Church Pews

© Rev Stan, Creative Commons

Everyone has their words for the year. They post them proudly. ”See! This is what I am learning this year.”

In 2010, my word was change. And how my life changed!

In 2011, my word was love. And I learned how to love deeply. Even when it hurt.

This year, I’m almost afraid to post mine. They sound so stuck-up. Their true meanings have been forgotten under the grime of religion. They scare me.

My two words this year are righteousness and holiness.

Those don’t sound like fun words. But they are the two words that keep coming to my mind. The ones that I want to understand deeply this year. Not for their King Jimmy, indie, fundie, Bible-thumping meanings which were birthed in the twin horrors of guilt and shame.

But their simpler meanings. Their Biblical meanings.

Righteousness. 

Being right with God and man. Having healthy relationships.

Holiness.

Becoming whole. Mature. Perfect like our Heavenly Father. Becoming unbroken. Healed. 

I used to hear those words all the time. Once upon a time when I was a super conservative. When pastors would preach about hell and the flames of the lake of fire licking at the heels of degenerate sinners for all of eternity.

It’s a shame that such good words have been abandoned by the church today.

We ignore them. We shudder when we hear them. They remind us of death. Of funerals. Of men wearing ill fitting suits and trying to see Jesus like a used car salesman who needs to fill his monthly quota. They remind of guilt. Of rules. Of legalism. Of soul stifling hot days in stiff wooden pews, sweat beading down your forehead and sneaking in under the collar.

Righteousness and holiness are life bringing words. They speak of redemption, healing, and vibrance. It’s time to divorce them from death and remarry them with life.

Those are my two words for 2012. What are yours?