Monday, December 17, 2007

life as ministry, work as mission, play as worship

The Shema was repeated everyday by the people of Israel "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." It's found in Dueteronomy 6:4. We usually use this statement to prove the pure nature of our God. Our God is pure in the unity of His Godhead but according to "The Shaping of Things to Come" by Hirsch and Frost this Shemawas introduced at a time when gods were plentiful. God of the field, god of the sky, god of the stream, god of fertility etc. And this statement was an attack on the heathen religious polytheism (many gods) rather than just a statement about theology. It was a call for the Israelites to live their lives under the Lordship of One God. It was PRACTICAL not just theological.
The call is to live under the God who is the God of every sphere of life. Where Polytheists can compartmentalize their gods the people of God cannot but live their whole lives out under the Lordship of one God. God of our politics, God of our finances, God of our family life, God of our office work, God of all our life. "It frees us to see life as ministry, work as mission, and play as worship. If all are embraced under the impulse of the unification of life under God, then life itself becomes missional worship."

2 comments:

Jes said...

i like this.

Beka said...

yup