In a recent article by Paul Krugman in the New York Times, he argues the current reality that to be an American is to be sicker than the people living in England; whereas the British are likely to over drink the Americans tend to be obese. However Britain only spends about 40 percent as much per person on health care as the United States, and its health care system is considered inferior to neighbouring countries, especially France. For example middle aged Americans are twice as likely to suffer from diabetes and hypertension as their English counterparts.
Unfortunately the article in the American Medical Association which published the study couldn’t arrive at a valid reason for this problem. They confined their study to non-Hispanic whites but did find a correlation between health and wealth – and interestingly, the poorest third of Britons were healthier than the top richest third of Americans. However Krugman suggested that overwork was a predominant cause. Americans work 46 weeks a year and the British only 41. Their lifestyle reflects the protestant work ethic; to be a success is determined by how early you retire.
It has been argued and proven statistically that church goers are healthier and live longer than those who don’t go to church, so the Americans should lead the European world, but like many anomalous things in the States, they write more books about marriage than any other country and have the highest incidence of divorce. Writing and producing studies about a lifestyle does not necessarily improve it. That is why I don’t speak on holiness very often, because speaking about will not increase its quality in the human soul.
When I became a Christian, our leaders were keen that we jumped holiness hoops and shunned the worldly lights of entertainment. We were expected to be spiritually healthy. If we were not, would we lose our reward? Hidden pressure was brought to bear so that we were wrapped up in man-made ideas of holiness and in those days the word was not victory but sanctification, a word missing from our vocabulary today.
Purity was decided by the absolutes of our peers or superiors. It was almost an unconscious enforcement of a lifestyle that concentrated on externals. We were expected to behave righteously and that meant we
were to live out a physical ethic that would not give offence. It was extreme legalism, a system of prohibitions that we wore like a straightjacket. We thought we were holy because we earned the right by behavior, rather than our heart condition.
A newspaper reported that the body of a killer executed in America had been turned into a three-dimensional computer image to become a medical teaching aid. The digital body could be
examined from any angle and “fully dissected on computer.” The killer had left his remains to science and the body was taken to the University of Colorado’s health sciences centre where it was given computer-controlled scans. What they could not find in this human body was the mind, soul and spirit. Only God knows the human heart: “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place”(Ps.139:15).
God was doing ultrasonic scans thousands of years before they became available to pregnant women! And, anyhow, the real you and me – the secret parts of our personalities and spiritual perception, holiness and righteousness – are hidden from the gaze of man-made electronics, highly sophisticated though they may be. It is God alone who can study our motives, attitudes, desires and aspirations.
Whatever artificial strictures are placed upon us by custom and convention, our internal condition, call it holiness or sanctification if you like; can only be known by God. Cults pry into your soul and control your lifestyle; they decide what is or is not holy and acceptable. Follow their dictates and they award sanctification like badges.
The best route to holiness is the unconscious radiance of internal burning. Moses’ bush is an example. The phenomenon illustrated three things. It consumed all malignant growths, like fungus and mildew, all insects and vermin and kept wild animals at bay. That is what God’s fire or Holy Spirit does for those who believe on Him. The insidious growths of compromise are consumed, the vile vices and ticks of our tempers are burnt up and the devil’s donkeys are scared to approach. The best formula for holiness is the Holy Spirit.
