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Everything is Spiritual
Today's passage brings us back to the topic of liberty and meat sacrificed to idols. Within this passage, Paul is basically saying again that meat is just meat and it's okay to eat it as long as you're doing it for the right reason and not harming others in doing so. This is the context of the famous verse in 10:31, "For whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God." This verse is placed within a specific context, but I would say that it most certainly can be expanded beyond this context. Paul takes the most commonplace actions - eating and drinking - and shows us that even these things have spiritual significance. You can do them to the glory of God, but you can also do them in such a way that they DO NOT glorify God. There is significance even in these actions.
The way that we should be thinking about life is like this: everything is spiritual. We have this strange tendency to separate "spiritual" things from "unspiritual" things, and I think this leads to problems. Of course there are things that are "unspiritual" - namely sin. But that's not what I'm talking about. Most of us have a subconscious set of lists that we keep, something like this:
Spiritual Things:
church
worship songs
mission trips
devotions
Unspiritual/Neutral Things:
sports
food
sleep
job/school
The problem with this of course is that we are not divided in two. We may have material and immaterial aspects to us, but they are not meant to be separated. We will NOT spend eternity floating around like little ghosts in togas - we are given bodies for eternity. We do not dwell in a simply spiritual realm for all of eternity: we dwell upon the new and remade earth. We think that we can glorify God in the "spiritual" things like singing praise songs and "serving" in church, but what about sleeping? Can we glorify God with our sleep? I think so. Sports? Absolutely. As Abraham Kuyper said:
"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
We are whole people and God has given us whole experiences and lives to live. We cannot confine God and spirituality to one corner of our lives - it is all or nothing. Spend some time today thinking on this - how can you glorify God in your eating and drinking and playing and sleeping? Everyday decisions are spiritual decisions and it would do us good to remember that for the glory of God.
Questions? Comments?
Everything is Spiritual
Today's passage brings us back to the topic of liberty and meat sacrificed to idols. Within this passage, Paul is basically saying again that meat is just meat and it's okay to eat it as long as you're doing it for the right reason and not harming others in doing so. This is the context of the famous verse in 10:31, "For whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God." This verse is placed within a specific context, but I would say that it most certainly can be expanded beyond this context. Paul takes the most commonplace actions - eating and drinking - and shows us that even these things have spiritual significance. You can do them to the glory of God, but you can also do them in such a way that they DO NOT glorify God. There is significance even in these actions.
The way that we should be thinking about life is like this: everything is spiritual. We have this strange tendency to separate "spiritual" things from "unspiritual" things, and I think this leads to problems. Of course there are things that are "unspiritual" - namely sin. But that's not what I'm talking about. Most of us have a subconscious set of lists that we keep, something like this:
Spiritual Things:
church
worship songs
mission trips
devotions
Unspiritual/Neutral Things:
sports
food
sleep
job/school
The problem with this of course is that we are not divided in two. We may have material and immaterial aspects to us, but they are not meant to be separated. We will NOT spend eternity floating around like little ghosts in togas - we are given bodies for eternity. We do not dwell in a simply spiritual realm for all of eternity: we dwell upon the new and remade earth. We think that we can glorify God in the "spiritual" things like singing praise songs and "serving" in church, but what about sleeping? Can we glorify God with our sleep? I think so. Sports? Absolutely. As Abraham Kuyper said:
"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
We are whole people and God has given us whole experiences and lives to live. We cannot confine God and spirituality to one corner of our lives - it is all or nothing. Spend some time today thinking on this - how can you glorify God in your eating and drinking and playing and sleeping? Everyday decisions are spiritual decisions and it would do us good to remember that for the glory of God.
Questions? Comments?
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