God is Right and Fair

What is the glory of the Lord? What is His holiness?

When we think of glory, we often think of splendor. We often think of beauty. We think about the way that the stars shine in the darkest of nights, that the sky is painted a beautiful palette of pinks and blues and oranges and reds, that the flowers bloom, that the birds sing, that the created world reflects the incredible imagination and goodness of our God. When we think of holiness, we think of perfection, of perfect judgment, of sinlessness, of something...untouchable. 

These ideas have extended to our own faith, where we have come to believe that the glory of the Christian is their adornment - the cross necklace, the T-shirt with the catchy phrase, the elegant Scripture displayed in cursive above the fireplace, the bumper sticker on the car. When we think of holiness, we think of rule-following, of keeping the commandments, of moral judgment (and, unfortunately, of condemnation of anything outside of our understanding). 

But while there is certainly a measure of truth to these definitions - while we can say that God's glory is reflected in His creation and His holiness in His commands - the Bible tells us that that's not entirely true. It is true, but it is not sufficient to capture the essence of what glory and holiness really mean. 

For this, we must turn to Isaiah, where the prophet helps us to understand a deeper, more complete truth. 

God's glory, Isaiah says (5:16), is in judging fairly. His holiness is in doing right. 

In other words, God's glory and holiness are relational. They have to do with His dealing with His creation. They have to do with the way He loves us. 

Judging and righteousness are acts of love. Discerning is an act of love. God's glory is shown nowhere greater, not even in the most beautiful sunset, than when His judgment is fair. His holiness is shown not in keeping the rules, but in doing the right thing. 

Subtle differences? Perhaps, but maybe not. 

Remember, this is the same thing that the Bible tells us about our faith. We think we can be called Christians just by wearing the right clothes, carrying our Bible around, putting the bumper sticker on our car, calling ourselves a member of a certain church, following the rules, condemning those who don't, passing moral judgment on the world. 

But the Bible tells us plainly that's not it. It tells us in no uncertain terms that the world will know we are Christians...by our love. By our relationships. By the way we deal with the rest of creation and with our Creator. 

Just as God's glory is relational, so our reflection of it is also relational. Just as we know God is God by His love, so the world will know us the same way. 

Love is the center of it all. 

Always has been; always will be.