Many of us North American Christians have the subtle habit of separating the sacred from the secular. "This is God's," we reason, "and that is the world's." I think it comes from our desire to be obedient to the Apostle John's mandate not to love the world:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
And so we make divisions between what is sacred and what is worldly. Often this is what turns us into Sunday morning Christians. We see Sundays as the Lord's Day (sacred), while the rest of our week is spent with the world (secular). We have "holy days" and we have "holidays", and we aren't quite sure how to bring these two realms together. So we live like defeated Christians, enjoying our secular past-times, while fighting off that nagging guilt that we really should be praying and reading our Bibles instead(because it's sacred, of course)!
But I'm not convinced that the Bible makes this kind of distinction between the sacred (to do with God) and the secular (nothing to do with God). The biblical worldview sees EVERYTHING being infused with God. It's just that one may be sacred (holy) and the other may be profane (unholy). But in either case Jehovah God is there.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens (read airplane ride), You are there; if I make my bed in the depths (read depression), You are there." (Psalm 139:7,8)
So we can't say "God is here, but He isn't over there." God is everywhere. He's as much present when you're changing diapers or running a backhoe as He is when you're teaching Sunday School or going to your Care Group. He's as much present at Madame Wang's House Of Ill Repute as He is at the Willow Creek Community Church, and He may even be experiencing some of the same emotions in either place.
This is life-changing when you finally grasp it. This means that nothing is really secular. Everything has to do with God! That presents us with an exciting challenge if we wish to live for Jesus Christ:
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor 10:31)
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Col 3:17)
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. (Col 3:23-24)
This is what it means to live for Christ in the marketplace. It's not just about sharing the Four Spiritual Laws (which we see as sacred), but it's also about pushing paper and driving taxis as if God's the One that we're doing it for.
Are you working at a strip club? Well you should probably repent and walk away from that. God may be present there, but that's profane and God won't bless you for it. But, hey, if you're working at McDonald's flippin' burgers, or you're working long haul runs for a local trucking firm, start flipping those burgers for Jesus Christ and riding those miles for the Lord. Because if everything you do (which is not profane) is being done as a gift to Jesus, it'll make flippin' burgers a sacred thing; it'll make changing diapers a spiritual thing. And you'll find greater joy in your "secular" work than you ever imagined could be possible.
God makes no distinction between sacred and secular. God is present everywhere, and we can do everything we do for Jesus Christ.
How's that for puttin' a little spark back in your day?
Labels: Christian living, sacred, secular |
Good word! You probably already know this but Francis Schaeffer's work really called this issue out (in modern times). He talked about the Lordship of Christ over the whole of Life.
-bill from Provocative Church