Whole Means Healthy: It Means a Major Shift in Implications

If holy means whole in the Bible, then the shift in the implications for our lives is like a shift in the earth's crust.   I like this description: "when the infrastructure shifts, everything rumbles" (Stan Davis).   But also it is not really practical to describe this massive shift in a short blog entry, when much of the work is already done in a book of nearly 500 pages, a DVD of films to go with the book, and CDs to listen to in your car or anywhere.  Without question Stephen R. Covey's The 8th Habit largely outlines the implications of wholeness, before I even lift my fingers to put them on a keyboard. 

While at some minor points, I see some refinement would be valuable, as a whole he and I are largely saying the same thing when it comes to the implication of a whole person map or paradigm.  The only major difference is that his evidence is largely from his own speciality or specialities and mine is from tools I use to read the Bible more effectively.  He earned his fame from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, yet I regard his addition of the 8th habit as his greatest contribution.

So in summary, rather than restate all that he has to say, I going to recommend his book to you.  Borrow it from your library, buy a copy, or get the CDs.   Read portions of it on line.  Get a copy for the Nook, your iPad, etc.  In some way, get hold of his materials.  It is as close as the internet or as little as a few days wait for Covey's things to arrive. 

Here is all the information, used in a typical footnote form, so you an look up his book.  It is:

Covey, Stephen R., The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.  (New York: Free Press, 2004).

Please take a look.  Right now, most people are operating out of an interpretation that says holy means set apart.  So we generally understand already its implications, through life experience in life as it now is.  Covey gives you and others a chance to see the implications of a new whole person map or paradigm.

 Above all reading, read your Bible.  But also read good books that help you be healthy in your heart, your soul, your strength and your mind.   In other words, in your whole self! 

In Christ,

Pastor Jon

Whole Means Healthy: No Amount of Application is Helpful Without it.

Steven Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill write: "If the basic paradigm is flawed or incomplete, no amount of effective application or implementation is going to bring optimum results."  (First Things First Everyday, p. 363).   This is a major possibility with regard to Christian teaching, if in fact holy does mean whole rather than set apart. 

Holy is so fundamental as a character trait that it is the A1 on the list of character priorities.  It is also the only character trait that is substituted for God's name of Yahweh.  It is part of Yahweh's basic character, which then also implies it must be part of Jesus' as well, since his name literally means "Yahweh saves".  It is also part of the third person of the Trinity's designation as "Holy Spirit."  There is no other moral term that equals it in importance, unless you also include its forgiving sequel of "Steadfast Kindness". 

What I find that many people don't seem to understand, like Covey, Merrill, and Merrill do seem to understand, is that increasing our capacity of application or implementation does not remedy the problem of an overall decline in church goers in the United States.  Many churches that I have visited and many especially among church planters see the key church growth to be in application or implementation, when in fact the basic paradigm might be flawed. 

If holy does not mean "set apart", then that will be the case.  This could explain the meager overall results from megachurches, when you look at the whole picture in the United States.  They have increased their own numbers in the their limited convtext, but they have not changed the overall picture of the decline in church numbers in the United States nor in the larger Western world. 

The question must be asked: Could this be because the basic paradigm for God's character is flawed or incomplete?  Could this then explain how such a massive and well-intentioned effort on the part of many church planters has made such a meager impact on the larger picture?  Can we face such questions?  To face it will required courage over timidtiy. 

In Christ,

Pastor Jon