Holy Sweat Socks!

“Holy sweat socks, Batman!” Such lines were common on Batman, one of the popular TV shows when I was a teen. At first such a statement would seem like an oxymoron. It’s hard to picture sweat socks that are holy—though they might be holey! And some would say that pairing a word like holy with something as common (and often smelly) as sweat socks is just a sacrilegious spoof.

But perhaps Robin, Batman’s loyal sidekick, was on to something when he referred to sweat socks that were holy.

Zechariah spoke of a day when even the most common things would be holy, set aside for the Lord: “In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts”  (Zechariah 14:20-21).

What parallel do we have today for bells on horses? How about, “Holy car horns, Batman!”?

And cooking utensils? Maybe Zechariah would have said “holy frying pans” or “holy spatulas.”

One of the greatest errors ever to infect the church is the notion that “holy” things are restricted to special places or times—like relics in a museum or church buildings on Sunday mornings. In contrast, Zechariah predicts a “holy breakout,” a time when the holiness of God would touch all  aspects of life.

So here’s the message: Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the Lord of glory wants to increasingly make Himself known. And that will change everything.

If our holiness doesn’t extend past Sunday mornings, something is terribly wrong. Our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and work places should be holy sanctuaries of God’s presence. Monday  mornings should be as holy as Sunday  mornings.

If Zechariah were writing today, he might even say that our sweat socks should be inscribed with “Holy to the Lord” instead of “Hanes” or “Nike.” Whatever it takes, may the Lord give us a greater hunger for the His holy presence—all the way down to our socks.

How else will revival come? How else will we turn the world upside down for Christ?