There's an old American spiritual classic that says, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through." There seems to be a notion in today's popular American religion that this world is either more important than it should be, or not nearly important enough. The lack of a clear vision of how the eternal and the temporary are to be related and valued is a symptom of our modern loss of an Orthodox Christian mindset.

This imbalance comes from a loss of the practical Orthodox teaching about the unity of the physical and the spiritual. One of the greatest theological fights of the early Church was between this unified Orthodox vision of creation, and the Gnostic teachings that attempted to hijack the Christian faith with their dependence on secret knowledge and philosophical prowess. The Gnostics were notorious for declaring that the physical was either evil, or irrelevant. They focused solely on the spirit world and the wisdom of the mind. The Church fought them every step of the way, precisely because of the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus, in the Orthodox Christian faith, is both God and man. Both human and divine. By His incarnation He heals the division of the physical and the spiritual that occurred at the fall of man, and restores the Father's original intent of an eternal union between the two realms. Jesus, being both human and divine, now makes it possible for we humans to become by grace what Christ is by nature. His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension open the way for you and me to become like Christ. The practical results of the victory of the Orthodox faith over the Gnostic heresies is the preservation of that good news that Jesus Christ has healed the sad division of the physical and the spiritual and has created one new man.

So both the physical and the spiritual are parts of our human lives and they're important. In fact the Church teaches us that it's the proper balance of these two realities that mark the mature Christian believer. We value both the place where Jesus walked as a man on earth, and His teachings and example which apply to every person, everywhere, and at all times. Here are two practical everyday ways you can apply this Orthodox Christian vision of the world to your life.

First, the reality of sacred space. The teaching of the Church about the physical and the spiritual means that you can hold what seems to be a contradictory truth. All the earth is sacred, and yet there is such a thing as sacred space set apart for the holy. The truth is that since this is God's world, His creation, then His world is meant to be filled with Himself and all His glory. But the world, twisted by sin, doesn't look very much like what it was created to be. The Church teaches that sacred space helps us learn and remember that the entire world is meant to belong to a holy God. . . .

Chuck Powell is Director of Development for Orthodox Christian Network (OCN). To enjoy the rest of this reflection, please tune in to Come Receive the Light this week on May 5.