True holiness is intended to firstly be something that’s between God, myself, and nobody else. It’s internal. The result of this will be a holiness that’s visible to others. Get that? One naturally results in the other. Often we get it confused and skip the internal part and we just make a holiness that everyone can see. This type of holiness is not rooted in an honest internal change but in pride. We just put on a projected holiness, a surface holiness that’s really just an appearance or an effort towards appearing like true holiness. That surface (aka “projected”) holiness is a mask. And those who wear this mask will be found out (Luke 12).

Christians, let’s start our venture towards holiness by working from the inside out, like Christ intended. Our holiness starts with our heart, not with our actions.

The End.

Holiness is a state in which we are called to live; free from sin and immorality.

Conviction is the Holy Spirit saying, “That is not acceptable.”

Drinking alcohol is prohibited for me, because I have a drinking problem. But responsible enjoyment of alcohol is not sinful.

BUT, viewing any person other than your wife or husband naked, is in my opinion (and prove me wrong) sinful.

Thus, the problems with pornography and movies with sex scenes and nudity.

My refusal to watch movies with nudity is not a personal conviction. It’s a Biblical one. My refusal to avoid music that makes me feel aggressive is a personal conviction, brought on by the Holy Spirit, because of it’s effect on me.

IF THE BIBLE SAYS THAT SOMETHING IS SINFUL,
no amount of philosophy is going to convince me that it’s ok for ANYONE.

Personal convictions are just that. I agree, you should NOT project them onto others.

But lets not confuse God’s commands with personal stuff.

For real-life examples:
God tells you should not do business at the BLABLA store because they support FOOBAR. Because God told you this, you try to convince others that because FOOBAR is always wrong, no one should shop at BLABLA. What happens when you are with a friend, and they want to shop at BLABLA? Do you say, ‘I will sit in the car because God told me I can’t shop here.’ This is understood as saying, ‘I am holier than you.’ This is projected holiness.
The balance you ask for in this example is here: If your friend asks you, why you don’t buy the cool lamp you’re looking at, you can say, ‘naaa. i don’t like to shop here.’ if they ask, you can say more. But note: you aren’t projecting your holiness–you are answering their questions. you might even say, ‘hey, if you want to shop here, you have my blessing.’

It is NOT our job to convict. We should make people who don’t have the same holiness convictions as we do feel comfortable being around us, without compromising our standards–but without pressing our standards on them, too. And we should support their convictions (as long as they are Biblical!).

Something like drinking is a pretty simple example, but life isn’t usually simple, it’s messy. So, what would a good practical example that involves some of the mess that life creates look like?

Tara’s example is fantastic, I would love to hear good biblical council on the situation as it pertains to this post, but if not, another real life example would be great!

As far as there being two different types of situations, I think there is a LOT of bleed between the two, and they don’t always separate so cleanly in real life. How do you deal with these “blended” situations?

1) The questionable behavior is undeniably unbiblical. In this case, it is always scriptural to lovingly confront someone, with the understanding that the Holy Spirit convicts them … not us.

2) The questionable behavior is. . . well . . . questionable. When its not necessarily an unbiblical action. For example, the bible doesn’t say drinking is a sin — it just says not to get drunk. Many however, have personal convictions against drinking anything at all. Those people should not drink. But if another drinks, but does not get drunk, there is no scriptural evidence to say they are sinful. It is projected holiness to say, “You shouldn’t drink at all!”

I’m more talking of the situation in #2. Situations in #1 should be dealt with … lovingly.

But in either situation, our holiness has a significant role in leading others towards Christ. If we are humbly and internally holy, it will effect others. If we are arrogant and projectively holy, it could often push people away.

Often only YOU can tell if your holiness is being “projected” (I think “hurled” is a better word) towards others. It’s an attitude thing. Deep down are you thinking, “Look how holy I am!”

That’s the issue. That’s what I’m talking about. It
It’s about your attitude in living holy.