Everything is Spiritual

An article by this name recently caught my eye. It is an excerpt from a book, Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human by John Mark Comer.  It is about making everyday life a spiritual walk with God.

 

The author talks about how unglamorous and mundane our everyday lives are. Sure, some exciting, spiritual things happen along the way but most is routine. We’re just doing never-ending laundry, bathing kids or answering emails. This contributes to us creating a difference between the secular and the spiritual. Comer says this is not only untrue, but also dangerous.

 

The dictionary defines spiritual as “relating to the spirit, soul; supernatural”. Secular refers to worldly, nonreligious things. But in the Hebrew language there is no word for spiritual. Because in the Hebrew world, all of life is spiritual. Wow! I want that life view.

 

Jump to the New Testament. Only the apostle Paul uses the word spiritual. In his writings, it means “animated by the Holy Spirit. He, too, believes every part of our lives should be spiritual.

 

Comer puts it this way, “If you had asked Jesus about His spiritual life, I think He would have looked at you very confused. My guess is He would have asked, “What do you mean by My spiritual life? You mean My life? All of My life is spiritual.”

 

To Jesus, all of life was an integrated sacred experience. I personally know that God wants to be involved in every second of my life. But how does that look in the midst of the mundane? The Bible tells us, “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men” - Colossians 3:23. I put this into practice every time I take the roll of toilet tissue from my kids’ bathroom counter and actually put it on the roll. I say, “I’m doing this for you, Lord.” But, that’s only so I don’t nag at my kids about it…again.

 

As I ponder how to make everything in my life spiritual, vitalized by the Spirit of God, it becomes tied to my awareness that He is right near me. He is present at all times but I may not have a complete minute-by-minute awareness of that fact. I regularly say prayers for His direction, healing and wisdom throughout my days. However, in the in-between times I probably don’t realize that He’s always near me – on Earth.

 

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul puts all people into two categories. The spiritual followers of Jesus who have His Spirit and those who don’t follow Jesus. Many Christians don’t know that, at the moment they wholeheartedly chose to follow Jesus, His Holy Spirit came to dwell in them. Everybody else is not spiritual.

 

I hope you will join me in learning how everything in our lives can become spiritual, because everything should be spiritual to the believer. Everything matters to God.

 

“We received the Spirit that is from God, not the spirit of the world. We received God’s Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us…But we have been given Christ’s way of thinking.”

-1 Corinthians 2:12, 16

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Sylvia Gaston is Family Ministry Pastor at Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. She can be reached at sylvia@kchanford.com or 559-582-1528.

A Mere Reflection

 Have you ever lost something SUPER important to you? When my husband and I first

got married, we didn’t have much. We didn’t really put our ducks in a row before we got

married. Neither of us had graduated from college, we didn’t have major career plans, and we

didn’t have much in savings. We did know we were committed to figuring it all out together.

 

With our very limited income, we purchased simple rings for each other to signify the eternity of our bond to each other. Around 14 days into being married, while walking around in the grocery store together, which was way more exciting at that stage than it is now, my husband grabbed his head with his hand and exclaimed “Oh no, my ring is gone!” It was loose on his finger and we were not able to get it refitted. We re-traced his steps but never tracked it down. It was a bummer for sure and we knew we couldn’t afford another for a while. It took a few months, but we saved and bought another simple band.

 

During those few months when my new husband walked around town, without the

obvious distinction of being a married man, nothing about the quality of our marriage actually

changed. He was still devoted to me and I to him. We served one another in love and focused

on preferring each other over everyone else. He didn’t walk out during my first time being sick

and I didn’t leave when our finances remained tight. The ring did not make the marriage. That

was way deeper.

 

This is not revolutionary or groundbreaking information. It would obviously be backwards to assume that losing a ring is akin to losing value in a marriage. I also recognize that sometimes I live with backwards thinking in my relationship with Jesus. I sometimes put a premium on aspects of my faith that are actually mere reflections of my love of Jesus and not a true source. I love and serve the church. I do so with much of my time and resources. It is one of my greatest honors. But that does not replace loving Jesus. I love and study God’s word. But I know that reading the Bible is not the same as getting to know Jesus. I am a slave to serving the people in my life and even people I’ve never meet through acts of service and financial generosity. But serving and giving is not synonymous with surrendering to Jesus’ leadership.

 

In our culture, a wedding ring reflects a relational position. In Christian culture, practices

like attending worship services and volunteering to help people are reflections of a relationship with Jesus. The analogy also works the other way. An unmarried person cannot wear my wedding ring and assume a relationship as my husband’s wife. I cannot simply attend church or serve people and assume a relationship with Jesus.

 

So, how’s your commitment? Do people know that you follow Jesus? Are you reflecting that relationship well? Maybe you’re not a follower and you stumbled upon this religious section for a different reason. Are you curious about what a transformed life would look like on you? I pray today that you truly know and follow Jesus.

Let’s not be convinced that doing Jesus-y things is the same as being a follower of Jesus. While I wear the “ring” of my relationship with honor, I don’t let it take the main place of importance in my heart.

 

 

Candace Cortez is Executive Pastor at Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. She can be reached at candace@kchanford.com or 559-582-1528.