Conversation Guide

Holy Like Him

Big idea

Holiness is one of those words most of us nod along to without ever stopping to define it. This conversation plants the seed: what the Bible means when it says God is holy and calls his people to be holy, and why the Global Methodist Church puts "scriptural holiness" in its mission. It's a first step into a topic the group will return to.

Begin

When you hear the word "holy," what comes to mind? A kind of person, a feeling, a place, a set of rules?

Where do you think that picture came from?

Explore

A call that echoes through Scripture

Near the center of the Old Testament, God gives his people a charge that sounds simple.

Leviticus 19:1-2

What do you notice about the reason God gives for the command?
If God's holiness is the reason, what do you think "holy" might be describing about him?

> A brief word of context: The Hebrew word for "holy" first meant distinct, other, unlike anything else. Throughout Israel's story, what makes God other turns out to be his character, and not only his power. The chapter that follows puts holiness into ordinary life: harvests, wages, courtrooms, and how to treat a stranger.

Now jump ahead more than a thousand years. Peter writes to everyday Christians and reaches back to the same words.

1 Peter 1:15-16

Why do you think Peter quotes the Old Testament command to a church? What does that tell you about how central it is?
Peter says "in all your conduct." What might that include?

A mission built on it

The Global Methodist Church describes its purpose as "to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe."

Our Articles of Faith go on to describe holiness as "a state of perfect love, righteousness, and true holiness," and say it "should be sought earnestly by every child of God."

Notice that holiness sits right beside making disciples in that mission. Why might a church put them together?
The article says holiness is for "every child of God," not a select few. How does that compare with how you've usually heard it?

Further Thoughts

Compared with the picture you named at the start, what, if anything, has shifted about what you think holiness is?
If holiness is meant for every believer and touches all of ordinary life, where would you most expect it to show up in a typical week?
What makes this topic exciting, or intimidating, as something to explore more deeply together?

Respond

Practice

Pick one ordinary place in your week, such as your work, your words, or a relationship, and ask God each morning: "What would it look like to reflect your character here?"

Write down one thing you notice, and bring it to the next conversation.

Prayer

Holy God, you are unlike anything else, and you are full of love. Thank you for calling us, ordinary people, to share your life. Give us an honest hunger to know you more deeply. Teach us what holiness really is, and let it shape our whole lives. Amen.

Meeting Suggestions

This conversation is meant to plant a seed, not settle a doctrine. Hold questions about how holiness happens, including entire sanctification, for later conversations. If they come up, name them as good questions the group can later return to.