Have you heard that there is no distinction between the secular and the sacred?

God created the universe, wouldn’t that make the entire universe sacred? Wouldn’t that make every tree supernatural? Wouldn’t that make harvesting fruit from that supernatural tree a spiritual activity? Wouldn’t that make harvesting and farming a holy task? Wouldn’t that make work a “sacred” activity?

The church does not respect “ordinary” work as a sacred activity. In fact, pastor’s rarely talk about work. They do not talk about how to glorify God in your job. I think there’s a hidden assumption that God’s work is the work of vocational ministers. Working in the “secular” world is just working for money. That’s the only purpose. But this is wrong.

On the flip side, those in the work world also do not respect the work that pastor’s do. The pastor doesn’t have a boss looking over his shoulder pressuring him all the time. He doesn’t have the stress of deadlines to meet and quotas to fill. He doesn’t have a boring monotonous job. He gets to talk to people and hang out with people and he considers that a job? I’ve heard many times where people will doubt a pastor’s calling. They think that a pastor chose ministry because he wasn’t good at anything else.

Thus there is a divide, a war if you will, between the secular and the sacred. Yet there should be no such war because the secular and the sacred is a false binary.

I believe that working everyday is a special ministry in and of itself whether you’re an engineer, doctor, custodian or starbucks barista. It should be honored and respected by all, including Pastors. It should be supported by the pastor and viewed as a very spiritual task. It should not be looked at as working to make money so you can support your family. It should be looked at as a mission and the congregation as missionaries. They should be commissioned to work and be excellent in their profession.

I also believe that pastor’s go through stresses that a typical congregant will never understand. Caring for a congregation, loving its members, thinking of ways to further the spirituality of the church, while dealing with church politics, opposition and criticism is very difficult. The congregation should love, support and respect their pastors not only as pastors, but as educated professionals.