Taylor’s Protestant Problem: How to Live Coram Deo without Burning Out
ARTICLE • Charles Taylor blamed the Protestant Reformation for the rise of secularism. He alleged that the high spiritual bar set for the average believer in Protestantism has led many to give up on the faith. Does this charge have any merit? If so, how can believers integrate their faith in all of life without caving under the pressure of living as Scripture requires?
Read time: 10 min
The Problem
In his behemoth 2007 work, A Secular Age, Charles Taylor presents a dilemma that he believes grew out of the Protestant Reformation.
As a Roman Catholic philosopher, Taylor argues that in the Middle Ages priests, monks, and nuns (read: vocational clergy) were expected to be incessantly spiritual and devout on behalf of the average Christian. The clerical class devoted themselves to constant prayer, meditation on Scripture, and other pious disciplines. Moreover, they prayed for the people and were seen as intermediaries between the common man and God.
However, with the (1) abolition of the laity, (2) establishment of the Lutheran emphasis on the priesthood of every believer, (3) and the dismantling of the previously dominant “sacred-profane/sacred-secular” dichotomy, the bar was raised for the average Christian to live every aspect of life coram Deo, before the face of God. Taylor observes that this created religious stress for the average believer. According to Protestant theology, every Christian is required to live—it evidently seems to Taylor—with the spiritual focus of a monk while also juggling the stresses and demands of normal life [1].
Taylor, in fact, attributes the initial rise of secularization to the Reformation itself, since many churchgoers, he reasons, began to find such a way of life impractical and unachievable [2].
James K.A. Smith helpfully summarizes Taylor’s argument, noting that with the Reformation:
“Domestic life is affirmed as a sphere of grace. It’s not just priests and nuns who are ‘religious’; the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker can also undertake their mundane, ‘this-worldly’ tasks with a sense of devotion and worship. The result is that ‘for the ordinary householder,’ this will ‘require something paradoxical: living in all the practices and institutions of [‘this-worldly’] flourishing, but at the same time not fully in them. Being in them but not of them; being in them, but yet at a distance, ready to lose them... Religious devotion—and hence expectations of holiness and virtue—is [no longer] sequestered to the monastery.”[3]
Does Scripture Dismantle the Sacred-Secular Wall for Believers?
Here are a few biblical texts relevant to all believers that we protestants understand to require whole-life devotion to God:
“Take up [your] cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23)
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17)
“This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thes. 4:3)
“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31)
“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17)
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col. 3:23)
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1)
“You also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15)
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9)
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16)
The Tension
Anyone who has been a student, employee, or parent—to name only a few categories—knows how difficult it can be to stay spiritually focused in daily life. In the real world, life is full of distractions, and the idea of being in constant communion with God may feel a pipe dream.
Is the computer engineer really to meditate on the attributes of God while trying to debug complex code or meet a launch deadline? Does Scripture expect Christian healthcare providers to hum songs of praise while discussing critical treatment options with a worried patient? Must a sleep-deprived mother somehow contemplate the Beatific Vision like a nun while balancing the family budget? Are any of these Christians necessarily less ‘spiritual’ for falling short of monastic rigor?
The demands of daily life often seem to conflict with maintaining constant communion with God. Many times, I’ve collapsed into bed, exhausted, and realized with regret how engrossed I had been all day with my work. Tasks, meetings, and family duties can blur by, leaving little time for reflection or prayer, and I imagine many Christians can relate. Taylor was right to highlight this tension; it’s difficult to balance faith with the practicalities of daily life. Scripture—on the surface—seems to call us to a monk-like spiritual focus, but amidst the pressures of modern life, maintaining constant awareness of God can feel overwhelming and nearly impossible.
The Resolution
I propose a three-pronged approach to resolving Taylor’s dilemma.
First, we should embrace faith-filled work as worship.
Earthly responsibilities need not be seen as distractions from spiritual worship. Instead, they should be seen as means of worship. It’s not just that we can worship God in our work or while doing work. Rather, our work itself is an act of worship when done with a heart submitted to God and his Word.
Many of us view work uneasily as if it were a necessary evil. But nothing could be further from the truth. God created humans for work, which we might define as our divine calling to reflect His image by stewarding creation (Gen. 1:28). Scripture affirms that work is good, and we are called to do it diligently as unto the Lord (Col. 3:23). Even after the curse, work remains central to human purpose (Gen. 3:17-19). The New Testament exhorts believers to use their gifts and labor for the benefit of others as manifold expressions of love and service (Eph. 4:28). Ultimately, work glorifies God when done in faith and for His glory (1 Cor. 10:31). Thus, writing computer code or changing diapers are no less “spiritual” than attending a church service if done in dependence on God and with gratitude and zeal to honor God with our faith-fueled diligence.
