Pursuing Veritas

This post originally served as a message at Arise Church

As my grandfather—who just happens to have been a dentist—is fond of saying, “you should never skip brushing your teeth.” Now, can you miss a brushing here or there? Our dentist at Arise, Jeff Ronecker, is on vacation this week, so sure. You’ll be fine if you miss the occasional brushing.

But can you survive a day without brushing your teeth? I’m here to tell you yes. While I was traveling in the UK, I left my toothbrush at a hotel in York and my train schedule was such that couldn’t get another one for almost 24 hours. I had to chew lots of gum, but I made it the whole day and neither I nor anyone around me died.

What about for longer—can you survive a week without brushing your teeth? While I don’t recommend it, I think you can. Back when I was working as a youth pastor, we went on a week-long wilderness trip in the backwoods of Canada. And one of our kids forgot the bag that his mom packed with his water bottle, toothbrush, and soap. Fortunately, we had an extra water bottle and people shared soap with him—but he had to suffer a whole week without brushing his teeth. It was gross, but he’s doing just fine.

Even though we don’t strictly need to brush our teeth every day to survive, we still do because brushing our teeth is an essential part of taking care of our bodies. Every day, we take the time to take care of ourselves by brushing our teeth. Because we know—and because dentists have told us about—the consequences of not brushing our teeth. And so we take care of ourselves, by brushing our teeth.

There are lots of other things we do to take care of our bodies too. We floss. We exercise. We say no to that extra cupcake at church. We go to the doctor every year or so. We take vitamins and supplements and this and that and the other. We go to the dentist for our teeth, the ophthalmologist for our eyes, the chiropractor for our backs, the dermatologist for that weird looking mole. And of course, we eat and drink. Every day. Multiple times a day. Skip a meal and let me know what your body says to you. Go a few hours without drinking water and see how you’re feeling. These bodies begin to get cranky when we don’t take care of ourselves by eating and drinking.

From brushing our teeth and going to the doctor’s office to exercising and drinking enough water, there’s a lot that we do to take care of our bodies. But how often do we really pay attention to all the things we do to take care of our bodies? When was the last time you thought about how much water you drank in a day? When was the last time you were intentional about brushing your teeth? When was the last time you gave thought to how important it is to take care of your body?

If you haven’t done those things in a while, today’s your invitation to think about taking care of your body and brushing our teeth as we continue our series The Liturgy of the Ordinary. In this series, we’re examining our everyday habits and moments to see how we can make them intentional and grace-filled—how we can make simple actions like waking up and making the bed liturgies that point us toward God.

A couple weeks ago I introduced you to three kinds of habits: routines, requirements, and liturgies. Routines are our unthinking habits, the things we do on autopilot. Requirements are our mandatory habits, practices that we need to do. And liturgies are our intentional, grace-filled habits, actions that direct us toward God. Now, for most of us, brushing our teeth—and many of the other things that we do to take care of ourselves—are just routines and requirements. We do them without thinking.

But what if we made taking care of ourselves a liturgy? What if we made brushing our teeth an intentional, grace filled habit? What if we stepped back from thinking about what we do with our bodies as a routine or a requirement and instead made it something that directed us toward God? What if we brushed our teeth not because our dentist told us too, but because brushing our teeth was a way to manifest our belief that our bodies matter to God?

Weird concept, I know. But I think Scripture points towards this kind of liturgical living, specifically in a letter called 1 Corinthians. Some context for what we’re about to read: there was this early follower of Jesus named Paul who traveled around the ancient Roman world planting churches and then helping them grow as followers of Jesus. Sometimes Paul would hang around for a bit, sometimes he wouldn’t. And when he wouldn’t, he’d stay in contact with his churches through letters, some of which are now part of what Christians call the New Testament.

And in one of these letters—what we call 1 Corinthians, because it’s the first letter we have from Paul that he wrote to the church in the Greek city of Corinth—Paul talks about the importance of taking care of our bodies. He does this in response to a bunch of questions that the Corinthians asked him about the body. And while we unfortunately don’t have that letter, Paul references it enough in his letter that we can tell what’s going on. So let’s look at how Paul addresses some Corinthian questions about our bodies:

“I have the right to do anything [with my body],” you say—but not everything is beneficial [for your body, Paul says in response]. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” [In other words, why does what we do with our eating matter if we’re going to die anyways? Paul counters:] The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body…. [That is, your body and what you do with it matters to God.] Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6.12-13, 19-20 NIV)

Your body matters to God, Paul says. Your body matters to God. Like, not just what’s in your head or what you believe: your body. Who you are and what you do with your bodies is consequential, it has meaning. You could theoretically do whatever you want with your body—how you eat or who you sleep with or what you do to yourself. But those things have consequences, those things matter. As Tish Harrison Warren reminds us, “Christianity is a thoroughly embodied faith.” (LitOrd, 38) Because at the end of the day, your body isn’t just your own: it’s from God and for God. Your body matters.

As he writes this about our bodies, Paul is drawing on a ton of theology from the rest of the Scriptures here. Most foundationally, he’s saying that our bodies matter because we were created by God. Genesis 2(7 ESV) succinctly puts it this way: then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God created humanity, and because God created humanity, our bodies are intrinsically important. We might come from the dirt and we might return to dirt when our bodies die, but our bodies are still valuable and honorable and important. I was at a funeral a few ago and even though that person was no longer with us—even though we couldn’t cause any meaningful physical damage to them—everyone still treated the body with the utmost care and respect. Because our bodies are inherently important.

In this way, Christianity differs from religions and worldviews which deny that the physical is important. Certain Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, or certain worldviews like Gnosticism, communicate that the physical doesn’t really matter because what’s true real or what’s truly important is the spiritual. But that’s not right. Yes, the unseen and spiritual is real and important—but so is what we can touch and see. God created matter—God created our bodies. So they’re important.

