Commentary on First Peter (46)

So it is possible to affirm the biblical doctrine concerning the goodness of what God has created, and at the same time affirm the sacred-secular distinction. This is sufficient to provide legitimacy for believers to "engage the culture" and to participate in secular occupations and endeavors with full confidence, without guilt and shame. A believer does not have to enter public ministry to live a holy life or to become useful for the kingdom. But the proper doctrinal foundation for this view is not the denial of the sacred-secular distinction, or the assertion that all occupations are equally holy as the ministry, which is simply not true.

I may never have to listen to an accountant in my life, but all accountants must listen to preachers. Or, the accountant could give up accounting and go fishing instead – but he better not give up prayer or the reading of Scripture. Anyone can become a janitor or a businessman, although some will be better at some things than others. But most believers are warned to keep out of the teacher's office, since it incurs a stricter judgment. In God's system, some things are just more important and even more sacred than other things. To acknowledge this does not mean that we must become Catholics or Gnostics, or that we reject the priesthood of all believers. Rather, to deny the sacred-secular distinction, to the extent that this is improper, is to denigrate that which is in fact more sacred than the secular.

The above goes against a strong tradition that is held by many and a doctrine that is beloved by the same, so it might not be well-received, and perhaps vulnerable to misunderstanding and misrepresentation. With such a short treatment on the subject, this cannot be avoided. And of course, people can have divergent views on the topic even if they seem to affirm the same doctrine in principle, and so to some people it might appear that I am attacking a straw man. But if it is true that they do not affirm that which I reject here, then let them not perceive this as a straw man, since I might not be talking about them at all. But it is true that many indeed believe as I have described.

In any case, as an attempt to clarify, remember that I do not deny the principle that all creation is basically "good," in the sense that Paul means it in 1 Timothy 4:4. The problem is that many wild inferences and false generalizations have been made from this, and then an entire Christian approach to society and culture has been constructed upon it, at the expense of many other parts of Scripture.

Again, we can fully acknowledge the priesthood of all believers and the goodness of all creation, and reject the teachings of the Catholics and the Gnostics, and still maintain a sacred-secular distinction. In one book, there is a picture of a minister, and next to him in a circle is the word "Holy." Then, there is a picture of a truck driver, and the circle next to him reads, "Unholy?" No, the occupation is not unholy, and one can glorify and please God in it – but it is still properly called a secular occupation.

Now, an unbeliever can fill a secular position, but let him take the office of the pastor, or let him counsel others in the name of Christ, or let him handle the word of God, whether in private or in public, then it is a transgression and a blasphemy, and the jealousy of the Lord burns hot against him. There is a difference. A big difference.