By Not Known
Christians sometimes wonder if there is more to our faith
than just church activities for a few hours. We may also wonder if our daily
activities have significance before God – perhaps in comparison to people who
work full time in Christian ministry.
For a long time the Christian church downplayed the significance of the
everyday before God. Life was divided into the spiritual, mental and physical.
Under this scheme, spiritual activities were most important to God and
everyday physical activities were rather unimportant. In short, it was better to
be a monk or nun than a milkmaid or carpenter.
The Old Testament teaches that the whole of creation was made by God and
belongs to him (Gen 1:1; Ps 24:1). It also teaches that God is to be sought
everywhere and at every time (eg: Ps 105:4; 113:3). And, Amos is just one of
the Old Testament prophets who is scathing about any idea that worship and
everyday life had no connection (eg: Am 5:21-24).
This teaching is further developed in the New Testament. Jesus had little
interest in the details of religious ceremonies and was more concerned about
people’s everyday attitudes and actions (eg: Mt 23:16-28). For him, worship was
not a matter of place and ritual, but Spirit and truth (Jn 4:23-24).
All of this teaching is neatly summarised in today’s text:… offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship
(Rom 12:1). This text takes some words normally associated with worship {offer,
sacrifices and worship} and applies them to the everyday.
This has dramatic implications.
-
Worship is a lifestyle, not just a Sunday ritual.
- Worship is more than our morning devotions – it is the whole day.
- Everything we do has worshipful significance before God. As Luther puts
it: A dairymaid can milk cows to the glory of God. - The life of a plumber can be as worshipful as that of a pastor.
- Everything we do should be done … as working for the Lord (Col 3:23).
This gives an ethical edge to every action in our lives. - Our Christian service is part of this everyday worship (Rom 12:3-8).
Prayerfully examine your everyday life. Is it all an act of worship?