And God didn’t just create bodies that are weird and weak and wicked (though they are sometimes those things). No. God created bodies that are awesome and amazing! Scripture relishes in how awesome our physical bodies can be and praises God with astonishment and gratitude at who we are. Listen to what the Psalmist says: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Ps 139.14-16 NIV)

That’s a literal song of praise to God because of how awesome our bodies are. And of course, the awesomeness of physical bodies culminated in the incarnation of Jesus—the en-flesh-ment of Jesus, when He became a human just like us! Human bodies are literally awesome enough to serve as the dwelling place of God. Our bodies matter because God made them—and He made them awesome!

Maybe you struggle with this, like I do. Because I don’t particularly like my body. I don’t like how I look (never have). I’ve just never been super happy or comfortable with my body. (And there’s no need to psychoanalyze me, I know there are plenty of reasons for this.) And recently, I haven’t appreciated how my body functions either. My body is battered and broken and frustrating. BUT I’m still called to take care of my body; I’m still called to honor God with my body. Because as he talks to us about our bodies, that’s the first part of Paul’s argument: our bodies matter because God made them.

But then Paul goes further and says that our bodies matter because of what we do with our bodies. He writes, The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body…. (v13) That is, because your body has purpose and meaning, what you do with it matters too. The way you live, the way you act, the things that you physically do with your body make a difference.

In Matthew 25(31-46), Jesus tells the story known as the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, where we hear the everyone on earth being called before God’s throne at the end of time and judged for what they’ve done. And in this story, Jesus makes it clear that what we do is important to God. God wants us to feed those who are hungry, to give water to those who are thirsty, to show hospitality and clothe those in need, to care for the sick, and to the become friends with the destitute. Because people’s physical needs are important. And because what we do with our bodies matters. Our actions matter to God. Because following Jesus isn’t just about your head—it’s about your heart and your hands too.

There’s this phrase that’s echoed throughout the Scriptures and it goes something like this: “Be holy, for I am holy.” God says these words no less than five times as He taught His people in the Old Testament and it’s echoed several times in the New Testament as well. “Be holy, for I am holy.” Every time these words appear, it’s alongside something having to do with our bodies. It’s said in relation to teachings about what we do with our days, how we work, how we talk, how we eat, how we have sex, how we treat our families, how we do church, how we worship God. “Be holy, as I am holy” – with how you use your bodies. With your postures. With what you do with your hands and feet. Your body isn’t incidental to your faith—it’s integral to how we worship and follow God.

This is a lesson that Hayley and I are continually trying to teach our kids. Right now, we’re teaching Judah two parallel things every night: how to brush his teeth and how to pray. Now to you and me, those things probably don’t seem that related. But for Judah, they’re absolutely related. Because they’re both things that he’s learning to physically do during his bedtime routine. Mom and dad help him brush his teeth, we watch him do it, we help show him the way. Then we go into the bedroom and a few minutes later, mom and dad are helping him pray, showing him how to stop what we’re doing, calm our bodies, and fold our hands together. Neither of these things is just rote tradition: we’re teaching Judah how to intentionally use his body. Not because things couldn’t be done other ways or because God can’t hear him otherwise—but as a way to orient Judah toward God when he talks with him. Judah’s body is integral to his tiny little faith—it matters for how he’s beginning to encounter God.

So, what about you: what can your liturgy of brushing your teeth look like? What does it mean for you to live in a way that your body matters? How can you make the actions and postures of your body intentional, grace filled habits?

Maybe this means that you intentionally care for your body. If God made your body, if God loves you—including your physical body—you need to be intentional about taking care of your body. Of course, this will look different for each of us. For some of you, this means scheduling a doctor’s appointment that you’ve been putting off. For others, it means exercising more regularly. Or watching what you eat. Or drinking less. Or something else where you take better care of the body that God has given you. Remember: your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit—and that makes you a caretaker. So intentionally care for your body.

Or maybe your liturgy of brushing your teeth means that you intentionally posture your body as you seek God. Maybe it means being more considerate with what your body is doing. Maybe you need to be more intentional with your body as you serve. Maybe your walk with God has involved mostly interior things these past few years and maybe it’s time to get up, get out, and serve. Maybe you need to connect with our Service Team to serve the homeless, serve schools, or serve those who are hungry. Maybe you need to be intentional about how your body serves.

Or maybe you need to be more intentional with your body as you pray. Maybe you need to close your eyes and fold your hands to limit your distractedness as you talk to God. Maybe you need to kneel more to remind you who it is that you’re talking to. It’s great that we know we can pray whenever and however we can; but maybe there’s a posture of prayer that you need to try too.

Or maybe you need to be more intentional with your body as you worship. Maybe you need to not use your voice during a song because your heart isn’t really focused on God. Maybe you need to clap or raise your hands. Not because you have to, but as a recognition of the reality that you’re surrendering to God in worship—and we’re called to worship God with all of ourselves, including these bodies. After communion today, we’re going to have some time to worship—so, take a moment to be purposeful with what your body is doing as you worship. Because what you do with your body matters to God.

And that’s it—that’s what the liturgy of brushing your teeth can look like. Being purposeful and intentional with how we view and use our bodies—one simple part of our lives that we don’t often think about, but one that can take on greater meaning and significance. God loves you and He’s always with you. And sometimes all we need to do in order to recognize His presence is to take note of the grace He offers us in the little, daily things of life—like brushing our teeth. God is forming you into a new people—and the place of that formation is in the small moments of your life. Are you ready to journey into the ordinary with Him?