The spectrum
I read from Ryan's blog:
I was encouraged to see these words. I've been bothered (along with many others) for years at the idea of a world divided so neatly as "secular and sacred." The notion that something like music could be "Christian" is ludicrous - but we have whole industries making tidy piles of cash predicated on such nonsense. Since things cannot have any ideology - only people and organizations of people, have ideologies, Ryan's point here is a good one.
I'd like to point out that the differentiation between the "secular" and the sacred has to do with people. According to Wikipedia "sacred" simply means "Dedicated to, or set apart for,... worship." So what is "sacred" is limited only by what can be set aside or apart for worship. In turn then, sacred has more to do with who is doing the setting, the parting, and the worshiping than anything else. A hot dog to someone who hasn't eaten for a long time can be sacred, while the person sitting next to them at the store counter resents that they have to settle for fast food instead of a "proper" meal. One set it aside for worship the other did not.
To see the sacred in things you have to look at the context the individual brings to the setting or thing. An ancient principle is at work in this: In order to see - one must look.
Love much, pray more,
K
Emerging Churches do not believe in a secular realm, thus, church services will look very secular to the outsider. Correspondingly, emerging church people see many things in the so-called secular realm as spiritual (they see God's fingerprints everywhere).
I was encouraged to see these words. I've been bothered (along with many others) for years at the idea of a world divided so neatly as "secular and sacred." The notion that something like music could be "Christian" is ludicrous - but we have whole industries making tidy piles of cash predicated on such nonsense. Since things cannot have any ideology - only people and organizations of people, have ideologies, Ryan's point here is a good one.
I'd like to point out that the differentiation between the "secular" and the sacred has to do with people. According to Wikipedia "sacred" simply means "Dedicated to, or set apart for,... worship." So what is "sacred" is limited only by what can be set aside or apart for worship. In turn then, sacred has more to do with who is doing the setting, the parting, and the worshiping than anything else. A hot dog to someone who hasn't eaten for a long time can be sacred, while the person sitting next to them at the store counter resents that they have to settle for fast food instead of a "proper" meal. One set it aside for worship the other did not.
To see the sacred in things you have to look at the context the individual brings to the setting or thing. An ancient principle is at work in this: In order to see - one must look.
Love much, pray more,
K
