Can we please get rid of this word?

There’s a word that I wish Christians—especially pastors and leaders—would eliminate from their vocabulary.

“Secular.”

Secular job … secular music … secular books …

Honestly, it makes about as much sense as secular furniture or secular laundry detergent!

Scripture has no such division between sacred and secular and this artificial division we have created has led us to an unbiblical division between “clergy” (those who spend their time in “sacred” activities) and “laity” (those who spend their time in “secular” activities).

That distinction has led us to an unbiblical and unhealthy view of “calling.” It has also led to unwarranted guilt, shame, and frustration for bi-vocational “clergy” who have to find “secular” employment to make ends meet. 

I can’t tell you how many of those bi-vocational pastors have expressed frustration and guilt at how much their “secular” job gets in the way of their “ministry.” So many of them long for the opportunity to be in “full-time” ministry to fulfill their “calling,” but the church they are in can’t afford to pay them enough for them to quit their “secular” job. 

And, in some cases, their church members are frustrated because their pastors are not available full time for “ministry.”

Here’s the biblical truth: every follower of Jesus is called to full-time ministry. We are set apart by God (the root meaning of the words “holy” and “saint”) for the purpose of living the Christ-life as visible citizens of His invisible-but-present kingdom.

Our task is to see and reveal Jesus and His kingdom purposes in the ordinary experiences of our daily lives.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him.”

Every Christian’s work is holy. Every Christian’s play is holy. Every Christian’s rest is holy. We fulfill our ministry calling by doing everything for His glory.  And the church is its very best and most authentic self when there is no division between those who “do” ministry and those who “receive” ministry.

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

“Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:11)

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father … Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:17,23)

If it cannot be done for His glory and if we cannot see Him in it, it is not secular.

It is sinful.

But many times the problem is not the activity itself, but our perspective on it.  We are missing the sacred potential because we think the sacred only happens in church or religious activities.

Question: How will you see the sacred potential in everything you do today? How will you live your calling?

Be amazing today, my friend.