Chapter five of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium addresses our call to holiness. The second paragraph states, "40. The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consummator of this holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect".(216)(2*)"
The scripture quoted above is from The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:48). At first reading, it sounds like we are to be perfect as God is perfect. But Biblical scholars interpret it to mean something different. For example, in his reflection on the Sermon of the Mount, St. Augustine interprets it to mean, "Yet in such a way that God is understood to be perfect as God, and the soul to be perfect as a soul." This makes sense. We can not be God. We are man, God's creation. The created cannot equal the creator. But as God is a perfect God, we should strive to be the perfect humans that God created us to be. The end of this goal is sanctification.
The apostle Paul issues this call to sanctification in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 where he says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity;" To be chase is to be morally pure in thought, word and deed; decent and modest.
This is our calling and God's will for us. It is however, difficult to attain since it requires that be become masters over our fleshly nature. Paul encourages this in Galatians 5:16-17 where he says, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would."
But difficult or not, we are called to practice purity. To practice purity we must constantly examine the activities we are involved in to determine if they lead us to purity. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us, "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"
In my own personal walk with the Lord, I have developed what I call the 5P Ruler. I use it to test the activities I choose to become involved in to measure whether a given activity leads me to purity, or away from it.
I use the following table to help remember the steps in measuring an activity:
The Five P Ruler
P P P
P P
R U L E R
A R E
A O
Y I A
C F
F S
E I
Y E
T
The first step is to go to God in prayer. Our heavenly Father knows the thoughts and
intentions of our hearts. If we
sincerely approach him with a desire to do only that which is pure, he will
direct and guide us. In Matthew 7:7-8
Jesus tells us, "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who
knocks it will be opened."
After asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit ask the following four questions.
The first question is does it purify me? The Apostle Paul
gives us some help here. In Philippans
4:8‑9 he says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen
in me, do; and the god of peace will be with you. Does the activity under consideration meet the above criteria?
If we become involved in activities without examining the
effect they have on our spiritual development we run the risk of becoming
attached to those activities which yield to our impure fleshly desires. This
leads to corruption. In Titus 1:15 scripture tells us that, "To the pure
all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their
very minds and consciences are corrupted." Purity begets purity; corruption begets corruption.
The second question is, "Does my participation in this
activity please God?" David was
known as man whose heart desire was to please God. In Psalm 19:14 David said, "Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my
redeemer." Our heart's desire
should be to please God. We need to ask
the question, "Is the activity under consideration pleasing to my Heavenly
Father?"
The third question is, "Does it promote
peace?" Ask yourself this
question, "Would I feel comfortable inviting Jesus to participate with me
in this activity?" The prophet
Isaiah said, "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord God
is an everlasting rock." (Isaiah 26:3-4)
Lack of peace about an activity you are participating in is an indicator
that you should not be involved in it.
The final question is, "Does it profit me?" In 1
Corinthians 6:12 Paul shares his thoughts on profitability, "All things
are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for
me, but I will not be enslaved by anything." We need to choose those activities that are profitable, those
activities that lead to sanctification.
After prayerfully considering each of the above questions,
look at your answers. If you answered
anything other than "yes" to any of the questions, it has failed the
test, and you should cease to be involved in it.
In john 5:5-9 Jesus came upon a man who had been an invalid
for 38 years and he asked him, "do you want to get well?" It certainly was God's will that this man be
healed, yet Jesus asked him placing the decision in his hands. This healing would cause a radical life
style change. For 38 years others had
done everything for him. Now he would
have to do for himself. He had spent 38
years at the pool, now he would have to find a job. A healing would mean a harder life, at least at first.
In the same way, we are called to make a choice. Scripture tells us that sanctification is God's will for us. Choosing to go through the process can be somewhat painful, at least at first. Yet on the other side of the pain is the joy of wholeness we will experience by being in God's will and more closely conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus.