Set-apart-ification
by Tyler Zach
Zach and Ben, two of my best friends, are really smart. Off the top of my head, smart people have two main privileges. One, smart people can communicate with and understand other smart people. And two, smart people get to use complicated equipment… that most people don’t know how to use… let alone know what it is.
This is the case for a piece of equipment that my friend Ben uses in the lab. It is called a centrifuge. The dictionary (written by smart people) says that a centrifuge is a piece of equipment that puts a substance in rotation around a fixed axis in order for the centrifugal force to separate a fluid from a fluid or from a solid substance. In other words, you put some stuff in the machine so that the machine will separate the stuff into two separate stuffs. Make sense?
When most people (in Christian churches) hear the word sanctification they think of words like “holiness”, “cleanse”, “purify”, etc. All these descriptions are good, but the literal root meaning is the best: to set apart for special use or purpose. That is why I titled this blog “Set-apart-ification.”
The question I hear most Christians ask is “What is the will of God for my life?” And most Christians don’t like the answer that God gives in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” We respond to God, “Be more specific! Let me know if I should pursue this job or that, or go out with this person or that person.” But God simply reminds us that His will for us is “to be set apart for special use or purpose.”
Let’s go back to the centri-thingy analogy. In one of Ben’s experiments, he puts some cells in a tube. The machine shakes (in a circular motion) the tubes many-times-a-minute. The goal is to separate the DNA from other stuff surrounding/clinging to it. Then, he can analyze and use the DNA for other purposes. Ben said the DNA rises to the top of the tube while the other junk descends to the bottom.
Do you see a light bulb yet? How ironic is it that the DNA, which was intelligently designed, gets caught in a mess of “stuff” – just like we, being intelligently designed, get caught in a world full of sin. Just as Ben had to sanctify (set apart) the DNA to use for special purposes, so God needs to sanctify (set apart) us for special purposes. Just as the DNA isn’t much use to Ben when it mixed in with the other particles, we aren’t very available to be used by God when we are caught up in the world.
The funny thing is that the only way to separate the DNA from everything else is to shake it violently in the machine. Do you ever feel that God is shaking you violently through pain, tragedies, rebukes, hurricanes, etc.? Well, perhaps He is using those things to sanctify you… so that you can finally be used for His Kingdom purposes. This “setting apart” process is never smooth, but always comes with tension. If you are a Christian who goes to church every Sunday, but isn’t experiencing a continual tension within your soul – then you might not be allowing God to set you apart.
Zach and Ben, two of my best friends, are really smart. Off the top of my head, smart people have two main privileges. One, smart people can communicate with and understand other smart people. And two, smart people get to use complicated equipment… that most people don’t know how to use… let alone know what it is.
This is the case for a piece of equipment that my friend Ben uses in the lab. It is called a centrifuge. The dictionary (written by smart people) says that a centrifuge is a piece of equipment that puts a substance in rotation around a fixed axis in order for the centrifugal force to separate a fluid from a fluid or from a solid substance. In other words, you put some stuff in the machine so that the machine will separate the stuff into two separate stuffs. Make sense?
When most people (in Christian churches) hear the word sanctification they think of words like “holiness”, “cleanse”, “purify”, etc. All these descriptions are good, but the literal root meaning is the best: to set apart for special use or purpose. That is why I titled this blog “Set-apart-ification.”
The question I hear most Christians ask is “What is the will of God for my life?” And most Christians don’t like the answer that God gives in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” We respond to God, “Be more specific! Let me know if I should pursue this job or that, or go out with this person or that person.” But God simply reminds us that His will for us is “to be set apart for special use or purpose.”
Let’s go back to the centri-thingy analogy. In one of Ben’s experiments, he puts some cells in a tube. The machine shakes (in a circular motion) the tubes many-times-a-minute. The goal is to separate the DNA from other stuff surrounding/clinging to it. Then, he can analyze and use the DNA for other purposes. Ben said the DNA rises to the top of the tube while the other junk descends to the bottom.
Do you see a light bulb yet? How ironic is it that the DNA, which was intelligently designed, gets caught in a mess of “stuff” – just like we, being intelligently designed, get caught in a world full of sin. Just as Ben had to sanctify (set apart) the DNA to use for special purposes, so God needs to sanctify (set apart) us for special purposes. Just as the DNA isn’t much use to Ben when it mixed in with the other particles, we aren’t very available to be used by God when we are caught up in the world.
The funny thing is that the only way to separate the DNA from everything else is to shake it violently in the machine. Do you ever feel that God is shaking you violently through pain, tragedies, rebukes, hurricanes, etc.? Well, perhaps He is using those things to sanctify you… so that you can finally be used for His Kingdom purposes. This “setting apart” process is never smooth, but always comes with tension. If you are a Christian who goes to church every Sunday, but isn’t experiencing a continual tension within your soul – then you might not be allowing God to set you apart.
posted by Tyler Zach at 4:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home