Awakening Faith: Hope From the Global ChurchSample

Countercultural Holiness

I remember the first time I truly practiced Sabbath. My inbox was overflowing, deadlines loomed, and everything in me screamed to keep going. But instead, I shut the laptop, turned off the phone, and chose to stop. At first, it felt almost irresponsible. But then something deeper happened.

Sabbath revealed the idols I didn’t even know I carried..my craving for approval, my fear of falling behind, my addiction to busyness. What I discovered was that Sabbath isn’t just rest, and it isn’t just worship. It is rest that is worship and worship that is restful. It is the declaration that my worth is not in what I produce but in who I belong to.

That’s the heart of countercultural holiness. It’s not about rejecting culture for the sake of being different. It’s about being set apart for God and allowing even the rhythms of our week to testify that our lives are His.

Paul captures this in Romans 12: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformation begins when our everyday lives (our schedules, habits, even our rest) are offered as worship to God.

So here’s the question: where are you tempted to conform instead of being transformed?