Fully Integrated

We have been chosen by God to demonstrate to the world who He is.  That may seem like a rather daunting task; and it's really impossible without the release of the power of the Holy Spirit.  In
Deuteronomy 7, we read:
6 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

We have done nothing to deserve the grace of God.  He has chosen us, and even though these verse were written to the children of Israel, we realize that because of Jesus, we are part of His covenant people.  We are special to Him, greatly loved and designed to be set apart for His glory.  He calls us to integrate His principles and His power in manifesting His character.  We are Christ's ambassadors, and He desires to show us - and others - His love in amazing ways.

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I want to spotlight 2 verses from 1st Peter chapter 2 that speak to our identity in Christ and how that
impacts the way we are to live:
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

There's also verse 9, which tells us:
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...

One of the bedrock principles upon which the radio show, The Meeting House, is built, is that our Christian worldview perspective should influence or even infiltrate the totality of our lives.  We are not called to compartmentalize secular and sacred; rather we are to allow the principles of Scripture to guide our decisions and shape our lifestyles.

So how well are religious people doing in that "infiltration" department? A newly released Pew Research study addresses that topic area. The survey summary says that "people who are highly religious are more engaged with their extended families, more likely to volunteer, more involved in their communities and generally happier with the way things are going in their lives."

To correlate those generalities with specific numbers, nearly half of highly religious Americans – defined as those who say they pray every day and attend religious services each week – gather with extended family at least once or twice a month, contrasted with 3-in-10 Americans who are less religious who gather as frequently with their extended families. 65% of highly religious adults say they have donated money, time or goods to help the poor in the past week, compared with 41% who are less religious. 40% of highly religious U.S. adults describe themselves as “very happy,” compared with 29% of those who are less religious.

But, in other areas, there is less of a difference between the highly religious and those who are not as religious.  Those areas include interpersonal interactions, attention to health and fitness, and social and environmental consciousness. The survey shows that highly religious people are about as likely as other Americans to say they lost their temper recently, and they are only marginally less likely to say they told a white lie in the past week. When it comes to diet and exercise, highly religious Americans are no less likely to have overeaten in the past week, and they are no more likely to say they exercise regularly.

Regarding the practice of prayer, the survey reports that "while relatively few people look to religious leaders for guidance on major decisions, many Americans do turn to prayer when faced with important choices. Indeed, among those who are highly religious, nearly nine-in-ten (86%) say they rely 'a lot' on prayer and personal religious reflection when making major life decisions, which exceeds the share of the highly religious who say they rely a lot on their own research."

Also, three-quarters of adults – including 96% of members of historically black Protestant churches and 93% of evangelical Protestants – say they thanked God for something in the past week. Two-thirds, including 91% of those in the historically black Protestant tradition and 87% of evangelicals, say they asked God for help during the past week. Only one-third of religiously unaffiliated Americans say they thanked God for something in the past week, and one-in-four have asked God for help in the past week.

We have placed a special emphasis on prayer as of late on Faith Radio, and prayer is such a powerful component of the Christian life.  When we face decisions or disappointments, trials or triumphs, we can come before the Lord in prayer, and depend on Him to work in all areas of life.  That is the infiltration of our Christian faith into the totality of our lives, the holistic practice of the Christian faith.

While the Pew survey does show that there are some areas where people of faith are distinctive, there are others where we could show some improvement.  The Bible speaks strongly to the areas of controlling anger and telling the truth.  We are to care for our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit, so the Bible speak to health and fitness, where highly religious people aren't as distinctive. The Scriptures even teach us how we are to be responsible with the environment.

The challenge we have is to make progress toward a "fully integrated" life, spiritually speaking. It starts with our personal prayer and devotional life with God, but we don't leave it there. Participation in church activities is an important component, but the inner life of faith requires that we take the church experience and live it out in the world.  What we learn from the Lord in the incubator of our time with Him, we are to apply to the decisions we make and the way we exhibit His character.   We worship Him one-on-one, but we also worship Him as one life displayed before the world.