Feeling guilty about sanctification?

I don’t know why or how it happened, but when I was a kid, then a teen and a young adult, I came to resent the word “sanctification.” Was it used too much? Poorly explained and misunderstood? It always seemed to have a negative connotation. I thought the word meant, “Try harder, God deserves better.” Sanctification became “guiltification.” I concluded I wasn’t good enough.  Yet trying to do better was an elusive, frustrating pursuit.

For hundreds of years, theologians have waxed eloquent on the subject of sanctification. They cover everything from “what ought to be” to “do better.” I have found few of their insights either helpful or encouraging.  I did not need more analysis. I don’t need to hear (again) what a rotten sinner I am; I know that intuitively and experientially.  I needed some real-world context that could help me articulate and apply the truth of sanctification beyond religious rigour. We need something that will give us hope.

It wasn’t until I acquired some skills in personal Bible study that I began to understand the beauty and truth of the word, sanctification. It is a positive thing to be embraced, not an assessment which points out our inadequacies. Part of my struggle was that the word itself belongs to a narrow vocabulary set we may refer to as “Christianese.” These are words that are familiar in our context of faith and church, the meanings of which are often (incorrectly) assumed, seldom dissected, evaluated, and explained.

As I continued in my personal study of sanctification, I found the hope I was looking for by breaking the big word into three smaller, everyday ideas. Goodbye religious jargon; hello familiar, recognizable concepts.

Passion: This is “the thing that drives us.” Quite simply, sanctification is a passion for God. We learn to love Him with our hearts and minds. We learn to love others as ourselves. We are enthused for the things of God, understanding that all has been created by Him and for Him so there is no spiritual-secular divide. All truth is God’s truth. All work is God’s work. All good things are sourced in God.

Realignment: The Kingdom of God is not like any human institution. The core values of the Kingdom are 180 degrees out of sync with the brokenness of the world around us. In the Kingdom, the greatest will be the least. The first will be last. The not-yet is more important than the now. Learning these - and other - upside-down Kingdom values realigns our perspective of God’s truths and priorities.

Loyalty: As we follow Christ, we learn to acknowledge our dependence on Him and submit to His authority as King and Creator. We don’t “make” Him Lord; He is Lord. Sanctification means we learn how to transfer our allegiances and loyalties so they harmonize with and reflect those of His Kingdom.

To put it another way, sanctification is the process of learning to represent Christ well as His image-bearers. It is living wisely, skilled in the truths of His Kingdom in an environment where the King is not honoured. It is not the pursuit of piety for the sake of religion. It is following Jesus because only He has the words of life (John 6:63-68).

Guiltification distorts all this. As a fraudulent copy of sanctification, it preoccupies itself with artificial levels of spirituality and piety. It worries about hitting arbitrary indicators of “sacred saintliness.” It feels a slight tinge of satisfaction when comparing itself to others. Guiltification pursues God for personal superiority. Sanctification is a humble passion for God so He may transform us for His glory.

Perhaps the most surprising thing I learnt was this:  none of us can do it alone. An independent spirit is crucial to guiltification. It is an individual pursuit.   Sanctification, on the other hand, is a team event. Our passions, our realignment, our loyalties are better challenged and nurtured in the context of the community of God’s people. We need each other. We serve each other.  We encourage one another.  We practise humility toward one another.  We forgive and receive forgiveness from each other.  

It took me a long time to learn, but the truth is that sanctification is not about being spiritual super-heroes. It is the shared journey of those who live their faith together in community for the glory of God. Let’s pursue this, together.