The Ten Commandments of Holiness

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).” 

I learned holiness in Pentecostal churches which got their's from the Weslyan Holiness Momement of the 19th Century.  So for me, holiness was was following the Ten Commandments of the Holiness Movement which were given to us from the very hand of God (not really, but believe me when I say, they were treated like they were from the hand of God).  So here they are:

And God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, out of the house of bondage.

1.  Thou shalt not have alcohol before me.  Thou shalt not drink it in the bars or the restaraunts, or in your homes, and especially not in the communion cup.  For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that drink alcohol; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and drink non-alcoholic beverages.

2.  Thou shalt not use profanity; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that swears.

3.  Remember to wear long dresses that are not colorful.  Keep them holy and not holey.

4.  Every day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:  thou shalt not dance, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy pets, nor thy friend that is within thy house: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: the Lord thy God did not dance on any of those days.

5.  Thine women must not cut the hair: that their hair may be long upon their backs which the Lord thy God giveth them.
 
6.  Thou shalt not wear make up.
7.  Thou shalt not listen to Rock and Roll.
8.  Thou shalt not smoke.
9.  Thou shalt not go to a movie.

10. Thou shalt not gamble. Thou shalt not gamble for thy casino's jackpot, thou shalt not gamble for thy  country's powerball, nor the state's, nor shalt thou play cards, nor look at any thing that looks like gambling.

The reasons I heard as a young Christian for these unwritten rules:

1.  I was told that in the Bible days, there was new wine (which is non alcoholic) and old wine which has fermented and turned into alcohol.  Jesus and other Bible characters only drank new wine.  Unfortunately for this line of thought, Hosea 4:11 suggests that new wine may have packed a punch.  New wine was any wine under a year old and was inferior to the older wines which tasted better.  By the way, non-alcoholic wine (grape juice) was invented in 1869 by Thomas Welch who pasteuized grape juice to keep it from fermenting.  He did this so communion would be without alcohol, but his church didn't like Welch's grape juice and kept to regular wine.

2.  I don't know the history to the ban on swearing, and I don't know why it is considered bad among many Christians.   Neither have I ever heard any sermons on it that I remember.  The Bible does emphasize the importance of words and what one says.

3.  Peter tells women to dress modestly without focusing on makeup for their beauty, but this can also be interpreted as, "focus on the inner qualities more than the outer."   Holiness followers (Pentecostal and non-Pentecostals) are veering more and more away from the extreme modesty they practiced in the past.  So although some churches still require long and colorless dresses, others have abandoned this practice entirely.

4.  I hear that dancing is erotic and leads to sex, so it is bad, unless it is in a church service, with a good hymn, and carries little or no rythm to it.  Dances that are encouraged were the shakes, the jitters, the swoon, the jumps, the passed out on the floor, and the run around the sanctuary shouting and praying in tongues.  This rule is also changing in many of the churches as new generations enjoy and practice dancing outside of the church.

5.  The apostle Paul said a woman's hair should be long because it is her glory and covering because of the angels.  This has been interpreted differently, and the only one

6.  Same as number 3.

7.  Rock and Roll was the music that came from Africa and was the music of choice when Israel worshiped idols (when Moses came down from the mountain he heard noise in the camp).  No kidding, I actually heard a well known Pentecostal preacher say that the noise he heard, coming down the mountain when Israel was worshipping another god at the base of the mountain, was rock and roll music.  Rock and Roll is the cousin to Country Music (both branched off from the Blues), and was and is accepted by all as good music.  In fact, Southern Gospel is solidly Country and has always been accepted without question. 

8.  Smoking is bad for you.  Not many would argue with this.

9.  Going to a G rated movies somehow supports the X rated ones.  At least that is what I was told.  I think this came out of the fact that some of the early silent movies played in the same theaters that held burlesque shows on other nights. 

10. Gambling is considered evil too, moreover, playing cards were of the devil with roots in evil images.  When I went to school we were not allowed to have playing cards, so everybody brought Uno.  I think cards are now accepted, although I can't confirm that.

These were the rules that kept me holy, seperated, and apart to God.  Even while many of these fell apart and are disintigrating in most Pentecostal and Holiness circles, there was still the pressure to keep these rules - not because they were biblical but because of their witness to non-believers.  I was taught that if a non-Christian saw me go to a movie or dance, he or she would be hindered from becoming Christian.  The same is true for any one of these.

On the other hand, if they saw that I avoided dancing and drinking, they would so want to become like me and become Christian.

Like I said, most Pentecostals and Holiness believers are changing, and many of these commandments are no longer important.  When I recently visited some of my old schools, I saw that kids were allowed to go to movies, play with real playing cards, and dress normally.

Pentecostals and other groups are still admonishing Christians to dress modestly, keep from getting drunk, keep to good movies, avoid addiction to gambling and so on.  I think that they are rightly seeing that using wisdom and moderation is better than following rules that are losing their meaning.

WHY THE CHANGES?

1.  I think many Holiness and Pentecostal churches are moving away from their list of taboos in part because large churches and the mega churches do not have as much control on behavior as small churches.  As more and more Christians flock to big churches, there is far less acountability and less demand on living a certain way.  Nobody watches, nobody keeps tabs on what you do or how you live, so the need to conform is no longer there.   As a result, swearing, drinking, gambling and smoking are not always frowned upon - they may be ignored or effecitvely hidden; but the are not the evil they once were. 

2.  Any group that comes into contact with another group leaves changes in both groups.  As the Holiness groups came into contact with the outside world, both were changed, and both continue to influence each other, so women are wearing make up, cutting their hair and wearing fashionable clothes.

3.  The reasoning behind many of these commands are falling away.  Rock and Roll is no longer the music of sex and drugs and Satan.  It is every day music in almost every office.  Christian Rock and Roll permeates the churches and is even played as worship in many churches.  Theaters that play G movies no longer play the X rated movies.  And slowly each generation is abandoning many/most of the basic 10 Commandments of Holiness.

I sometimes wonder what will happen to Christianity if there is another revival like that of 1858 or the Welsh revival of the early 1900s.  Will we see some of these commandments make a resurgence?  No doubt, some commandments will not return, but we may see others come back in force.

MY PREDICTION

Even though the 10 Commandments of Holiness will further disintigrate in the next few years or decades, there will be a revival of some of them years from now.

I think drinking in moderation will be emphasized and drunkenness will be put away from the churches.

Smoking will continue to lose popularity with church goers.

As a revival hits the churches, I think we will see less swearing among Christians (especially at their homes).

Gambling, while accepted in moderation, will lose its popularity during time of renewal.

While dancing and movies will continue to become more and more acceptable, Christians will visit the dance halls less than normal.

Rock and Roll will not go away, but will become more and more accepted in Christian circles, even in church worship.  Eventually, other forms of music will threaten to drown out Rock and Roll, but there will always be come backs. 

Finally, as revival sweeps the churches, I believe that hymns will become more popular, even among the young.