Where’s the “Beauty” in Holiness? Part 2: The Name of the Lord

While beauty can be “in the eye of the beholder,” it is usually recognized by most of us. We admire beauty, are drawn to beauty, appreciate beauty. 

The first mention of “the beauty of holiness” in the Psalms links that beauty with the name of the Lord: “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). 

Have you noticed what happens when a congregation sings about Jesus? The worshippers usually lean in a bit, sing with stronger voices, feel the song more. It’s beautiful.

There is a beauty—a holy attraction—in the name of Jesus. This has implications for the ways we evangelize. Talking with someone about Jesus is usually more productive than talking with someone about the church. When I say “Church of the Nazarene,” the Uber driver’s eyes sometimes glaze over. When I introduce Jesus by name, the conversation often takes a surprising turn. The dialog becomes delicious. The ride becomes holy ground.

How beautiful is the holiness you live? I must admit, there are times when our expressions of holiness are far from attractive. When holiness is expressed as legalism, or as a form of Christian elitism, or as a standard to be achieved rather than a relationship to be treasured—on those occasions we peddle a cheap imitation, more petty than pretty.

In a very real sense, to be “Called to Holiness” is to be “Called to Beauty.” You are I are called to be beautifully holy. There is an attractiveness about holiness that is to be reflected in us. Our lives reveal the beauty of God’s holiness as we are restored in his image and his identity and purpose are reflected in our lives.

The beauty of holiness is part of God’s strategy to attract a broken, angry, ugly world to himself, and to beautifully transform his Creation by his grace.  

Jesus is the attraction. His person, his work, his name, embodies the beauty of holiness. What a beautiful name it is – the name of Jesus Christ, our King.

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me -

All his wonderful passion and purity!

O Thou Spirit divine,

All my nature refine

Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

(Albert Orsborn, 1886-1967)