The following is a paper I wrote for a class I was in: It is true that we are spiritual yet physical beings at the same time. We go to church yet also work in the world. We have a church family and a blood family. We must avoid compartmentalizing our lives so that all areas are flooded with the fruit of a life of worship. Our families at church and home should know the same person. Our work friends and church friends should have no problem identifying us by our consistent, Christian behavior. Worship should permeate all aspects of our lives including the physical, spiritual, and emotional. The physical aspect of our being cannot be denied, yet needs to be curbed by the lifestyle of worship. A life that worships God will be an obedient life that puts the body under subjection to the spirit. As I Thessalonians 4:3-8 instructs: “It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” These verses make it clear that God expects us to learn to control our body and follow the call He has made on our lives. Our lifestyle of worship should also affect the spiritual aspect of our lives. It is a shame that many Christians have become adept at compartmentalizing their lives in such a way that you would not really know they were a Christian unless you saw them inside the church walls. In an effort to be “all things to all men” have Christians become nothing to anyone? Today people want to see Christians who are real, authentic people walking the walk the best they can. Frank Moore, vice president for academic affairs and dean at MidAmerica Nazarene University offers excellent advice for Christians who have fallen into compartmentalizing their lives. He declares that one must: “recognize what is taking place, tear down the wall in your thinking between the secular and the sacred, pass judgment, live in the Word, and remain accountable.” This is excellent advice that, when taken to heart, helps the Christian incorporate true worship into all aspects of life. For example, when one takes that first step and recognizes that there are inconsistencies in the lifestyle from Sunday to Monday, change can begin to take place. The second step of breaking the wall between the sacred and secular is powerful! As Hill states, ‘the ancient Hebrews understood the human being as an indivisible totality.” It would have been odd for them to separate the secular from the sacred since all areas of life should be considered sacred. According to Moore, the Jews in biblical times didn’t even have a word for secular. Next, it is perfectly biblical to pass judgment and reject whatever does not meet the standards of the Word of God. That includes TV shows, books, habits, and the activities in which one engages. This cannot happen without living in the Word and being accountable to other believers for what is going on in our lives. The emotional part of who we are should not be ignored. The vast landscape of our thought lives is often left unkempt and unbridled by the Word of God. We have been brainwashed by society that we deserve whatever makes us happy. We are told that our emotional health is the utmost important aspect of who we are. We have no problem protecting ourselves, taking care of ourselves, and loving ourselves to the point that we become narcissistic. The bible makes it clear that we do enough loving of ourselves. “He answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]"(Luke 10:27) Here we see that Jesus assumed we would love ourselves. We need to be admonished to love God and others. Worship of God will put this part of our lives in balance as well. It could be said that true worship of God cannot take place until this worship of self is crucified. All areas of our lives must be saturated in the worship of the one, true God. When God is worshipped and given the throne of our hearts, these other aspects of our lives will fall under His control and become more balanced. What a witness to let others see what Christ has accomplished in our hearts and what He has done to make us a peculiar people who lead a life of worship. |
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