Back when I was religious, I had my life all sorted into neat piles of “things that matter” and “things that don’t”. Church, Bible study, prayer, and Christian music had value because those things were “sacred” and eternal. But other things, “secular” things, were essentially meaningless: Hollywood and hobbies, politics and parties, the way I dressed and the way I kept my yard. It was easy in those days to prioritize: I merely had to sort the sacred from the secular and turn my focus full onto the sacred. Now that I see the Kingdom I’ve come to realize that my twisted thinking was just one more remnant of hyper-religious, super spiritual yada yada. The truth is, Everything Matters!
From the majesty of a sunset to the stripes of a caterpillar, ours is a world designed for glory and destined for redemption. Every little piece of it. Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch theologian captured it perfectly when He said, “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!'” There is no division between sacred and secular because there is no secular. It all belongs to a holy King, from the tidiness of my car, to the trimming of my shrubs, to the brightness of my smile. In fact, everything I do carries the seeds of significance.
I’m reminded of “The Broken Window” theory that became a crime-fighting strategy of former Mayor of New York City, Rudi Guilanni. The theory says that there is a direct correlation between broken windows and crime rates. When people go into a neighborhood and simply replace the broken windows of the vacant buildings, crime rates will drop measurably. Glory begets community health as surely as neglect and broken windows beget crime.
So while our postmodern neighbors suffocate under the lie that says “nothing really matters”, we believers have inherited a message of hope, the glad news of a Kingdom where everything matters!
Dispatches from the Shadowlands 
So very true, Don, Thank you for posting……Very refreshing……
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Thanks Teresa! I’m a bit late on my responses, but very happy to see you drop by!
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Definitely something to about, something I need to always be working on. Thanks for sharing Don!
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Rachel! Thanks for the note. I miss you guys. My admiration for you and Jason just keeps growing.
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Don: What a Kingdom warrior you are! I do not use the term warrior lightly. You fight directly against the things that are the greatest challenge to the Kingdom. I love your statement about back when you were religious! As we have discussed I really want folks to see the Kingdom in the workplace and am puzzled by those who think Christ does not live there. The Kingdom is not some place apart. It is everywhere we are because where we are is where Christ is. You are like a tuning fork in perfect harmony with the music of the Kingdom!
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Merry Christmas, Tom! As you can see I’m a bit behind! Your comments ALWAYS encourage me! Do you remember when we were religious? Whew… it was wearing me out! I appreciate the stake you’ve driven in the workplace as well as in the church. All that you do matters so deeply. Press on, buddy!
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Well said my friend. Makes me feel better about my work life approach!
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Cindy! A very late Merry Christmas! YOU, and everything you DO matters so deeply. When you feed people you do what God does. When you craft beautiful scrapbooks you create like God does. And when you leave encouraging notes for your friends you affirm like the Holy Spirit does.
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Right on, Don! We are called to be light in a dark world; that means that the closer we draw to Christ, the more HIS light – not our own – will be seen by those around us, wherever we are. Jesus spent time with taxpayers and prostitutes, not just his own kind. We need to be “out there”, loving people, encouraging them and offering them hope as we all do the daily stuff of life. We need to be the same light on the street as we are in the sanctuary. Someone has rightly said, “If we get on fire for Jesus, the world will beat a path to watch us burn!”
So…set me ablaze, Lord, and send me out to the lost, the lonely, the lovable and the unlovable alike!
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Thanks Jane! I know you understand this. You’ve always been a great example of intentionality in your work and play! Your encouragement always hits the target!
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Excellent clean sharp profound writing. Thank you for this.
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Merry Christmas Melinda! Thanks for this note. Coming from such an incisive writer as yourself, it carries much weight.
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One Kuyperian, Gordon Spykman, once wrote: ‘Nothing matter but the kingdom, but because of the kingdom everything matters’. That just about sums it up!
pro Rege
Steve
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Wow! Sweet quote! Thanks, Steve!
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Very Appropriate at the start of a brand New Year!
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