Holy! Holy! Holy!

These past several months I have been growing around the idea of the holiness of God.

I have been thinking about the strong theology (perspective?) of 'God as love' that we have in our optimistic Wesleyan holiness tradition.  Alongside that, I have been thinking about the diminutive theology of 'God as just' that we also have.  We know that God is just, we just don't talk or preach about it very much, and we don't unpack what that means too deeply.  I think our brethren in the Calvinist tradition probably have this worked out with more focus than we do.  

How do I hold these both in tension?  Where do they meet, and what does that look like?  These question bear careful thought.  If we loose site of God's justice because His love fills our vision, we might not be seeing all that God has revealed to us.  We might grow up as mis-shaped Christians.  We might miss profound ways that God is working out His mission in the world, in us, and among us. Yes, we need to see God for who He truly is - for all of Himself that He has shown us.

I think I am discovering that God's love and justice meet in complicated and mysterious ways.  I think the one place they meet particularly is the cross;  and also the empty tomb.  I think also their meeting place is the where the notion 'holy' is birthed.  Perhaps my own working definition of holiness is the intersection, in the character of God, of His unflinching demand for justice, and his fathomless depth of love.