a gnostic hangover

i've begun to notice that we have this obsession with declaring certain things in our lives as spiritual and other things as secular or "non-spiritual".

some of us work in the secular world, others in ministry. we have "christian" music on "christian" radio. forget the fact that the christian band plays pop music or rock, it's no longer either one of those genres; it's simply christian.

many of us today stamp things like journals with a fish or a cross or an incredibly spiritual verse from our favorite chapter in 1 John. does a cross or a fish stamped on the front of a journal make it safe?

even in our discussions we speak of our "spiritual" lives; by default grouping our non-religious activities into some other "non-spiritual" category.

as we grow up with this mentality that certain things are spiritual (like David Crowder Band) and other things aren't spiritual (like Led Zeppelin) we begin to put everything in our lives into one of the categories -- "spiritual" or "secular". perhaps we do this in the beginning to protect ourselves from falling back into the ways of the world. but at some point we must realize that this method of perceiving the world in categories might be a specious process.

my question is -- where did this mindset come from?

my parents have it, their parents had it, and from talking with my grandparents they would say that their parents had it. but where did it start? is it a biblical idea or is it hindering our walk?

Genesis 1:31 says, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." if all things were created good, we are free to use art, entertainment, music, work, et cetera, even if they aren't stamped with a fish or the "christian" label. the fall didn't take God out of his creation. all things were created good.

Scripture seems to suggest in Isaiah that we should be able to see Jesus in everything and therefore we should be able to worship Him in what we see and how we feel led to worship. worship is how you live, not how your church leads you to sing on sunday.

so we should be able to see the Truth and Light of Christ in all things. we should be able to see Him in the songs of an atheistic musician, in a muslim author's writings, in a lesbian poet's prose, or in the spoken words of an agnostic political activist.

for some that thought process is teetering on the line of blasphemy. it sounds absurd that we could get something of spiritual significance out of a book written by gandhi or some non-believing pagan, but scripture would tell us that we can.

"All thins are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future -- all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God" 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.

there is truth in all things. there is truth in math, history, philosophy, poetry, even though it isn't stamped with a christian label. stamping only choice things as christian is part of our gnostic hangover.

in the first century church a dangerous teaching began to surface within the body -- gnosticism. gnostics believed the universe was divided into the spiritual and the material. (please note that this is a simplified description of gnosticism.) they believed that the world was evil and that God would not have inhabited a material body because of it's fundamentally evil nature. they also believed that if the world was evil that God and all that was spiritual was the presence of good.

even though this teaching was fought by the early church, effects still lingered. people began to teach that in order to live a worthy life one must withdrawal themselves from the worldly activities and only participate in the ones deemed "spiritual".

Paul fought this head on. in the book of colossians paul tells us that whatever we do, do it in the name of Christ. in his letter to the church at corinth, paul tells them that whatever they eat or drink or whatever they do, do it for God's Glory.

the significance of these two statements is that paul is trying to tell us that all activities are spiritual activities. "whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." -- 1 Corinthians 10:31. he is telling the gnostics that all things can be done to bring Christ glory. he is trying to get people to see that there is no such thing as "a spiritual side of life". he is showing us that through God we have Truth in all things.

our gnostic hangover is that we haven't been able to move into the reality that we shouldn't separate things into spiritual or secular, christian or non-christian.

the deeper you dive into scripture, the more you might see that there is no distinction between the spiritual and the secular. the men and women who walked the dusty roads in the first century would have not understood the question, "how's your spiritual life?" they wouldn't have understood why there is a distinctively spiritual side of life when they considered all things spiritual.

how do we come to the understanding that our lives are totally spiritual?

when we understand this truth, how is it going to effect us?

as you realize that everything you do is spiritual you begin to live differently. think to yourself how you would do things differently if you lived as though EVERY ACT WAS A SPIRITUAL ACT TO BRING GLORY TO GOD?

would you show more love, mercy, and grace towards your family?

would you show more love, mercy, and grace towards the oppressed?

would you take care of the earth by recycling and using less energy?

would you speak less and listen more?

would you eat differently?

would your conversations be different?

would you spend your money differently?

what would change?

may we see that God is everywhere.

may we realize that Truth lies around the next corner in the most unlikely places.

may our eyes be opened to the beautiful reality of our world being a spiritual world.

may we change our lives where Christ is asking us to change, not out of obligation, but rather out of pure, unwavering LOVE.

may we change because we understand that our lives are spiritual and we desire to live in such a way that changes the world for God's Glory.