49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing - #13 There Is a Sacred/Secular Split

Summary

Mark Virkler describes how he came to reject what he calls the “sacred/secular split”—the belief that preaching and missionary work count as ministry, while occupations such as farming or business do not.

He says this belief led him to give up his plans to farm and become a pastor and teacher instead. Through later journaling, he understood Jesus to be challenging that choice as based on an incorrect religious assumption. The message he recounts is that God’s people are not meant to withdraw from ordinary life, but to carry their faith and gifts into the places where they work and serve.

The central ideas are:

• Every vocation can be ministry. Farming, business, government, education, health care, and other professions can serve God’s purposes.
• Faith should be lived throughout society. Virkler presents the world as belonging to God, with Christians called to bring their values and influence into the different areas of life they enter.
• People need not choose only one kind of leadership. He points to Abraham as an example of someone who combined spiritual, political, and financial leadership.
• Calling can involve learning new fields. Virkler describes expanding beyond preaching and teaching into areas such as marketing, investing, and health care. He says developing skills in these fields can be worthwhile and need not cause guilt.
• The aim is to serve in the area of one’s gifts and calling. In this account, “full-time ministry” does not necessarily mean leaving one’s existing profession.

Virkler also cites John Wesley as an example of someone involved in more than revival preaching. He says Wesley wrote about natural approaches to healing and experimented with electricity.

Suggested Reflection and Practice

Virkler invites viewers to:

1. Reject the sacred/secular distinction and the guilt it may create about pursuing work outside conventional ministry.
2. Journal a question to God: “What ministry have you called me into?”
3. Reflect on their vocation, gifts, and anointing.
4. Move forward in the area they discern, including taking time to learn new skills, without assuming their work is spiritually unimportant.

He also offers a confession for viewers to say: they are free from the sacred/secular split, recognize that the earth belongs to God, and are free to serve God in every area to which they are led.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Mark Virkler — narrator, recounting his experience and teaching.
• Jesus/God — represented through the journal dialogue Virkler says he recorded; these words are presented as Virkler’s account of what he heard.
• The Bible — especially Psalm 24:1 (“the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”), along with other biblical phrases and themes about God’s rule and the “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
• Abraham — cited by Virkler as an example of combined spiritual, political, and financial leadership.
• John Wesley — cited as an example of religious leadership extending into health care and experimentation with electricity.