7. HOME, WORK AND CHURCH - FRAGMENTED OR INTEGRATED?

How Christianly integrated are our lives?       

According to the dictionary 'fragmented' means "existing or operating in different parts, not forming an harmonious unity." Whereas 'integrated' means "made up or united into a whole, working together." 

Which of those definitions comes closest to describing the lives we live as Christians. Are our lives compartmentalised? Do we feel that whereas our church-life (whatever form that takes) is spiritual in nature, our home and work lives could not be so described. Maybe we feel guilty about that? Maybe different aspects of our lives (all of which are vital and must be done) do not work together, are in separate compartments or are actually in conflict with one another! The last can lead to extra levels of stress, especially so for Christians.

Life can consist of many different types of activity depending on your circumstances ... family in the widest sense; home, bringing up children; caring for elderly parents; earning a living; following a career; friendships, school, college; hobbies, recreation, civic/political activities; and church in its many forms, including leadership.

At this point we should remind ourselves that we are God's Servant-People: God's chosen people, a holy nation, belonging to God and belonging together. Of course, we find it easier to conceive of ourselves as a people when we are actually gathered together in church, but where are God's People after church has emptied and we have all gone our various ways? 

Where are God's people - who belong together and serve one another - on a Monday morning? We spend such a small part of our time together. But of course, it is true that our membership of God's People belongs to that which we call "the now - but not yet". Like other aspects of the Christian's experience or inheritance, we do not have it all now, but will have it in full only when Christ appears. (Some Christians, including the Corinthians of Paul's day, get themselves into all sort of problems by expecting everything now.) But we do belong to each other now too and there ought to be something real about that.

So in all our Christian life and service how do we sort out our priorities? Suppose we say 'I will put God first'. What do we mean? How does it square with Matt.4:10, which is Jesus quoting from Deut.6:13? Do you see the total exclusiveness of this verse - 'and serve him only'? See the same in 1 Sam.7:3. In 2 Cor.8:5 Paul says of the Macedonian Churches "First they gave themselves to the Lord." Mark 12:28-30 shows Jesus confirming which is the first commandment - 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." [my italics] Presumably 'all' means 'all' - 100% ! So to do this, do we all have to go into full time Christian service? 

Surely what Jesus it teaching us - and this is THE point - is not that we should put the more-obviously Christian parts of our lives first and all else second, third, fourth and so on, but that we should regard everything we do as included within our serving God 100%. Neither should we see any sort of work that is not so-called 'full-time Christian work' as inferior. 

Now that may not be such a surprising and revolutionary outcome as you had anticipated, but check your attitudes and see if that is how you have actually been regarding the total spread of activities in your life. In Col.3:17 Paul says "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him".  Again in 1 Cor.10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." So don't you agree that it is clear that we must not draw a line between our Christian or church-based life and the rest.

In his book 'Consistent Christianity' Michael Griffiths stresses that such a false dichotomy leads to four things:

(a) a tendency to hypocrisy, 

(b) a false view of holiness, 

(c) a wrong attitude to work, 

(d) a low enjoyment of living. 

That seems to me to be right. Let's list some emerging principles:

1. We must not separate the directly-Christian parts of our lives from other parts as being fundamentally different.

2. Every part of our lives is to be lived to the glory of God.

3. Although every part of our lives is included in our service to God, not everything is equally important. So we shall need to set priorities.

4. When engaged in non-church activities we are no less members of God's chosen people.

5. Wherever we are, we are God's ambassadors, with a message 2 Cor. 5:20.

6. In every part of our lives we are God's VIP and our self-esteem should reflect that.

7. If we truly belong together when we are not together, then we ought to take a lot more interest in each other's welfare while we are scattered.

8. As Michael Griffiths says, we need to blend together all the different ingredients of our lives.

9. No one is pretending that how to integrate our lives is obvious or easy, but the attempt must be made.

10. At different times in our lives our priorities will be different. 

11. Perhaps it should be a more conscious aim in our church life to help us more specifically for the other parts of our lives, and to support us there.

In view of all this, there is no short-cut for the Christian. Each of us has to prayerfully consider how we are expending our energies. We have to be prepared to ask hard questions. But first we must shake off the feeling of guilt that besets so many of us. We could take Michael Griffiths' four points and examine whether they are evident in our thinking. God really doesn't want us to be armchair Christians; He does want us to use our talents, time, possessions and money to the best advantage in His service. (See the outlines for a series of three studies on this subject on the Group Bible Study page, no.7.)

The welfare of wife, husband, and children must be one of the highest priorities, most often the highest priority; although there are situations where the demands of God's service are so extreme that sacrifice even in this area is required. Promotion up the career ladder should not be assumed to be good, either for the family or the direct-work of God. Career men and women must resist selling their souls to their company. 

In many ways this subject could be well-aired in a group discussion at which the members have agreed to keep confidences, and to be vulnerable with each other. Here are some questions to discuss together:

1. In what part of your life do you experience your greatest frustrations and pressures? List the contributing factors and share your answers with the others.

2. Are there parts of your life which are in conflict with other parts? In what ways? How could that be resolved? If there is no conflict, perhaps to help others, you could try to articulate why you think that is?

3. In what ways could the application of the truth that you are a member of God's chosen people influence your life (a) at home (b) at work (c) elsewhere?

4. How much do you know of the problems faced by others in your church? How best could they be shared and yet avoid unwarranted intrusion into their lives (and yours)?

5. How could you go about deciding on the priorities in your life, remembering that everything is included in your service of God. Share in the group possible approaches to this issue.

6. How would you feel if several people did decide on their priorities and as a result pulled out of church commitments? How do we handle commitments at church which put our spouses or families under pressure? Are their ways to offset any bad affects?

7. Do you recognise in your own life any of the results Michael Griffiths suggested might occur?

8. In what ways could what happens at church, better help you in the other parts of your life? How can the local gathering of God's people best help everyone to pull together through the different and varied lives of its members?

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