Why Holiness Matters, and a Giveaway

Tyler Braun wrote an important book you should read. And at the bottom of this post I’ll tell you how you can win a free copy.

Not because of a revolutionary concept. Or because he takes another pastor to task for a differing interpretation. No, Tyler addresses an issue we all know is important but we don’t talk about: holiness.

In Why Holiness Matters Braun goes after the issue that in our efforts to be authentic and welcoming we have neglected.

I connected most with his look at shame and failure, something we are all probably more familiar with than we would like. Shame is what prevents us (or at least me) from finding any sense of holiness, and shame doesn’t just go away. At the end of chapter on shame though he tied this issue of shame to our fear of failure.

A bit about Tyler and the book:

Tyler was kind of enough to do a blog interview, if you don’t win a free copy you should still buy a copy of the book.

Holiness isn’t exactly a common topic of conversation among young Christians, why are we shying away from it?

A couple main reasons from my perspective.

1) Holiness has been taught as a behavioral act where we become holy through avoiding bad things and only doing good things. Eventually we found these moral pursuits as empty and decided we’d rather live in freedom.

2) Many have been taught that Christian faith is predicated completely by belief in Jesus. And while being a Christian does begin through faith in Christ, following Jesus toward His calling for us to be holy goes far beyond belief. In other words, being a Christian is a high and difficult calling. It has implications for how we live.

Great question. I knew pretty early on I wasn’t going to get through the book without telling my own struggle of sin and shame. How can you talk about holiness without talking about sin? Especially for Millennials, I thought those two areas of sin and shame were vital in understanding the story of our struggle with holiness. Chapter 3 titled “Shame” was the most difficult to write because it unearthed some pieces of my life I had tried to put to bed. But it so was healing to share this part of my life knowing God could use it to bring others back to Himself.

I’ve been so grateful for the people who endorsed the book and other pastors who I’ve discussed the book with. Everyone has connected with the importance of Christian faith implicating our lives and drawing us into holiness. Older pastors have connected with it in wanting to help lead the younger generations to this holy living and many younger Christian leaders have taken on the challenge of allowing Christ’s holiness to further become a part of their lives.

I would share something extremely simple and incredibly difficult. I would say, “Get ready to serve.” The church establishes itself as a light within our culture by serving the body within and the culture beyond the walls. We need pastors who are willing to sacrifice their own gain for the sake of serving the people around them. In a culture of “celebrity pastors” I believe people want to get their hands dirty with pastors who come alongside them and journey with them. None of this will be easy but I do believe it will lead toward fruitful and fulfilling ministry.

Ok now for the details on how to win.

To enter to win all you have to do is help get the word out:

• Comment with your answer to the question What is holiness?. +1 entry.
• Tweet something like: Win a free copy of Why Holiness Matters by @TylerBraun: http://bit.ly/QJ57Tq | via @RookiePastor (include @rookiepastor to guarantee I see it) for another +1 entry.

The contest will come to a close Wednesday (8/15) at 10pm EST.