Holiness?

I Peter 1:15-16
In trying to fit into our culture we have increasingly downplayed personal holiness. If you search holiness on the internet you find pictures of Dalai Lama the Pope and other well-known gurus. If you refine your search you can even come up with people who are heavily pierced. If you are lucky you might find a picture of Billy Graham. For many the idea of holiness is a foreign concept much like gurus and Dalai Lama. In an effort to appear more normal than people and groups like Fred Phelps and his wacky Westboro Church we neuter our faith by our silence. The the issue arises of how we live and communicate in a manner that shatters the cultural misconceptions. Is that possible?
Remember, Christ did not call us to beat people with the cross but to proclaim the gospel boldly and clearly. Hate is not the gospel. I would also say that magician and performer Penn Jillette is correct in his estimation that we must really hate someone to know the gospel and the path to a relationship with Christ and to not share it because of the fear of being socially awkward.
Peter calls us to not slip back to old lifestyles and decision making. We are called to be holy in all that we do? Some call it living above reproach. Men do we live above reproach in such a sexualized culture? Have we lost our potency because our personal holiness is a thing of memories? What does personal holiness mean to you?

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