Second, we should embrace both our creaturely limitations and our unique callings.
(1) Creaturely Limitations. Embracing our creaturely limitations means recognizing our humanity—finite, dependent, and imperfect—and accepting that we cannot (and are not expected to) pray for three hours at a time or maintain constant spiritual focus while engaging our minds in mentally-demanding work. Instead of striving for an unattainable, monk-like devotion, we rest in God’s grace, trusting that He is present even in our limitations. We walk by faith imperfectly and yet confidently, knowing that our joy in Christ’s perfections—and not our guilty sense of constant failure—is what motivates us when living in light of the gospel (Heb. 9:14).
(2) Unique Callings. If monk-like spiritual focus were the standard God requires, then no amount of multitasking can ease our guilt of always falling short. But we are not called to be monks (in fact, no Christian is!). Permanent withdrawal into monastic life is, arguably, contrary to the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission. We should rid ourselves of the notion that the truly spiritual life is one spent in constant disengagement from the present life in favor of constant meditation on the ‘glories to come.’
Pastors today (read: vocational Christian leaders) have unique callings that are not demanded of everyone. For example, the apostles asked the Jerusalem church to appoint men to manage food distribution so that they could devote themselves “continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). Taylor’s argument assumes that the reformers abolishing the laity (i.e. removing the fundamental “priest-common man” distinction) also abolishes differentiation in our unique callings.The life of a staff pastor will differ functionally—though not fundamentally—from that of a second lieutenant or a Christian electrician, yet all believers are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).
Third, we involve God in the rigors, pleasures, and pains of life with ever-increasing spiritual sensitivity.
We all are called to invite God into every aspect of life—in the hard work and challenges and also in moments of joy and sorrow. By walking by faith in dependance on the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16), we learn to lean on God’s strength, trusting Him in the smallest tasks (Matt. 6:31-33) as well as in the highs and lows of life. As we mature spiritually, our ability to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17) and constantly seek God’s wisdom (James 1:5) grows as we involve the Lord. As the psalmist wrote,
“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Ps. 16:8).
In moments of pleasure, whether enjoying time with loved ones or experiencing personal success, we express gratitude to God, recognizing that all good things come from Him (James 1:17). In times of pain or difficulty, we turn to God for comfort and strength (2 Cor. 1:3-4), knowing that He walks with us through suffering.
To integrate worship into all of life, we should both (1) dedicate intentional moments to connect with God at set times of the day. And (2) all throughout, we thank Him for blessings, seek His strength in challenges, and reflect on His Word as we encounter new challenges and opportunities each moment brings. We can, further, set liturgical rhythms to whet the blades of our hearts with God’s Word by evening Scripture readings and songs during meals or at bedtime. We show compassion and kindness to those around us, seeing every moment as an opportunity to reflect Christ’s love. Involving God in every aspect of life transforms the ordinary and extraordinary into acts of worship that please God no less than the most ardent devotion of any Medieval monk.
The Gospel
The gospel reminds us that we are saved by God’s grace through faith, not by our own efforts:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works" (Eph. 2:8–9).
This truth frees us from the pressure to maintain spiritual focus in our own strength. Instead, we are invited to trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross, resting in His sufficient work for us.
Simultaneously, we also rely on the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us and empowers us to live for God. He empowers us in even the mundane tasks of life to walk by faith in fellowship with God, so that our focused work is consecrated to the Lord. Even in our weaknesses, God’s grace is sufficient, as His "power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Through Christ’s work and the Spirit’s empowerment, we continually learn to depend on God in such a way that the many seeming “secular” moments of our daily labors are transformed into “sacred” sacrifices well-pleasing to God.
The Conclusion
Taylor had a point about the tension created by the abolition of the laity and the sacred-secular divide, but this tension need not be resolved by either becoming a monk or giving up on the Christian life altogether.
The New Testament calls believers to present their entire lives as an offering to God. The removal of the sacred-secular divide infuses our responsibilities with divine meaning and our work with His presence. Rather than outsourcing worship and spiritual disciplines to the “professionals,” Scripture envisions believers as a community living before God in the details, stresses, and routines of life. Powered by the Spirit, we live in this tension, recognizing that in the new creation, the misplaced sacred-secular divide will be but a distant memory. ❖
References
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007), 81.
Taylor, A Secular Age, 75.
Smith, James K. A. How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014, 37.
