What is holiness?

In the Bible translation I'm using at the moment, the editors have added a heading to Leviticus chapter nineteen. It says, "Holiness in Personal Conduct." Sure enough, the very first verses in the chapter are the ones where God's instructions to the people are, You must be holy because I the Lord your God am holy. And this command wasn't given only to the priests; it was addressed to every single person who considered themselves part of God's people. Holiness wasn't and isn't an option; we are all called to grow in holiness.

The rest of the chapter goes on to unpack what holiness means in practice, and the first three things on the list might come as a surprise to us:

1. Respect/honour your father and mother
2. Observe the value of sabbath rest
3. Don't put your trust in anything other than God 

We sometimes confuse holiness with being religious, thinking that someone is "holy" if they pray, go to church a lot and do other religious things. But holiness is much more practical and personal than that. According to these verses, it's about whether we're patient and honouring towards ageing parents, even when disability or dementia robs them of the strengths they once knew. It's about whether we honour God's principle of rest, instead of being workaholics who behave as if everything depends on us. And it's about whether we truly place all our trust in the Lord, rather than trusting in our financial security, in our good job, in other people, in our government pension or healthcare system, or in our country's anti-terrorism policies. If our trust is primarily in something other than God, the Bible calls that idolatry.

The next instructions for holiness include providing for the poor and caring for refugees. (The Bible called them "aliens" - people who come into our nation.) And the list continues: 

• don't steal, don't cheat 
• don't lie or swear falsely
• don't mistreat your employees
• don't mock the handicapped
• don't gossip
• don't be indifferent to those in crisis
• don't hold on to hatred against relatives
• don't bear grudges
• don't neglect to confront people
• don't have anything to do with fortune telling or witchcraft (horoscopes, tarot cards, spiritism)
• show respect for the elderly
• don't encourage prostitution (or human trafficking, in our modern world)
• don't be dishonest in your business practices
• obey the Lord in everything

and more...

Yes, there are some things in the list that were probably specific to Hebrew culture of the time - like instructions about ritual sacrifices or how to cut your beard. But most of the things in this list are very relevant to living a holy life in our modern world. If we were to work our way through this ancient chapter, focusing on the commands that particularly apply to us, we would truly live more holy lives in the 21st Century.