Pastor’s Column. One of today’s greatest spiritual misunderstandings is the idea that the spiritual and material are separate. Jesus continually proved otherwise.
When the 5,000 people came to Jesus, he didn’t give them “pie in the sky;” he gave them fish and bread. He was as much concerned about their shrunken bellies as he was their shriveled souls. And when he was confronted by people with illnesses, he didn’t just say, “In heaven there will be no pain.” He healed the person, made him/her whole. Jesus is why we have missionaries who start medical clinics and schools. He’s why churches have food pantries.
Physical life is not a be-all and end-all, but neither is it inconsequential. In Jesus, the spiritual has broken into the physical world. Jesus became incarnate, took on material form, a human body. Jesus felt human hunger, thirst, exhaustion, injury, and aging. In one of his last teachings before his arrest and suffering, he said that those who are righteous are the ones who provide food, water, clothing, and friendship to those in need. And if God is on the side of anyone, the Bible makes it clear God’s on the side of the poor, those deprived of material necessities.
This may be obvious to us in church – I hope it is – but it seems to be unclear to many secular people. Christianity is regarded as irrelevant by many because they don’t understand that spiritual life gives shape to material concerns. The two are not separate. –DJ (thanks in part to Len Sweet)
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