What do you think of when you read the word “holy”? Awesome? Set apart? Divine? Or perhaps you think of the phrase “holier-than-thou”. Maybe you have experienced holiness to be a source of judgment. Growing up in the era of the “purity culture” movement in the American church, I have seen so much damage done to human spirits in the name of so-called “holiness”. Purity culture relied on the idea that the way of faith was more about avoidance of specific behaviors than a holistic, transformative relationship with God.

I believe I have shared from the Bible Project before. I really appreciate the work they are doing to make the Bible and its cultural contexts more accessible to Christians in the 21st century. Their video on Holiness challenged some of my expectations and made me reconsider what comes to mind when I encounter the word “holiness”.