Last night I came across a 30ish second clip of a prominent, hipster preacher's latest sermon. In this clip he says "holiness is consistency". He says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8) and that is how He is holy.

Holiness is not consistency.

Looking at semantics only we can see that holiness is not consistency. The word 'is' in the phrase means the third person singular present indicative of be. Used in our English language 'is' is a linking verb. It joins the subject of a sentence to a complement. It shows relationship between the two words. 'Is' is often also used in math equations. Five plus two is seven. In this 'is' can also mean equal to or the same as.

When looking from a mathematical perspective, holiness is equal to or the same as consistency, as stated by this preacher. A look at a Thesaurus would show us that this is not true. Holiness is not found as a synonym of consistency and vice versa.

Semantics aside, proposing---and speaking with intense conviction---that holiness is consistency is not a Biblical concept. There is no scripture that gives any slight indication that holiness is the same as consistency or that consistency proves holiness.

Yes. God is Holy.
Yes. God is consistent.
Yes. God is consistently holy.

But His Holiness can not be substituted or confused with the word consistency.

From the initial statement, we could conclude that all mentions of the word holiness could be interchanged with the word consistency. How do these sound:

Be ye consistent, as I am consistent. -1 Peter 1:16
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in consistency, fearful in praises, doing wonders? - Exodus 15:11
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of consistency, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. -2 Chronicles 20:21

We could continue, but this is ridiculous. Stating that these two things can be mutually exclusive or the same thing is preposterous. There is no way to get around this.

I admit that lack of understanding of the Holiness of God, but when I think of it I am overcome with reverence. I am made aware of my unholiness and my sin that cannot remain the presence of a Holy God. I am sobered to His immense purity against my uncleanliness.

I think about Isaiah 6. Isaiah sees the Lord seated on the throne and the angels calling to one another saying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah recognizes his uncleanliness when he says " I am a man of unclean lips".

The Holiness of God should move us to humbled, repentant responses. It cannot be flippantly passed off as just being consistent.

May we seek to have a true, reverent understanding of His Holiness and may we respond appropriately.

Search my heart, oh God, and remove any unclean thing from me.

Gifts

This morning I saw a post on Instagram by a man who was having a giveaway/contest for his followers. He told them that if they posted about his spoken word Instagram, had more than 1000 followers, he would choose someone to send a questionnaire in a DM and then give them a prophetic word.

Say what?!

After reading the post, I had an immediate sick feeling in my stomach. Right away, I checked myself. Am I judging? Am I being too critical? What does God think of this?

I believe that as we, unfortunately, see more of these things happen, we need to be able to walk in discernment and wisdom.

Our gifts are given to us freely. We did not earn them through works or money. We did not have to beg for them. James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is not variableness, neither shadow of turning." Any gift we have comes from our Father.

Jesus tells His disciples to freely give what they have received. (Matthew 10:8). Our gifts are for the edification of the body and the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

It is a scary thing to act as if our gifts, given by God, are for our own promotion. 

Proverbs 18:16 says, "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." We do not have to work to make room for ourselves with our gifts.

I have felt that I must use my gift to keep me ahead of others...knowing that at any point someone may come along and be better at my gift than I am. I have felt that I could lose my place at His table. The Lord gently stepped on my toes and pride and reminded me that He gave any gift that I have and that there is more than enough room at the table.

The ultimate goal is not that people know MY name but that they know the name of my Father....that they know my Father knows and loves them. It has never been or ever will be about me and what I can do. It is about becoming like my Father and bringing His kingdom to the earth. It is about the Glory of an Eternal King who chose to come dwell with us.

May we seek His face and not our own fame.