CONFORMED TO CHRIST — THE CALL TO HOLINESS
“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”
– 1 Peter 1:15–16
“Be holy, for I am holy.” Peter’s words have often been misunderstood as a demand to abandon culture or deny who we are. For a long time, I wrestled with that misunderstanding myself. I love hip hop. Yet hip hop—its music, language, and culture—has often been labeled as unholy, profane, or incompatible with faith. The unspoken message was clear: holiness meant distance.
But holiness is not about rejecting culture; it is about redemption within it. Jesus did not avoid the messy places of life—He entered them. God has always shown the power to take what is dismissed or deemed profane and make it sacred. Holiness is not sterilization; it is transformation.
To be conformed to Christ is to allow God to shape how we live, look, and love right where we are. Hip hop, like any cultural expression, can reflect brokenness—but it can also carry truth, lament, hope, and prophetic critique. When submitted to God, even what the world labels unholy can become a vessel for His purpose.
Peter calls us to holiness in all our conduct, not to cultural exile. Holiness means our values, motives, and loves are shaped by Christ, even as we remain present in the world. God does not merely pull us out; He sends us in—transformed. When God is at work, the sacred can rise from the profane, and our lives can bear witness to the Christ who makes all things new.
PRAYER
God, I thank you for your continued redemptive and transformational power in me. Amen.
JOURNAL REFLECTION
Where might God be calling you to live out holiness through redemption rather than separation, right in the middle of your culture and daily life?