If you’ve heard me talk about the gospel and the marketplace, you’ve probably heard about my definitive psychological disorder:
These 19 letters spell out one of my greatest fears – the fear of food touching on my plate. I can’t stand when I get green bean juice in my mashed potatoes. And no civilized human expects you to put a cold salad on the same plate as your hot entree. Come on man!
That’s why I’m a huge fan of those old elementary school lunch trays that created “partitions” for all your food groups. There should be no fraternizing between canned peaches and creamed corn!
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While these trays are a great way to serve a hot meal, they’re a terrible way to think about our Christian lives. But we instinctively do it. We “partition” our lives into sacred and secular compartments, and I believe this instinct is at the root of why we struggle to find spiritual meaning in our everyday work.
Unless we’re called into full-time pastoral ministry or serve on the mission field, most of us see no connection between the jobs we get up and go do each day and God’s kingdom work in the world.
But Jesus changes all of that! If we are going to reimagine our everyday work through the lens of the Gospel, then we have to understand the full redemptive narrative of the Gospel. Check out Colossians 1:19-20:
–Colossians 1:19-20
The Gospel redeems and resurrects all things, including the everyday work of our hands. In Christ, the sacred/secular divide is erased, and we can embrace our day-jobs as a sacred opportunity to worship God, love our neighbor, and point people to Jesus. It’s time for every Christian in every sphere of life to awaken to their role in God’s mission in the world.
Accelerating the Great Commission through the Marketplace,
Erik Cooper | The Stone Table
