In this era of history, the church is to be the embassy of the kingdom of God.
Darrow Miller · Occupy Till I Come
Darrow Miller, from “The Loss of the Biblical Worldview - Introduction” (Disciple Nations Alliance)
The Sacred-Secular Divide
Yet most Christians today have been trapped in what I call the sacred-secular divide—the false belief that God is interested in our souls but not in our work, in our Sundays but not in our Mondays, in our worship but not in our vocation. This destructive dualism has sidelined the church from its divine mandate to disciple nations at the level of culture.Occupy Till I Come
Sacred-secular divide (SSD): The compartmentalized faith that separates Christianity from public life, allowing societal decay while the church retreats to sanctuaries—Christians on Sunday, secularists on Monday. Biblical worldview (BWV): The unified understanding that integrates faith with all aspects of life and culture, rejecting the artificial separation of sacred and secular spheres.Occupy Till I Come
Christ’s Command to Occupy
It started when I realized that I was trapped, along with most of the church, in the sacred-secular divide. I had the Greek dualistic mindset, not a biblical, wholistic worldview. I understood that God was interested in my soul but didn’t grasp His concern for my whole being and the flourishing of my community and nation. I mistakenly thought that God cared only about my Sundays and not my Mondays; that He was interested in my worship but not my work. Thus, I served God wholeheartedly by attending church, reading my Bible, praying, and participating in small groups, among other religious activities. However, when I was working in the construction industry as a young person, I had no notion that God cared or had anything to say about that. When I was in seminary, I read Martin Luther’s words: “Our whole life should be nothing but praise to God. Even if the Lord were to return tomorrow, I would still plant a sapling today.” I thought those words were stupid. As a dualist, I reasoned that if I knew that Christ was coming back tomorrow, I would never plant a tree today that would take years to mature and produce fruit. God used a message from the late Francis Schaeffer, founder of L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, to change my life. In one of his Sunday morning sermons, he spoke from the framework of the biblical worldview in a way that began to break the spell of the SSD. God set me on a track of reforming my mind to think biblically and wholistically about all things, including my work. Suddenly, I recognized Luther’s wisdom. He wanted to be found faithful when Christ returned to the work that God had given him to do. For Luther, all of life was sacred; thus, his work was a massive part of his worship.Occupy Till I Come
Many young Christians are leaving the church because they see it as irrelevant to the things going on in our culture. They see little to no connection between their work and their everyday lives, or even to the coming of the kingdom of God. These frustrations are real, given that the church today essentially functions from the faulty paradigm of the sacred-secular divide. Young Christians are becoming casualties of the inadequate worldview the SSD provides.Occupy Till I Come
A Critical Choice
Christians today face a critical choice: cling to the sacred-secular divide (SSD) rooted in Greek philosophy or embrace the unified biblical worldview (BWV) of Hebrew and Christian thought.Occupy Till I Come
The truth is that we have a responsibility and a calling to occupy until Christ returns. This means that we are to make progress for the kingdom of God in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches, and civic communities.Occupy Till I Come
Culture Flows Upstream
As we explored in the previous chapter, we become like the God or gods we worship. Put another way, culture follows “cult” or worship and flows upstream from social, economic, and political policies and institutions.Occupy Till I Come
To transform society, we must reshape its culture, which begins with worship. Culture, upstream from all spheres of life, has been ceded to cultural Marxists, atheists, and pagans as the church has largely abandoned its role in cultural discipleship. Christians are called to replace modern and postmodern values with kingdom culture by becoming culture makers—students and creators of culture. We must ask: What ideas and gods dominate? What should this culture produce? Where can we leverage change, and what resources are available to us? By discipling families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities, we reclaim our calling to cultivate culture as gardeners for God’s glory.Occupy Till I Come
Not a Retreat
This is not a call to retreat into spiritual ghettos or to focus only on “spiritual” matters, while surrendering culture to enemy forces. It is a call to recognize that the Great Commission includes discipling nations and transforming entire cultures according to biblical principles. The battle for civilization is ultimately a battle for the portal of culture.Occupy Till I Come
From the study guide
Chapter 23 · Christ’s Command to Occupy
Christians are saved not only for eternity and Heaven but also for time and Earth, and Christ commands us to “occupy till I come”—actively advancing His kingdom through our work, relationships, and cultural engagement rather than passively embracing a theology of waiting that perpetuates the false sacred-secular divide.
Individual Action: This week, identify one specific area of your work or daily life in which you have been operating with a sacred-secular divide mindset. Write down three concrete ways in which you can begin viewing and approaching this area as kingdom work and worship. Commit to implementing one of these changes immediately.
1 Corinthians 10:31—Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Reflection: How does this verse challenge the sacred-secular divide by declaring that all activities can glorify God? What would change in your daily work and relationships if you truly believed that everything you do is an opportunity for worship and kingdom advancement?