A Quite and Holy People

In the third century, St. Cyprian wrote to a friend named Donatus:

This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see; brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It really is a bad world, Donatus, and incredibly bad world.

Yet, in the midst of it, I have found a quite and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians . . . and I am one of them. (Gordon MacDonald, Forging a Realworld Faith).

What a compliment! A quite and holy people. Is there any phrase that capture the essence of the faith any better? A quite and holy people.

Quite.

Not obnoxious. Not boastful. Not demanding. Just quite. Contagiously quite.

Holy.

Set apart. Pure. Decent. Honest. Wholesome. Holy. A quite and holy people.

Paul urges the same from us.

"Do all you can to live a peaceful life. Take care of your own business, and do your own work as we have already told you. If you do, then people who are not believers will respect you, and you will have to depend on others for what you need. (1 Thes.4:11-12).

A quite and holy people. That describes the church in Thessalonica. May that describe the church today.

The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus; Max Lucado, General Editor, page 1431, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers.