According to the author (Mark Greene), the biggest challenge facing the church today is the great divide. This is the misconception that some parts of life are sacred and important to God (church-based activities) whereas other areas are irrelevant (university, work, hobbies). As a result, this limits our understanding of our everyday role in God’s purposes.
Furthermore, the sacred-secular divide distorts God’s character and limits our everyday enjoyment of him, as it implies there is a hierarchy of holiness in work. The remedy to overcome this divide is the gospel. To be more precise: The whole-life gospel. A commitment to the gospel is significant for all areas in our lives. At home and at work, in business, in politics and in law, but also walking the dog and playing with friends. God calls us to be holy and to follow him wholeheartedly whatever we do. Since Jesus is Lord of all, we are called to engage with our legal studies and activities as kingdom work.
Although this essay was first published in 2010, it remains relevant today. I resonated with many of the examples of individuals who have divided their lives into self-contained segments. I have often bought into the lie that serving at church mattered to God, whereas my legal studies and future career plans were separate and irrelevant. Overall, this sacred-secular divide is problematic as it causes us to lose our sense of direction and purpose when studying or working.
Fortunately, the author does not leave us hopeless. The last section of the essay addresses how to overcome the sacred-secular divide to give us a fresh sense of purpose and freedom and to release us all into everyday mission. For example, the author recommends studying The Great Divide in a small-group or Christian workplace. As this issue is rooted in church culture, I would agree that raising awareness and fostering accountability with other Christians is a practical solution to overcoming the Great Divide.
Knowing that God is interested in what we study and that our studies serve as a means of bringing everything under the rule of Jesus is a comfort. This also has important implications for our evangelism. As we commit all areas of our lives to God, people who are not yet Christians will witness and hear a whole-life gospel that changes everything, including how lawyers study and practice law.
The book can be found here.
