I have shared meal invitations with many persons who have various interesting, perhaps harmless, habits that are intriguing. When he was small, one of my grandsons was fearful that one food would run into another. He would make a funny little sound if he believed the egg yolk was about to touch the potatoes. I have observed several persons who would eat each item of the meal separately from virtually every other item. The pancakes were eaten separately from the eggs, the bacon from the hash browns, and the toast only with the coffee. This last was the only fellowship of the parts – until ingested – where they do mix.
Some persons live their lives in parts. They are taken by their occupations, so all else is set aside until that part has been worn down. Some like this or that feature, so marriage and family must accept lesser consideration. Among the poorest appears to be the celebs so taken with self, that nothing else related to life is taken seriously. They seem to live in a dream (sometimes nightmarish) – where things are oddly put together as a child might mix matters. Our lives, under God, were never to be lived in its parts. It is a unity of all that belongs to the complexity of living. One of the magnificent meanings of the Christian life is to teach a person how to make life a whole organism – one compound made up of many elements. We could well use a number of chemical compounds as analogies to the compound of life. The wise person treats life carefully so to cultivate the best compound. It is illustrated in the God-head, the Trinity of God.
The first perception is to recognize that life is a compound that might be identified as spiritual and physical, but one life. The elements that make up the unified life are recited in various places in Scripture. Some make three major elements – body, soul and spirit (trichotomy, in theology), but there is only one verse in Scripture, in 1 Thessalonians that cites three. Jesus refers to at least four, and when we explore the whole Bible we find a few more. Most Christian theologians simply say that we are both physical and spiritual (dichotomy, in theology). No matter how many elements there may be or alleged, each person has one life to live. The sum is the vital matter, one report, one person – and one God.
How is that life to be lived? The answer to this question is more important than any other in the social (human) context. Questions about occupation, or living location, or any other issues are secondary to this one self-point. How is my Christian life to be lived? We learn in Scripture there are several vital factors to the one compound life that impinges upon the serious and responsible person.
There is to be wisdom. This is described in Scripture as the gaining of knowledge, understanding, and reflective experience leading to wise conclusions (solutions) and conduct. It reflects life wholeness.
There is to be love. This is described in the spiritual meaning as a characteristic of the individual not dependent upon the return of love. It becomes a character trait for us, as it is for God. Love is universal.
There is to be service. This is described as an abiding concern for others, so to serve those whose needs we are sensitive to register, and that without thought of return. Service gives meaning to a life.
There is to be truth. This is described as representing the truths of life as they are and as we learn them, through study of life and living out the realities of that truth/faith – seeking, finding and applying truth. Similar to love, it is to become a part of human nature as it is in God’s Nature. Persons communicating truth need not remember what they said. Lies need to be remembered so to sustain false position for a purpose. Knowing truth sets persons free, but demands responsibility to truth so to function effectively.
There is to be devotion. This is described as gaining a pattern of prayer, worship, faith (Scripture) and hope that dictates righteous thought and conduct found in God. Many religions aim for hope in these factors. The Christian must first qualify in biblical faith for genuine benefit. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020