The Secular-Sacred Tension
We live in a time when the perennial tensions between a sacred vision of society and a secular vision of society are heightened. Here’s something to consider:
There is a problem with a totally secular society: It leaves people with the notion that the only reality is the here-and-now, which seems to encourage people to do really dangerous things. Think of the excesses of Soviet Russia or Communist China.
On the other hand, there is arguably a corresponding problem with a totally sacred society: It leaves people with the notion that all that matters is the here-after, which seems to encourage people to do really dangerous things. Think of the excesses of the Middle Ages or the Middle East.
It seems to me that the answer to this dilemma is the secular-sacred tension inherent in Gospel. In Jesus, the Sacred became Secular—the Eternal became Temporal—the Word became Flesh. According to the Gospel, the secular is real and it matters. But, it is not all there is. If we understand this properly, it raises the value of all of life without making an obsession of anything, but God himself.
Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.
~Colossians 2:8-10 NASB
