For all the challenges, disappointments and frustrations of our COVID pandemic tribulation there have been some upsides, as well. One of these has been the heightened awareness of personal hygiene in all our usual life settings. People are very much more aware now of the need to do all they can to minimise the risk of infection for themselves – and for others, too.
This is a good thing. Not only has this touched many areas of our personal health, but it has also gone beyond just the COVID issue. Prior to this, there have been many times when I have been surprised at the general lack of hygiene in the community, especially the washing of hands before handling food. We’re so much better at this now. The threat of COVID infection has galvanised us into action. We now readily and carefully cleanse and purify often during the day …
Reflecting on all that this morning when I was having a coffee and doing all my emails at my local coffee shop, I was alarmed to see the barista quite unconcernedly wiping her nose with the back of her hand as she was churning out the coffees. Erk! Then my mind turned to spiritual hygiene when my morning bible meditation focused on 1 John – here it is …
1 John 1:7-9 (NIV)
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Let me make two main points here. First, the key concern of the work of Christ’s shed blood is that sins are accounted for – for eternity. That is, backwards, present and future. The cross of Christ is where sins were atoned for, once and for all. Atoned for. That is, the penalty for our sins was paid – expiation. The holy wrath of God was thus satisfied and averted from us – propitiation. So, what the apostle is now teaching his church about is spiritual hygiene – not a reworking of the cross in terms of expiation and propitiation, that is done and won’t be repeated. But what still flows from that work is ongoing righteousness. And that is spiritual hygiene (amongst a couple of other things like healing, for example, that flow from the finished work of the cross).
Just as personal hygiene is important in maintaining our health and preventing infection – and us infecting or contaminating others - so is our spiritual hygiene. Yet, just as in pre-COVID times many of us were lax concerning personal hygiene, I think many Christians today are lax concerning spiritual hygiene.
I believe one of the prophetic messages coming out of COVID – if we have ears to hear it - is that the church has to get much, much better at – and very conscientious about - spiritual hygiene.
There are spiritual sicknesses infecting the church in our nation today, and no church is immune. There are sicknesses like apathy, comfortableness, nominalism and complacency that are seriously afflicting a local church’s ability to carry out its God-given mission. There are very serious infections like compromise with sin (and the unbelief it causes) that are decimating local churches – and youth and children are being infected by the sin of parents. The worst sickness of all is that love for Jesus – the one who bled and died for us, the one who redeemed us – is growing cold. And that leads to many other crippling diseases like, unforgiveness, greed, immorality and more. That can be terminal …
This is serious, folks!
The apostle John faced these same challenges in his day. He challenges his faith community about spiritual hygiene with these verses. This lack of spiritual hygiene leads to less-than-optimal living, flawed discernment, inability to fellowship properly, a great loss of our distinctive character as a salt and light community – a city on a hill.
But worst of all … lack of spiritual hygiene leads to the gradual abandonment of our walk with God, our abandonment of love for our Saviour and, therefore, powerless, self-centred living.
John makes the point that …
1 John 1:6 (NIV)
“If we claim to have fellowship with him [Jesus] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”
And that’s just one of the things that a lack of spiritual hygiene does – it causes us to lie to ourselves about how we are really doing as born-agains. We deceive ourselves, and open ourselves to all kinds of spiritual sickness. I could go on and on here but I’m sure you get my drift. Spiritual hygiene is critically important. Because of the work of Christ on the cross we have been made righteous. We’re deemed clean by God, and He has given us Holy Spirit who helps us stay clean, so that we can continue to be transformed.
You have been made clean. Now, stay clean. Really, it is the least we can do to honour Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Everything else develops from there.
Think on these things.
Ps. Milton