Ashes mingled in oil, ancient history and inclusivity; it is the Lenten Season. This year my church is participating in Lent with a 40-day drive built around a “joining the journey” theme. All too often churches/denominations expend a great deal of critical energy in debunking one another, pointing out flaws in others’ doctrine, praxis, etc. Of course, this criticism isn’t intrinsically bad—on the contrary, questions and disagreements have an important place in Christian history. G.K. Chesterton gives his take on the matter:

Last and most important, it is exactly this which explains what is so inexplicable to all the modern critics of the history of Christianity. I mean the monstrous wars about small points of theology, the earthquakes of emotion about a gesture or a word. It was only a matter of an inch; but an inch is everything when you are balancing. The church could not afford to swerve a hair’s breadth on some things if she was to continue her great and daring experiment of equilibrium. Once let one idea become less powerful and some other idea would become too powerful. It was no flock of sheep the Christian shepherd was leading, but a herd of bulls and tigers, of terrible ideals and devouring doctrines, each one of them strong enough to turn to a false religion and lay waste the world. (Orthodoxy 105-106)

And yet, in this season of Lent Heritage has decided to look at the many streams of Christianity and celebrate the multitudinous beauty of Christian history, to affirm the great traditions that exist as bulwarks of the faith. The devotionals are designed to affirm the traditions of other Christian streams’ legacies. I was fortunate enough to have a part in writing the devotions and unfortunate enough to be rather late with my submission; the following devotional is not printed except (I believe) in the leader’s resources.

Ezekiel 38:23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (NIV)

Holy. It is a word entirely pervasive in the Christian vocabulary and remarkably manages to maintain its profound richness despite its broad usage. The concept of holiness is perhaps best understood as the summation of God’s attributes. God is perfectly just, and yet he is full of mercy. He is longsuffering, and yet burns with righteous anger; in all things we have a holy God, a perfect God—one who is absolutely whole; lacking nothing, and because he lacks nothing he is set apart from everything else, for only he lacks nothing. And yet God’s love reaches out and works to bring us into holiness too. Christ’s death and resurrection means that Holiness is inclusive rather than exclusive.

The inclusive nature of Christian Holiness is a powerful force when pursued in our lives. A pursuit of Christ entails a pursuit of holiness, and this in turn creates a redeeming tidal wave of compassionate inclusion. Holiness means seeking wholeness. It means seeking wholeness of character and wholeness of community, and it recognizes that the redeeming source of wholeness is Christ’s love.

One particular group of Christians who have excelled in pursuing Holiness are the Nazarenes, who find their origin in what is known as the Holiness Movement. The Nazarenes recognized and affirmed the need to pursue God-centered wholeness in their lives. One of their primary ways of pursuing Holiness has been in their compassionate care for the downtrodden. From the very beginning, the Church of the Nazarene has been a denomination with a core value of compassion for the poor and marginalized. They serve as an outstanding example of Christians who recognize that God’s holiness means healing and redemption rather than exclusion and condemnation.

What are ways that you can pursue holiness in your life? How can you bring wholeness to your communities?