed themselves.

Our preaching has changed.  Today, it is more about personal affirmation than it is holiness.  In doing so, we are undermining the very thing the sinner is seeking.  He is seeking affirmation from God in spite of what he is.  The only way he can is to walk in holiness supplied by the blood of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.  We come to church to learn of our faults that we might confess them before God.  We confess them before God because we desire to be forgiven.  Once forgiven, we seek the ministry of the Holy Spirit to forsake that sin; first for the victory over guilt.  But more deeply, because we know that walking in Christlikeness pleases God, we seek to walk in the statutes and laws of God.

This new way of thinking is not helping.  Feeding the narcissistic generation with the idea they are the most important person in the universe only makes things worse.  Worship means we admit we are failures before God and in desperate need of His grace.  It means to come to the congregation in the best possible condition of cleanliness we can, and seek more of the cleanliness once we get there.  Walking with God means pursuing godliness.  If that makes us uncomfortable or forces us to confront guilt which we do not wish to see, the question arises:  What is our faith really all about, anyway?