Godliness


“If you love me, you’ll love me as I am.” Who is not familiar with that statement? It’s a true one. If you love someone, you love them “warts and all.” You love them with bad breath and hair falling out and a pot belly. And ladies, you have to love us guys, too.

Agape love, which is the self-giving kind, goes beyond our inborn tendencies of attraction and prejudice. As Mark Buchanon puts it, “It trumps our niggling irritations. It annuls our sticky and picky conditions.”

Deep love loves simply because its nature is to love.

“While we were weak, at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5.8

He loves me just as I am. But that’s only the half of it. Real love loves us just as we are so that we can become what we are meant to be. That too, is the nature of love. It’s a love that will not let us go. Its end goal is godliness. God wants to love us into godliness.

This is the whole framework of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. This is how the Apostle Paul expresses it:

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:

He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit,
Was seen by angels, was preached among the nations,
Was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.


The life’s work of Jesus Christ was for the sake of godliness, our godliness. For godliness is nothing more or less than Christ-like character, to “be holy as He is holy.”

Conversion makes spiritually dead people alive. As we saw in the case of Zacchaeus, God can pull that off in one conversation, one visit.

Sanctification makes godless people godly. God typically uses a lifetime to accomplish this. Becoming godly happens as we draw upon the resources of the Kingdom that God provides.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1.3

I remember back a few years ago, we had a little red wagon. And both my boys used to fit together in that little red wagon. One day I told them to climb him and I began to pull them in that wagon down to the park. My neighbor saw us and must have thought it was a cute scene, a Norman Rockwell kind of scene. Because he said to me, “Wow, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”

Well, I thought, I’m not sure that pulling my boys in a little red wagon is what “it’s all about.” I mean, it’s a good thing, no doubt. But isn’t it interesting, this pull in the world of replacing the goal of the Kingdom of God, with lesser ideals and virtues like, “being a good parent” or “being generous” or “working hard.”

This what the Sadducees were doing with Jesus. They didn’t believe in the resurrection and eternal life. There was no real big picture. For them morality was a personal puzzle with no long term consequences. The puzzle that day was: what do you do with a widow several times over? And if she marries seven brothers, whose wife then, finally is she?

Jesus said in effect, “Look, you’re missing the forest for the trees. There is a resurrection. There is eternal life whether you want there to be or not. Marriage, or whatever good we do in this life is only beneficial ultimately for how it contributes to us finding our life in God.” You don’t need appetizers once the main course is being served.

Part of godliness’ wonderful mystery is that godliness whispers of a hidden reality and life that is being revealed. Of all things, godliness deserves our utmost attention and effort.

The enemy of godliness is worldliness. When we use the term “world”, we are not talking about the planet earth or anything physical. By world we mean the human social and cultural structures by which human history is unfolding. Mark Buchanon says that the opposite of godliness is not Satanism or witchcraft, it’s worldliness.

“For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2.16

Worldliness is selfishness. It’s craving, lusting, competing, boasting. It’s me, me, me. It’s whatever makes sin look more attractive than God.

I’ve used this example before but it’s worth repeating I think. I like to compete in sports. I like to win and when I win I like to act humble, aw shucks, like it doesn’t matter to me. But it does. It does.

I like it that my sons like to compete. I like it when they do well in sports. I have taken them for training and practices and even special lessons. But from time to time , I pause and ask myself, “what is the point of all this effort?” Do I really want or need my sons to become professional athletes and at what cost?

I only mention sports because of what many of us assume our kids should go through – you may feel free to substitute music, grades, or videogames for that matter – and what we seem prepared to sacrifice as parents. If in the pursuit of our kid’s (and our own) glory, we have neglected to bring our kids to worship and Christian education, what kind of persons will they become? Are we prepared to sacrifice their spiritual development? Or do we just think we can manage it well enough on our own?

“Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both this present life and the life to come.”

What “profane myths” and “old wives tales” are we giving too much energy and time to?

Is our own training in godliness getting sufficient time and energy?


Listen to how Mark Buchanon describes godly people based on his reading of the mystery of godliness in 1 Timothy 3.16:

Godly people make God personal. When you stand among them, you sense God is near. The godly entrust justice to God. They do not exhaust themselves trying to manage what others think about them. Their main audience is cosmic. They believe that we are engaged in something much bigger than ourselves. The godly live in a way that makes angels cheer and demons quake. The godly have global influence. The godly have impact beyond the church. They change the world they live in. Their influence translates into transformation. The godly know their life has ultimate purpose and reward. They live in the here and now, but live with their eyes fixed on forever. What motivates them is not earthly reward but the glory that will be revealed. Their treasure is in heaven.