Godliness or Worldliness: What It Means to be Holy.
When my son, a deacon in his church, visited, he asked for my thoughts on the word “Godliness.” I had never seriously considered the word, but his question prompted me to reflect on what it means to be godly.
While wrestling with the meaning of Godliness, I turned to my dictionary and found these synonyms: piety, purity, virtuousness, holiness, divinity, consecration, saintliness, etc. The list is endless. Think of what living out these multiple dimensions of one word means. “Godliness is the word in our language register that describes the closest a man or woman could come to reflecting in action the attributes of God or Godly character.
The question is, What is the godly character? What attributes of God can a man or woman reflect in action? And what can we learn about God’s character in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible?
God is the name of the Supreme Being, which signifies “strong” and “mighty” in Hebrew. It is expressive of omnipotent power, used in plural form in Genesis to underscore the plurality of persons in the Godhead - Father, Son, and the Spirit, engaging in the work of creation. (Genesis 1: 1-3; Prov. 8: 27, John 1:3, Eph.3:9).
In Egypt, God revealed Himself to the Pharaoh and the Israelites as the Almighty, before whom all other gods were nonentities. At Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to the descendants of Jacob (Israel) in thunder and consuming fire. The holiness of His presence was such that no human could withstand it. The Israelites had to beg Moses to stand in the gap between them and the Divine, promising to comply with God’s Covenant requirements.
But who among humans can match God’s holiness standard? How Godly can humans pretend to be? Not close. The Almighty descended on Mt. Sinai to engage humankind in creating a channel of communication and fellowship platform with His chosen people. God manifested His presence in their midst as a “pillar of clouds” by day and a “pillar of fire” by night as they journeyed through the wilderness.
The book of Leviticus reflects a binary worldview, calling humanity to choose between Sin and Holiness, Profanity and Sacredness, Purity, and Impurity, and between Life and Death. God speaks directly to His people to be holy and sets the standard for moral purity for them: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19: 2).
However, the Israelites failed to fulfill their part of the covenant between them and God (Exodus 18, 19).
Still, God continues to pursue humanity. He bridges the gap by sending His Son to the earth in human form. Here’s where you and I are involved in the narrative. He is a consuming fire and a loving God:
“For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
For us in the New Testament, the line has fallen to us in pleasant places, and here we have a good heritage. “His Banner Over us is Love,” says the motto of God’s Businessmen Fellowship of old.
To be godly, in our everyday parlance, is to epitomize the character of God - reflecting His image. That’s what we are supposed to be - mirroring the glory of our Creator. Yes, Godly man! Godly woman! Godly youths! Godly citizens of our country. Christ came to show us the way. So, being like Christ is the ultimate goal of a Christian. That’s what Christianity is all about.
Listen to this:
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God (emphasis mine) in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4: 22-24).
Onlookers—people in the neighborhood of Antioch—who saw how Christ’s followers distinguished themselves from the world called them Christians. By immersing ourselves in Christ’s teachings, we are right there in the club of the godly, giving expression to this all-important and all-embracing word: Godliness.
1 Timothy 6:6 says, “Godliness with Contentment is Great Gain,” which is interpreted as living a life dedicated to God and being satisfied with what we have - what legitimately belongs to us - and believing that whatever we have comes from God, regardless of what we see in the world around us. This satisfaction, better known as contentment, is a true and significant reflection of our spiritual state - producing deep inner peace that surpasses worldly gains. It’s not just a concept but a path to personal fulfillment and joy in a challenging world.
Godliness prioritizes being at peace with God over pursuing worldly fame and material wealth.
Being Godly in our world is challenging. It requires personal discipline and commitment to a higher principle. The believer is constantly in spiritual warfare - daily in a battle. Godliness is a battle cry demanding our attention and individual engagement in a journey of personal growth in Christ.
The opposite of Godliness is Worldliness, which we encounter every day.
Being godly in a worldly environment makes you a clear target of worldly people: in the office, the marketplace, in church, at home, and even in your family. Jesus warns his disciples, “In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The pull to be worldly is always there, beckoning.
Remember the three Hebrew youths in Babylon:
In Daniel 3: 1-18, we read the account of Shaderack, Meshak, and Abedinego. The Babylonians changed their names from Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The world will always seek to change your identity—from godly to worldly, from believer to unbeliever, from Christian to pagan, from victor to vanquished. They will try, but you don’t have to yield. The real issue is that some of us changed our identity by ourselves to play ball with the world—Nope, not the Hebrew three.
Their resilience in the face of adversity should encourage us to find strength in Godliness—our faith.
The Fiery Furnace:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a burning furnace for refusing to worship a golden statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. But they were divinely shielded and accompanied by a “fourth man” who looked like the Son of God. The flames killed the soldiers who threw the men into the furnace.
Jesus, the Son of God, was right there with them.
Remarkably, no one saw the manifestation of the Son of God until the Hebrew three were thrown into the fiery furnace by the Babylonians. It happened because the Hebrew young men took God’s promise through the prophets seriously: Isaiah prophesies,
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43: 2).
God fulfilled His promise to the Hebrew children to hit when they took their stand on their godly principles.
1 Timothy 4: 7-8 warns,
“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; instead, train yourself to be godly. Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. “
As you read this, many are in their Babylon - passing through the fiery furnace of persecution.
Let’s pray with them and for them.
