Unashamed Culture: Connecting Our Faith and CreativitySample

Day 5: Pursuing holiness

Connecting our creativity with culture is a lifelong process. We will always be growing in our relationship with God, our awareness of ourselves, and our consciousness of the cultural spheres we inhabit. We will not always do things perfectly and where we make mistakes there is grace. In order to make the best use of this grace, we need discipline in order to be certain we’re growing in our ability to apply the Gospel to cultural cultivation and creation.

We need to pursue holiness to make sure we can access God’s grace and not lose sight of the productive means he has given us to cultivate and create culture. 

Scripture tells us to be sure that we are not conformed to the world. At the same time, Jesus prays for us to enter into the world for the sake of those who do not know him already. While this tension might seem too difficult to embrace, it is worth it. By submitting to God and answering the call to create and cultivate culture, we start to see glimpses of the garden reality unfold in our lives and the cultural spheres we inhabit. 

To live a life of holiness means we set ourselves apart by placing Gospel transformation as the highest priority of our personal lives. We can do this by reading and meditating on Scripture daily. We can also take responsibility for our actions by seeking out other believers who can collaborate with us and join us in applying the Gospel to our specific cultural contexts. 

Meditate on this Scripture (5 mins): “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Read John 17 in its entirety (15 mins) 

Reflect on the following questions: 

1. Is holiness the highest priority in your life? Does it show up in how you engage the cultural context around you? Have you mistaken the call to holiness for a dispassionate ejection from cultural participation that glorifies God and brings healing to others?
2. If you are struggling with ways to take holiness into your cultural engagement, pray John 17 over yourself paying careful attention to insert yourself into Jesus’ desire for his followers.