John 15:3-5, Colossians 1:27, 3:17
The Word became flesh...and we have seen his Glory...full of grace and truth
For the Christian in the West there is a challenge
Every single day.
It is to do with the way we have effectively separated the spiritual from the physical
A way of thinking that Jesus had nothing to do with
(We rather owe it to Greek philosophy).
For the Jew, life was a “whole”
God, who created the world / us, stays involved with it / us.
The West takes the view that the “world” is a resource
To be enjoyed or destroyed depending upon the leisure or commercial need.
The mystical or spiritual is locked up in hard to understand religions
Or consigned to church buildings or “faith groups”
As if anything that happened outside of these confines was non spiritual.
The Christian, when reading the Bible should realise something
The word “Secular” does not appear anywhere
But, as if it had no effect, we still embrace Aristotelian philosophy until it becomes destructive practice.
If I have a “secular” life where I earn money and play at the weekends
And a “spiritual” life where church or mission becomes the medium for my worship
Then I have consigned myself and others to a life of guilt and separateness where I never truly connect
With God or anyone.
The branch should never separate from the vine, or else the daily spiritual life will not flow
The spiritual flowing through the physical...not separate from it.
Christ is always in you – the hope of glory
So, for the Christian, everything is Spiritual
Such a life will be fully human.