...it is written, ’Be holy, for I am holy’ —1 Peter 1:16
You need to be politically correct! Strive in your life to never offend anyone. Be inclusive. Don’t say anything that will offend or do things that will make others uncomfortable. If you have to, change your core beliefs to keep pace with ever changing social morays. Be tolerant of all beliefs, all value systems, all views... just roll over and let anyone and everyone walk all over you.
In today's society, pretty much anything you say or do will in someway offend somebody. So, to keep peace, let everyone trample the absolute truths of the universe underfoot, and you keep your mouth shut so you don’t offend or upset anyone!!! What do you think of that? It’s foolish nonsense, that’s what it is.
Political correctness is basically surrendering to social and cultural pressures allowing the prevailing winds of society to determine how you will feel, what you should be concerned about and how you should react to what goes on around you. If you take the concept of political correctness at face value, it is a good thing. If being politically correct means that we treat people of different backgrounds with respect and do not stereotype them based on their race or gender, then it is in fact, very biblical. But this is not the real intention of the modern movement to be politically correct.
In truth, political correctness is designed to intimidate people into adopting views, practices and using language that has been pre-approved. Political correctness tends to be completely focused on human sensitivity and self-esteem. When you focus on human sensitivity and self, you eliminate God from your life.
It is a shame that we must disguise or marginalize truth to avoid upsetting someone. Personally, I am very sensitive to not harming another person needlessly, but I am also adamant that serious issues be addressed with facts and the truth. For example, if a person believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, why should they be afraid to express their belief, especially when that belief is defined by God’s Holy Word?
Now, maybe some, maybe many today will believe in political correctness, but if you call yourself a Christian you better not allow it to distort your thinking! Let me tell you why.
Christians are set apart to the Holy God. That’s right, when you were immersed into Christ, you made a commitment to God before onlookers that you were lining up on His side. You became a warrior for Christ and His cause. You said in effect, you would be with Him, defending His truths before men, no matter how hard it would be and unpopular [politically incorrect] it might make you!
Toughen up soldier [Christian], God has a mission and you signed on to be smack dab in the middle of it! Christians must continually remind themselves of the real purpose of their lives. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, or political correctness, but to holiness.
Today, we have far too many desires, interests and distractions, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. There are far too many causes that capture our attention and get in the way of pursuing genuine holiness. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime we must focus all our energies on God’s purpose, and minimize our attention to all the unworthy causes of little importance to God’s purpose for our lives.
The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept God without restrictions and limitations and allow Him work in you. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God. You can ill afford periods in your life as a Christian, where you “take time for your own thing” and deflect the power of God working to transform your life. You can’t have a 50% relationship with God, or even an 80% commitment. He expects, He demands, an “all-in” 100% immersion in all that He is doing in the world today. With God, you can’t be a “little bit Christian”... you are all-in or you are simply not His.
Do you believe you need to be holy? Do you believe that God can come into you and help you grow in holiness? The preaching and teaching of the gospel awakens intense discomfort in all of us because it is designed to reveal our unholiness, but it also awakens an intense yearning and desire to be all we can be with God’s help.
God has only one intended destiny for mankind — holiness. Our holiness is the key to all He has planned for the future... our future. His only goal is to produce real solid gold saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, a genie in a bottle to grant our every wish and bless our self-centered pursuits.
He did not come to save us out of pity — He came to save us because He created us to be holy. Atonement through the Cross of Christ means that God can put me back into perfect oneness with Himself through the death of Jesus Christ, without any sin ever again separating us.
Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Did you hear that? READ it again! Think about it! Pray about it! Pretty much nullifies the concept of political correctness doesn’t it?
Holiness means absolute purity in your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind — placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. You stand up for Him; you defend His truths; you speak for Him, even when His truths are socially and politically incorrect.
Holiness is not simply what God demands of us, it makes YOU different. YOU need to accept that reality. If you really believe you are a Christian and you desire to be claimed by Him, then holiness is the essential ingredient of your lifestyle.
THINK about your pursuit of holiness and alignment with God’s absolute truth. The next time you get all worked up about some injustice or cause you think important, and you want to immerse yourself in promoting and defending the cause, THINK of how all that effort is deflecting your attention away from the work that God is trying to do in you.
