Christians Over-Spiritualize Stuff
Especially when I'm having a hard day, I have a tendency to over-spiritulize stuff. I want to suggest that sometimes the remedy for someone's troubles is not the overtly "spiritual" response (i.e. Telling someone to fast and pray).
For example, almost every day, my wife tends to get a little cranky around 4pm. Should my response be to tell her to repent and go to her prayer closet? I know that sounds extreme, but should I even give her a Bible verse in that instance? OR should my response in love be, "Babe, I think you might be getting tired, do you want me to put some coffee on for you?"
Sometimes the spiritual funk I'm in during the day doesn't deserve more prayer. Sometimes y'all…(please don't throw rocks at me..) but I just need a nap. Sometimes, I just need some dark chocolate chips...
However, here's the catch and where some of you hopefully won't think I've gone crazy. Rather than saying Christians over-spiritualize stuff, maybe it would be better to say that I believe Christians don't spiritualize enough stuff.
Not to say that planting a garden outside of your house is more important than leading someone to Jesus, because it's not, but I believe that making my wife's coffee after she's had a long day can be a deeply spiritual, worshipful experience. I believe that eating, drinking, washing dishes, taking medicine, working out, going to the grocery store, and even sleeping can all be acts of worship.
A.W. Tozer says it like this:
"We come unconsciously to recognize two sets of actions. The first are performed with a feeling of satisfaction and a firm assurance that they are pleasing to God. These are the sacred acts and they are usually thought to be prayer, Bible reading, singing worship songs, going to church and such other acts as spring directly from faith. They may be known by the fact that they have no direct relation to this world, and would have no meaning except as faith shows us another world, "an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).
Over against these sacred acts are the secular ones. They include all of the ordinary activities of life which we share with the sons and daughters of Adam: eating, sleeping, working, looking after the need of the body and performing our dull and prosaic duties here on earth. These we often do reluctantly and with many misgivings, often apologizing to God for what we consider a waste of time and strength. The upshot of this is that we are uneasy most of the time. We go about our common tasks with a feeling of deep frustration, telling ourselves pensively that there's a better day coming when we shall slough off this earthly shell and be bothered no more with the affairs of this world....
....The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament...
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life. In the presence of His Father He lived on earth without strain from babyhood to His death on the cross. God accepted the offering of His total life, and made no distinction between act and act. "I do always those things that please him," was His brief summary of His own life as it related to the Father (John 8:29)"
Sometimes I need to meet with Jesus in "focused" prayer and fasting. It's good for me to meet with Jesus, among other believers regularly. But sometimes I just need a trip to Starbucks with a good friend to get a pumpkin spice latte. And guess what? Jesus is there too. And I believe He loves me just the same as if I had decided to go to my room and read my Bible.
Hoping for even MORE of Jesus in our lives,
Zach