The Sacred, the Secular, & the Beautiful (1)

We are oftentimes burdened by the sheer mundanity of daily life. Work and chores conspire to clutter up every available moment. Laundry and the daily commute distract our minds during morning devotions, assuming they can be squeezed in amidst tending to the needs of our children. Surely our lives are dull and vacant of the delights which could be ours if only we would put all our dreary responsibilities aside for intensive Bible study and meditation. We long to spend our lives in undisturbed contemplation of God’s glory.

Clearly, then, sacred labor must be superior to secular employment. Pastors, seminarians, Christian writers and counselors spend their entire days in the study of Scripture, examining the holy things of the Lord. They are not concerned with workplace politics or fussy toddlers. Instead, all their time around others is spent in sweet Christian fellowship. Surely their spiritual lives are rich and profound. They are the ones doing great things for the Lord, whose names will go down as heroes of the faith. The Lord is doubtlessly more pleased with their sacred work than with the drab results of our secular toil.

Perhaps we ought to keep in mind Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 4:11: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.” (NIV) In 4:1, Paul described the purpose of his instruction to the Thessalonians as “how to live in order to please God,” and then reminded them that this centers on living peacefully, doing useful work.

How disappointing. We think we ought to live eventful lives which will make exciting biographies for pious children to read on Sabbath-day afternoons. We want to be bold for Jesus, taking on the entire world single-handedly, loudly proclaiming our faith from street corners. The Lord, on the other hand, wants us to hush up and get a job. Where are the fastings, the hair shirts, the martyrdoms? Not, apparently, very high up on God’s priority list. Instead, he is pleased when we do productive (particularly manual) labor, work that is by definition “secular:” mundane, worldly. But if manual labor is pleasing to God, it must be sacred and holy. Therefore, if the sacred and secular spheres of life are so easily joined, there must be no real difference. The sacred/secular distinction is invalid, and in fact nonexistent.

 The implications of this truth have profound consequences for how we understand our lives and our work. All of life is sacred labor. We glorify God by doing the tasks he has appointed for us, whether in the home, the field, the factory, the office, or the pulpit. Holiness is not measured on a sliding scale: everything we do (including changing diapers!) is consecrated to the Lord. Pay attention to what Paul says: God is pleased with your dull, drab lives. In his eyes, they are bright-hued and rich with faithful vigor.

(Image taken from Tanamachi Studio; feel free to buy the Presbyterian Curmudgeon a print.)