The Christian life is not one that can be lived partially. It can not be a part of our life, of our routine, of our schedule. Yet in America, where everything is compartmentalized, it too often is. We look at our life like a puzzle, where school is one piece, family another, work another, free time another, and our faith another. As a piece of the puzzle, our faith is adjacent to a few pieces, but by no means all. It fits the knobs and ridges of some of the pieces (family, social work, free time) but not all (work, socializing…)
If this is the way we live, with a partial faith life, then we cannot follow the commands of today’s Hebrews reading. We cannot truly feel the pain of others, offer hospitality as a way of life, and bring God a continual offering of praise, telling everyone around us about Jesus.
But what if our faith, rather than being one piece among many, is the picture that all the pieces of our life displays? What if when we put our schooling, work, family, free time, social and political work, and even our socializing, together they displayed the face of Christ? I think this is what Jesus intended. I think this is what the writer of Hebrews assumed. And I think this is God’s call to us all.
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