Here is something I have really begun to be challenged with. It is the concept of worship and Paul’s use of it. In Romans 12 he starts off by saying:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

He also says something in Colossians 3

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him

In much of Christianity we segment our lives in a way that actually prevents the Gospel/Lordship of Christ to take full effect, to really get into our lives like leaven does dough and because of that we may not only be compartmentalizing our lives, but also our “worship”.

When you read the Old Testament you get a very clear picture of what God was doing. Everything the Hebrew/Jew did had some effect on worship. Many theologians attempt to segment the law in a way that divides Civil, Ceremonial and Moral. However all the Jew did had “moral” implications because there is only one Law not a trichotomized one.

So what the Jew ate, how he/she related, how they handled the land, waste, how they worked, and even how they celebrated all had religious implications. All of these things were to remind them of their God and their Covenant, though this Law had fault because it was a Law outside of them, that they had no power to obey, but that’s a different argument.

It seems like Paul is now presenting this very thing in Romans 12. If you follow Romans 12, Paul begins to flush out the implications of the Gospel but the transition statement is found in verses 1-2. He opens to door of what how the Gospel impacts our lives and call us to live as sacrifices. Again he flushes this out over the next few chapters proceeding verses 12:1-2.

So how we eat, consume, relate, work and even celebrate God are all one act of worship. We can’t put God on the shelf in our lives. So Paul talks about being an employee and a boss. A husband, wife and a child. A family member and a neighbor even how you eat and drink are all to be done to God’s glory. I don’t think this is taught enough, and in my life I have not lived it out to its full implications. All we do is to be done to God’s glory, we can’t separate Him out of anything we think, do or say and when we do we have redefined worship and have reduced God and the Gospel to a set of moral principles not a relationship we enter in to.

Whats your thoughts?