Dichotomy of Life
January 13, 2013 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: For believers, there is no distinction between the secular and the sacred; we belong to God.
Focus Passage: 1 Corinthians 10:23-31
Supplemental Passage: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (1 Corinthians 3:22-23 NASB)
Introduction: The world is separated into the secular and the sacred. There is a “Separation of Church and Sate” as interpreted by the Supreme Court based on their understanding of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Thomas Jefferson first used this phrase in an 1801 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association echoing the sentiments of Roger Williamson who had written in 1644 about a “hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.” Christians have mistakenly used this to dichotomize their own lives between the secular and the sacred, when it is clear that the entirety of our lives make wholly sacred.
I. Secular
a. Activity
i. Music, concerts, casinos, sports, sex, friends, immorality, smoking, drinking, drugs, etc
b. Attitude
i. Grudges, griping, complaining, bitterness, gossip, anger, lust, etc
II. Sacred
a. Activity
i. Church attendance, Bible reading, baptism, evangelism, VBS, church camp, etc
b. Attitude
i. Holiness, righteousness, peace, love, understanding, hospitality, generosity, etc
III. Summary
a. Activity
i. Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)
b. Attitude
i. and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Cor 10:5)
Invitation: Christians are called to be holy, not to be separated into secular and sacred parts. BE HOLY!
