The Abuse of Holiness

I used to have a habit that many people, including Christians have. In conversation I'd say something like, “Holy cow, you gotta be kidding me!” Then one day, the Lord started tugging on my heart. He brought to my mind a bit of my hypocrisy: Why do I sing songs of worship to God, stating that He is holy, only to go out later and say something like 'holy crap/holy cow/etc'?

"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5

To be holy means to be set apart. Holiness is an attribute that is exclusive to God. He is considered holy because he is set apart from sin. Only he alone is perfection and has absolutely no blemish by his very nature. In fact, sin has no place in his presence, which means that we would all be eternally condemned if it were not for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:23-34)

Now, I make a conscious effort to avoid legalism and getting caught up on the words that people say. Jesus was constantly focused on peoples' hearts, and not just the words they chose to use. However, I believe there are times when we should exercise more thought about what we say, such as when we are using a term that refers exclusively to the character of God. To be blunt, referring to fecal matter (or anything outside of God) as being holy is quite blasphemous. Revelation 15:4 states, “...For you alone are holy.”

Understand that I'm not trying to guilt-trip you, I am simply challenging you to think about a commonly used phrase in our every day language. My plea to Christians is to only use the word “holy” in ways that are appropriate (such as when worshiping the Lord or when discussing spiritual matters).

For those of you who are not Christians, I don't expect you to fully understand the importance of this message. It probably seems to be a mere bickering over a meaningless word. To me, a non-Christian misusing the word “holy” is like a blind person unknowingly treading on a large patch of beautiful flowers. My request to you is to simply be respectful to those who may be offended by your speech.

“...therefore be holy, because I am holy” (Lev 11:45)

“I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” (Lev 20:8)