HEALTHY AND HOLY

"For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy." (Leviticus 11:45 HCSB)

There are two primary reasons for why God gave Israel such meticulous laws concerning diet, defilement, disease and decay: health and holiness. If they observed these regulations they would help contain the spread of disease, so there were physical benefits. The promise was, "The Lord will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you." (Deuteronomy 7:15 HCSB) But, more importantly, obedience in these laws would help restrain the spread of moral defilement, meaning there were spiritual blessings. The latter was the most important, but that doesn't make hygiene unimportant.

We are not Gnostics. Without digressing into a discussion of all that is involved, Gnosticism was a heresy that invaded the first-century church. The underlying assumption was that whatever was material was evil and only the spiritual was good. This led them to deny the incarnation of Christ, that the Son of God became the Son of Man--fully God, yet fully human. Many passages in the New Testament are in response to this false teaching that undermines the person and work of Christ. While, we may reject such blatant false doctrine, there is a subtler form of Gnosticism which has crept into our thinking--that our physical state doesn't matter that much--but it does!

The body of a Christian is sacred--it is devoted to God for His use. It is His temple, for we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is His tool, for it is our tongues that speak of Him, our hands that labor for Him, our feet that go for Him. We will give an account one day for the deeds done in the body. We will not be disembodied ghosts floating around in eternity, but be bodily resurrected in glorified form, as Christ was. Everything which sin has corrupted will be redeemed from the curse--even the body! The payment for that redemption was steep--the blood of Christ--thus, it is written, "for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:20 HCSB) So, let us not think our health and hygiene trivial. If I maintain this body in peak condition, I am keeping myself useful for God's purposes in the world. No, we are not Gnostics!

Having said that, we must know that health was secondary; holiness was primary. Israel was to avoid the spiritual contamination that would come from intimate association with pagans. If they had to exercise such cautions about what they touched and what they tasted, they could not share life with the heathen. To do that was to become infected with the same spiritual disease of sin--the malignancy of idolatry, the infection of immorality, the virus of sorcery---which would become a plague to consume the people of God. God knew best. Israel's history shows they failed to heed the warning and did not attain the blessings God desired for them. Rather, they experienced the curses God warned them about. They ingested the spirit of the Canaanites and became immersed in their practices--assimilated into their false beliefs and filthy behaviors. That is a danger to us!

To be sure, we cannot maintain our missionary mandate without being conversant with our culture. How can we make connections with sinners if we cut ourselves completely off from them? Jesus didn't do that--and was condemned by the self-righteous for it. But, He also was without sin--conversant with the culture, yet not corrupted by it. So, Christians are in the world, but not of the world.

Build bridges to sinners to bring them into the kingdom. Just remember that a bridge goes both ways and don't be drawn into the world. Put up gates of conviction--know where there are moral weaknesses in your spiritual immune system and don't expose yourself needlessly.

Wash with water--often! Why do you think these Levitical laws demanded washing? Why do you think a physician--who is always around sick people--washes his hands repeatedly? He or she wants to stop the spread of infection--and doesn't want to contract the illness either! We must frequently wash our hands--I mean spiritually. Paul spoke of, "the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26). The psalmist underscored this when he wrote, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word. I have sought You with all my heart; don't let me wander from Your commands. I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You." (Psalm 119:9-11 HCSB)

Be holy. God demands it. You cannot make a difference in this world unless you are different from the world.