Inviting My Neighbors/Friends to Church?: Part 2

What is Sacred vs Secular? 


This is kind of an odd thing to bring to bear in this discussion, but I believe it adds to the understanding of what this understanding of "church" has brought to the religion of Christianity.  


Now, before we get started, I have started to rethink this understanding of calling myself a Christian for a myriad of reasons, the main one being the fact that Christian stands for a large organization that is not easily definable, yet has many definitions.  Some think of the term to mean American politics, some say it is the Catholic religion, some say it is conservatism, specifically Republican, some say it is a religion that has ruined cultures around the world and some say it is a people who are unloving, picketing anything they disagree with and hateful.  What you'll notice is that most would not equate a Christian with the Jesus that they read in the Bible.  The term literally means, "follower of Jesus" so I would consider myself a follower or disciple of Jesus, but to say that I am part of the "Christian" religion, I'd have to ask you, "What do you mean by that?" I might be part of what you are asking, I might not be.   I don't want to completely separate myself from those who currently or historically call themselves "Christian" but I definitely think the term needs more clarification than any other time in history.  


</end of soapbox>




With that on the table, let's move on.  


Because of the misunderstanding of what the church is, and because the definition has become what one does on a Sunday from 10-noon, it has created this idea of sacred vs secular.  


This idea goes back to the Roman Catholic Church where those that were the clergy were the sacred and those outside the clergy, just the regular church members, were part of the secular.   Martin Luther pressed against this, along with his contemporaries to bring the faith and the "sacred" in all areas of life.  Instead of the pastor being in the sacred work place and the carpenter being in the secular, Luther tried to narrow that gap by returning it to Scripture to show that all those who follow Jesus are part of God's sacred work.   He leaned on the priesthood of all the saints as taught in Peter's writings, specifically 1 Peter 2. 


You would have thought this would have helped to return us to everything being part of the sacred, but it didn't.  


Because Christendom continued to have a higher view of what happens on Sunday mornings, instead of all of life, the sacred vs secular continued and has caused many followers of Jesus stop the mission we were called to do, namely to love our neighbor as ourselves. 


Think of this.  If you think that Sunday is when all that is holy happens, what do you do when you go home?  Nothing.  You did your deed of going to church, instead of being the church.  Because of this, we have had many shortfalls within the church.  Here are some I can think of on the top of my head: 


1. The pastor, not me, is the one in charge of doing those "holy" things
2. My workplace is my workplace, I can act how I want there because I did my church thing
3. My neighborhood is where I live, not where I live out the good news.  If my neighbors want to see Jesus, they can go to church and hear my pastor.
4. Christians began to create more "sacred" things by merely calling them Christian.  So you have: 

• Christian schools
• Christian radio
• Christian bookstores
• Christian t-shirts
• Christian workplaces
• Christian cars because I put a "Jesus fish" on it
• Christian music
• Christian conferences
• Christian money management

So, what we've seen because of the church not understanding that they are the representation of Jesus to everyone, is this divide has happened.   The sacred vs secular has seeped into all our lives.   This one thing of not understanding that WE are the church, not some event has either caused us to leave culture completely and make everything "Christian" or has caused us to think that our whole "Christian" life only happens for two hours on a Sunday.  

If you are reading this and you are not a follower of Jesus, this might give you some insight on why there has been such a big disconnect with the Jesus of the bible and the Christians you have come into contact with.  This understanding is why you might have been invited to church by a neighbor or friend but never actually been friends with them on a day to day basis.  Or, why it seems that your Christian friend doesn't actually live out what Jesus says on a day to day basis.  I'm not saying that this okay, but we as followers are trying to change who the church is from the inside out.  One pastor put it like this:

“The Gospel came to the Greeks and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy. The Gospel came to the Romans and the Romans turned it into a system. The Gospel came to the Europeans and the Europeans turned it into a culture. The Gospel came to America and the Americans turned it into a business.”
Even Madonna is seeing through the facade...she is known for saying:



Christianity is becoming more of a currency than a belief

Maybe at some point we'll put an end to: 

• Christian schools
• Christian radio
• Christian bookstores
• Christian t-shirts
• Christian workplaces
• Christian cars because I put a "Jesus fish" on it
• Christian music
• Christian conferences
• Christian money management

And we'll merely be people who follow Jesus in all aspects of life and show others who Jesus and what he is about.