Living in Two Kingdoms/ The Sacred and the Secular

http://www.creationswap.com/media/17207

Before we start getting into this chapter of how we as Christians are citizens of both an earthly and heavenly kingdom, I'd like to first flesh out the meanings of sacred and secular. 

Today's meaning of the word secular is: "denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis." When I think of something that is considered secular, it's something that attempts to remove any notion of God. Newspapers, government, schools, organizations are all examples of places where any religious bias is thought to be avoided. To be "secular" is to avoid confrontation of God in favour of finding a "common ground" so as to even the playing field for all people to enjoy or participate. One can even equate secular with Darwinism and downright hostility towards God - evil, even.

In reality, there is nothing that is "secular" according to current definition. Everybody believes something whether you want to call that religious or spiritual. And what they believe will affect how they think, what they see and how they interpret what they hear. In a culture that tries so hard to separate the sacred from the secular, it's easy for a Christian to try and do that in his own life. One could say though, that there is nothing secular, for God, whether hidden or shown is ruling over all and that all is sacred.


I read this chapter several times before I was forced to move beyond the definition of secular that our culture currently uses. Simply put, sacred could be defined in the chapter as anything having to do overtly with God (church, sacraments, etc) while secular has more to do with God hidden (vocation). Vieth uses a different definition of sacred/secular that is "old-school" and more from Luther's time. At one and the same time, the Christian lives in the world through vocation and lives in heaven through faith. (pg 118)

The problem of how to live a spiritual life in the midst of an unspiritual world is one of the most vexing dilemmas of the Christian life. (pg 118) No kidding! How do we be in the world and not of the world? It calls for wisdom and an understanding of these two kingdoms that we are part of at the same time.

As I considered the common way that religion and culture are so intertwined, I looked back on my own experience. It's easy to pigeon hole WELS Lutherans as old Germans who like their hard pews and jello with celery and mandarin oranges from a can. (Yuck, by the way).  I love to celebrate Reformation every year by recalling the history of the church and embracing the German heritage that Lutherans enjoy by feasting on some good Sauerbraten. But strictly speaking, Christianity is supposed to be a universal, a catholic faith for individual human beings from all cultures.(pg119-120)
Our current congregation is in a very multi-cultural neighbourhood that the people in our pews are starting to reflect more and more. Heaven will be full of all ethnicities and it's wonderful to come together on this side of heaven united in one faith.

My husband and I have wrestled over our own political activism - not within the church but as individuals and citizens of both kingdoms. We desire to march "The Hill" for the right for life but not as representatives of our congregation - When churches turn into political action committees, however, the danger is that they will loose their supernatural focus, concentrating instead on earthly programs and becoming just another worldly institution. (pg 121) 

In our home, we listen to a variety of music ranging from classical to rock to Christian. Actually, we listen to very little contemporary Christian music except for maybe our CD's from our favourite bands like Koine. The stuff you find on the radio tends to drive my husband nuts with all of it's doctrinal errors. It's just not worth it. We'd rather listen to bands that have lyrics we can agree with and relax and enjoy. On the rock side, I really enjoy when the "secular" artist shows their "sacred" beliefs with lyrics that include common Christian themes of right and wrong, forgiveness, grace and thanksgiving. What a beautiful testimony to the secular world!

When it comes to movies and TV, we've become much more limited. We hardly watch movies anymore because they are usually so profane to us that we can't even enjoy it. TV isn't much better. A few years ago, my husband wanted us to watch some episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" because we knew of members and others that enjoyed the show. The idea was that we would watch and see what was so appealing to those that enjoyed it. We really went in with an open mind! But it became clear very quickly that a show like this wasn't worth continuing to watch just to better know what others were being exposed to. It was crap and that's all we needed to know. No need to expose ourselves to it anymore! We continue to wrestle with living in this world but not under a rock - being aware of the culture around us but not being led by it. Oh, it's hard!

There was more in this chapter to talk about and I hope to hear what favourites others had. But I'd like to skip to the last heading of the chapter called "Everyday Spirituality".  We often expect a highly spiritual life to include mystical reveries, superhuman virtue, or the possession of a supernatural power that overcomes all obstacles. Actually, the spiritual life turns out to be somewhat ordinary - on the surface. It involves the universal experiences of forming relationships, marrying, rearing children, struggling with problems, and working. The doctrine of the two kingdoms teaches that God is hidden in ordinary, everyday life. And I could pretty much quote the whole rest of the chapter as it's all so wonderful to consider.  Making music, baking cinnamon rolls, producing a work of art, passionately kissing my husband or soothing my child after a fall is something spiritual. Enjoying the work of others is spiritual. Reading a well written novel or appreciating an artist's talent is more than inspirational! These little moments are big gifts from God.