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Pedro’s faith impressed me. He took a stand for doing what was right and it cost him dearly. When all the other bus drivers were afraid to stand up to the boss and demand that they be given all the benefits that the law called for, Pedro organized the workers and then confronted the head office. The result? The benefits were extended to all the workers under the condition that the “trouble maker” be fired.
That’s how Pedro, the father of seven kids under the age of sixteen, came to be unemployed. Now he had the chance to get a good job with another bus company. His buddy assured him that the man responsible for hiring good drivers wouldn’t care about his history with the opposing company. The boss would be at the nearby house of a friend, drinking and playing cards till late. In Latin America it’s all about who you know and this contact was a sure bet for a good job.
Pedro considered the options. Option A: Spend one night drinking and gambling in order to get in good with the boss so that he could feed his family. Option B: Turn down the opportunity since it violated his conscience and jeopardized his Christian reputation but continue unemployed with his family in poverty.
What would you choose? Pedro chose option B. Though he could easily have justified the night’s activity, he took another hard stand. He would not compromise his convictions nor his reputation. He could not separate his physical life in this world from his spiritual life in the next. To Pedro there was no degree of separation between the secular and the spiritual.
The ancient Greeks basically saw the world as divided into parallel realms, the physical and the other-worldly. The physical was basically the realm where animal and basal desires ruled. Human sexuality, anger and other desires were found here. The other-worldly realm dealt with the unspoiled, unadulterated and purely spiritual.
This “dualism” still permeates our mentality today as we often divide life into the physical and spiritual. The result is that we see large portions of life as separated from the spiritual realm.
If I want to be spiritual, I go to church or read my Bible. I block off times to participate in the spiritual realm. On the other hand, my job, sports and dating life are not part of the spiritual world. I can check out the party scene without compromising my faith; after all, bars are not in the spiritual realm, right?
The ancient Hebrews and, hence, the roots of Christianity did not have this dualistic world-view. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not some God in the “other realms”. He spoke with a human voice, he worked through a man’s wonderings and he wrestled with a con-artist. Moved with compassion, he sent a liberator before being involved in disease, frogs, and death. He was definitely a God of the “this world.”
This God who did not hesitate to get his hands dirty in human affairs called for his followers to let his presence affect every aspect of their lives, i.e., their heart, soul and mind. Nothing in life was beyond his influence. There was no separation of the physical from the spiritual; no dualism.
So what does it mean to me today?
It means that my selection of a career is a spiritual exercise and not a secular experience. It means that I can’t lie during an interview because my spirituality is at stake. It means that even though I’m positive that my fiancé and I are to be wed in a month, we will still guard our purity because my body is the temple of God and not just a physical entity. It means that “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” translates into “God’s kingdom is to rule every decision in every part of my life.”
God never said it would be easy; it cost Jesus his life. If he would have just quit messing with people’s daily lives and stayed in the synagogue separating his religion from his routine life decisions, he might have avoided persecution.
So, what would you have chosen if you were Pedro? Drink with the guys in order to get a good job or take the persecution? Would you separate the decision from your spiritual life or live for the kingdom?
I know God is proud of Pedro’s choice . . . I am too.
Dr. Gary L. Green. After becoming a Veterinarian at LSU, Gary later left his clinic to pursue a Masters degree at the Harding Graduate School. For eight years, he and his family served as missionaries to Venezuela. Gary is now a Missions Coordinator for ACU and Ministry Leader for the Campus Ministry at the nearby Southern Hills Church of Christ.
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