rapid succession -- entry #1

all right, my first entry in rapid succession comes from David Crowder, who has always looks to me like a caricature of either the cat in the hat or the grinch. remember the caricature post? i'm not saying that the cat in hat was inspired by this guy, i'm saying if it were possible, God created David Crowder in the image some dr. seuss character, humorously exaggerating physical features of the cartoon. anyone who can pull off that look is my hero. and he's not just a looker! he's deep. i came across some writings on the Sacred and the Secular. our church utilizes both, i utilize both in my personal life, but could never defend it when my philosophy was challenged; he does a great job exploring the depths of the subject. check it out below:

The Sacred and the Secular Spirituality involves the whole of human life; nothing is nonspiritual (note "nothing is nonspiritual" does not mean "nothing is sinful"). But, wherever Plato has affected Christian teaching, there has been a separation of the sacred and secular. Thus, prayer, worship, evangelism and "the ministry" are thought to be sacred. All other activities are secular. The sacred is said to be more spiritual. Even where a necessary involvement in everyday tasks is acknowledged to be a Christian duty, the work, it is said, has to be done only physically. The spirit within has to be involved in silent communion with God, practicing his presence. The necessity of involvement in the world of people and things is accepted, but the action mustbe done with the spirit withdrawn into the secret place of union with God, where the "real" business of life is said to be carried on.

BUT, this mentality subtly affects Christian thinking in numerous ways. For example, someone might say, "If only I could be involved in something really spiritual like witnessing rather than working on this computer." The NT stands absolutely against this division of life into more and less spiritual sections. Consider Ephesians 5:18. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit continuously. How is this to be expressed? …in giving thanks in all things…and also in thinking of others' needs as we submit to one another in the everyday ordinary relationships of husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee. We are to obey God's Word in all these areas, living before Him in dependence on His Spirit. This is what it means to be filled with His Spirit.

-Adapted from Ranald Macaulay and Jerram Barrs' book Being Human, The Nature of Spiritual Experience

The Effects of Plato...Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived in the 4th century b.c. His philosophy on the world created a distorted picture of reality for Christians and the way Christians think about spirituality. Unfortunately, Plato's influence not only helped create heresies within the early 1st century churches (e.g. gnosticism) but has continued to influence Christianity throughout the ages.

A (very) rough sketch of Plato's view…Plato thought that reality is made up of 2 parts - a material world (the secular) and a spiritual world (the sacred). The material world is the realm of physical, tangible things. It is imperfect and temporary. The spiritual world is the realm of things sacred - things perfect, divine, permanent. The human person is made up of a body, senses, and reason, yet also a spirit; therefore, his/her body, senses, and reason live in and belong to the material world while his/her spirit and soul live in and belong to the spiritual world.

In Platonic thought, the spiritual world is considered superior to the material. The spirit is housed in a body of clay from which it longs to be released. Death gives that final release. In this life, however, the aim is to dwell in the realm of the spirit as far as possible and de-emphasize and devalue the material realm. So the philosopher, the artist, the minister are those who are in closest contact with the spiritual realm because they are caught up in the contemplation of ideas, the divine, the beautiful and the celestial.

The material world is only important insofar as it acts as a kind of sparkplug to set off the mystical contemplation of the more real spiritual realm…but there is no inherent value in things belonging to the material world. So ordinary people who pursue earthly tasks in the material world are low in the hierarchy because they are not in such close contact with the spiritual realm as the philosopher, artist, minister. Notice how easy it would be to read the biblical statements against worldliness, or earthly passions or the desires of the flesh in a Platonic way. This would be a mistake.

Plato teaches that as we become absorbed in the spiritual realm "we become careless of the world below". Is this what the New Testament means when it urges us not to love the things of this world? The "world" in the NT is the sphere of life in which God's lordship is rejected, where the things of this life become ends in themselves or even are worshiped. The "world" in this sense is most certainly to be rejected, but this does not mean that we are to hate life, culture, nature, sex, and other material things. "Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4)." Paul even asserts that the teaching that the material world is not to be enjoyed is a doctrine of demons (vs. 1). We have been created to enjoy God's world in all its richness.

This does not mean merely that we see practical value in "secular" tasks like working on a computer or building a house or waiting tables. It means far more: God himself delights in them because He has created the realm of the physical. Therefore, we are to value every part of our lives just as He does. In fact, spirituality is to be expressed primarily in the ordinary everyday affairs and relationships of our lives. Keep in mind that this understanding does not condone all behaviors as "spiritual" - definitely, there are distinct differences between spiritual and sinful - just not sacred and secular.

Adapted from http://www.ubcwaco.org ©2002 University Baptist Church