It might surprise most Christians that the Old Testament never uses the word ‘spiritual’. In fact, Jesus didn’t say the word. Outside of Paul (twenty-seven times), only Peter used it twice in one verse. In the first century, as it is today, two primary patterns of processing thought were dominant. Over three hundred years prior to the New Testament, early philosophers’ teaching led to the division of man’s worldview into two realms—natural and supernatural. The philosopher Aristotle taught this concept to his student Alexander the Great. He spread this Greek mindset across the world through his conquest. This transformed the way people have processed information up to this current day. This dualist view divides our thought process into secular and sacred. In contrast, the Hebrew worldview, the thinking pattern of the authors of the Bible, does not see a divide. Everything is sacred and views life as centered on God. Hebraic thinkers don’t have a secular job they have a job. Every day is sacred and not just the Sabbath. The OT didn’t use the word spiritual because no separate sacred realm existed since every aspect of life was sacred.
We gain greater insight into scripture when we consider the distinction between these two worldviews and how each perceived the vocabulary of the Bible. Hebrew expresses thoughts in concrete language. It uses terms that communicate what people can see, touch, smell, hear, or taste through their five senses. Every Hebrew word produces a mental picture. The Greek mindset, which is the predominant view of Western culture, understands the world through logical and abstract language. It asserts concepts and beliefs in words we can’t perceive with our five senses. We must exercise caution if we see our world as two realms, it affects the way we serve God more than we imagine. You might hear someone say, “Oh, that’s my secular job. I minister for God on Sunday at church.” The Biblical way of reasoning says, “I serve and worship God in anything I do including my job.” Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (Col 3:28 NIV).
Several times people have told to me, “I try praying a few minutes in the morning before I leave for work. But then I’m so busy at my job I don’t have time to think about God during the day.” Dangers abound when believers compartmentalize their thinking into two domains: one for the secular and the other for the sacred or so-called spiritual aspects of life. This reduces the sacred to what we do on Sunday, when trouble arises in our life, or when we need something. It confines God to an allocated time in our overall routine and shuts Him out of the bulk of life. If you are unaware of the secular/sacred division, realize most of what we do falls under the secular—grocery shopping, doing the laundry, cooking, mowing the grass, walking the dog, driving the kids to ball practice, etc. One writer calculates this consumes 95% of our time leaving only 5% for God. That’s a lot of time not to include God.
Note these scriptures in which Paul encouraged his readers, the majority were Greek thinkers, to take a holistic view. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col 3:17 NIV). Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (v23). He tells slaves, Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people (Eph. 6:7 NIV). If we regard our job as a sacred duty, it will change the entire dynamics of work. We might even enjoy it. We will have the awareness that the Holy Spirit is with us and will help us with everything we do, give us wisdom, and empower us to perform efficiently.
In one verse in which Paul uses the word spiritual, he says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship (Rom 12:1 NIV). The Message Bible reads, so here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Worship includes more than what we do on Sunday morning when we sing, raise our hand to praise God, or pray. Becoming a living sacrifice is a continuous daily activity not a weekly event. When our life is a living sacrifice, everything we do is a spiritual act of worship.
The challenge for Christians who are born and educated in the Western culture, society has programmed them to a dualistic system of thinking. The good news is the Holy Spirit is renewing of our minds (12:2). The first step of tearing down the wall dividing our two perceptions of life is realizing this truth. Then we must allow the God to transform us. Renewing our minds to a biblical worldview is not something we can do alone and does not happen overnight. As with any Christian growth, it is a process. Serving God should permeate, influence, and shape every facet of your life. “Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of his presence” (Rick Warren).
Sustaining Word for the Week: God wants you 24/7 and you need God 24/7. All of life is sacred.