Integrity

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen Ephesians 3:20-21

Pop star Paul McCartney—now Sir Paul—spoke with reporters shortly after he was knighted in England. He had been thrilled to accept the invitation to Buckingham Palace. Older than most rock idols, McCartney had been raised to respect the royals, so to receive Britain’s highest honor from the queen herself was the experience of a lifetime. During the ceremony he said to his wife, “Pinch me! Am I really here?” He was in a reverie, remembering his working-class boyhood in Liverpool, when, like any good musician, he became aware of the background music the orchestra was playing. “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair!” the brass blared. He laughed out loud, amused at the contrast between the brassy Broadway tune and the solemn ritual of the ancient ceremony.

Reflecting at the end of the interview, he said, “I guess the queen fancies show tunes. It’s a good thing she does, or I would have lost it in the sheer glory of it all.”

Sir Paul’s observation is relevant to Christian leaders. Many believers are tempted to bifurcate life into the “secular” and “spiritual.” It certainly would seem easier some days. How do we integrate our Sunday worship with our daily work? What does our weekly Bible study have to do with the movie we saw Friday night? How would our hairstylist or car mechanic fit in at church? What do we even know about their spiritual lives?

As I drive to church each Sunday morning, I tune in to a radio show called Songs for the Christian Year. But within five minutes my car stereo drifts into a band that carries the news, so for a while I have news and Christian music playing simultaneously and in equal volume. It’s frustrating! At times I continue to sing loudly over the news; at other times I turn up the volume and listen very carefully to a breaking news story. I have to pay attention, deciding what message to listen to when.

In the same way, we who are saved by Christ are called to live fully in two worlds. It’s a tension, balancing the show tune with the solemn ceremony, the high sacred moment with the messy ordinariness of the everyday. But as we seek to bring together these two worlds and balance the tension, God will abundantly accomplish his purposes.

—Mary C. Miller