Perhaps you have made the switch from white bread to whole-grain bread. You were told that white flour has most of the goodness taken out of it, so you began baking your own bread, and it is fantastic.

Some of us have got used to a white-flour gospel—a gospel that has much of the goodness taken out of it. Although we can live on it, we lack the substance of what God originally gave us.

The white-flour gospel goes something like this: God has done certain things, and if you choose to believe them, you will be saved. So, when someone says, “I believe that Jesus died and rose,” and they say a prayer, they are told, “You are forgiven, and you have eternal life.”

The person says, “That’s great. Now all I have to do is figure out how to live the rest of life. I am forgiven for the past. I am secure for the future. But I am essentially in the same position now.”

Many Christians live with this sense that the gospel addresses the past and the future, but there is a disconnect with the real issues of life. All of us have issues. The deep wounds of your life. Your ongoing struggles with sin. Your feelings of insignificance and wondering if your life really matters.

Your faith becomes like a spiritual insurance policy—something that you are glad you have, that you would not be without, but that is not a great deal of use in the practicalities of your life. That’s the white-flour gospel.

Does your faith sometimes feel like a spiritual insurance policy that doesn’t address the real issues of your life?

The fourth dimension of your holiness is that you are sent to the world. When Jesus says, “I consecrate [that is, sanctify] myself,” He is not talking about a gradual growth in holiness. He is the Holy One. He fulfilled everything that the Father called Him to do, so Jesus is talking about giving Himself to a special calling—in this case, the cross.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we have the story of how Jesus wrestled over the agony of the cross. “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” But in the end, He gave Himself to it. “Not as I will, but as you will” (Mat. 26:39).

This is John’s Gethsemane: Jesus says, “I consecrate myself” (John 17:19). He is saying, “I give myself to the work that the Father has given me to do.”

Jesus calls us to do the same thing. “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). When Christ sees a secondary school in need, what does He do? He sends you. When Christ sees the business world in chaos, what does He do? He sends you. When Christ sees someone who is cold and hungry, what does He do? He sends you.

He doesn’t send all of us to every place, but He does send each of us to some place. He does not make us all responsible for every need, but He does make us all responsible for some need. As He gives Himself to His work, He is praying that we will give ourselves to our work.

You are sent. That’s why it is so critical that you should be who you are.

What has Christ sent you to do? Are you ready to follow Christ’s example and consecrate yourself to that calling?

The third dimension of your holiness is that you are called. You may have heard the phrase that we are called to be “in the world but not of it.” That’s a good summary, and it comes directly from John 17.

Notice the words of Jesus: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world” (17:6). At the same time, He says, “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (17:14).

Yet Jesus also says that the disciples “are in the world” (17:11). In fact, He specifically says, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world” (17:15). It isn’t easy to be in the world when we are not of it, yet that is our calling from God.

Suppose a friend has a spare ticket for a big match between intense rivals. The problem is that you would be sitting among your team’s rivals. Your friend says, “Just keep a low profile. You will be fine.”

The game is a strange experience. When the section you are sitting in cheers, you are holding your head in your hands. When they are racked with despair, you are overwhelmed with joy, trying not to be too obvious.

That is precisely our position. We gather in church and talk about holiness, and it’s like cheering among the home team. But tomorrow, you find yourself in a crowd who are cheering for the opposite thing.

When the final whistle blows, the losing team will leave the field with their heads hanging. That’s not where it’s going to end with you. You are in the world, but you are not of the world. You have been given to Christ. You will be covered with His glory. You will share in His triumph.

How does knowing that you will share in Christ’s triumph help you endure the times you find yourself among a “rival team”?