CONTAGIOUS CHRISTIANS

"If someone carries holy meat... and touches... bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered 'No....' If someone who is unclean... touches any of these, does it become unclean? The priests answered... 'It does....' So it is with this people" (Hag 2.12-13).

Have you ever thrown a raunchy pair of sweat-stained underwear into a basket of clean clothes? Would you, or your significant other, still consider those clothes "clean?" If we reverse that and throw a clean sock into a pile of freshly used jockstraps, will the dirty clothes absorb the clean sock's purity?

"With respect to [living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, and drinking parties] they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery; and they malign you" (1Pet 4.3,4). Sin is contagious, righteousness is not. We Christians might influence our surroundings but we cannot transfuse our holiness into their bloodstream. However, their fleshly desires, covetnousness, gossip, and hatred are so akin to ours that we could easily find ourselves becoming just like them in our behaviors and our mindset. We cannot infect righteousness into others but we can help them get the "virus."

As disciple makers, we should realize that we are more apt to pass along our sins than we are our righteous deeds. People will mimic what they can see and hear: our righteous deeds, speech, and interactions. But mimicing holiness will not make one holy. "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who has called you is holy so be holy in all your conduct.... Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth... love one another earnestly from a pure heart" (1Pt 1.15, 22).

Righteousness (holiness) requires training (2Tim 3.16), but not the external kind that leads to mimicry, but the internal devotion of a heart that touches the holy fold of the Father's robe. We cannot merely pass on this holiness by our presence but we can lovingly provide the training they need to learn to be obedient to the truth.

 

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