I’m privileged to work for a Christian organization and truly enjoy it. I often wish more Christians would enter full-time ministry. However, I also recognize that God calls individuals in diverse ways, and each person should follow their unique calling rather than feeling obligated to join a ministry. For Christians in secular professions, the challenge lies in understanding how to serve God without leaving their jobs.

Imagine a doctor approaches you and asks, “I feel God calling me to serve him. As a doctor, how can I do that?” Many Christians might instinctively suggest becoming a medical missionary. So, you advise him to do just that. But what if he replies, “I have a family, and I can’t become a missionary right now. Is there anything else I can do?” You might then suggest, “Okay, you can donate generously to God’s work.” He responds, “Done. What else? I truly want to serve God as a doctor.” You might then offer, “Of course, you can share the gospel with your patients. They’re often open to discussing spiritual matters with their doctor, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.” He affirms, “I’ll certainly do that. Is there anything more I can do as a doctor?” His passion might surprise you. You suggest, “If you’re really looking to do more, you could organize a Christian group in your hospital. Many Christians work in healthcare, so it should be easy to start a meeting among them.”

However, if you reflect, you still haven’t answered his core question: “What should I do to serve God as a doctor?” You’ve advised him to serve as a missionary, a donor, an evangelist, and a group leader, but not how his specific profession, being a doctor, serves God. Why is this? Deep down, we often harbor the misconception that being a doctor, whose main job is to fix people’s bodies, is spiritually insignificant because what they do is disconnected from God. Contrast this with a pastor asking, “What should I do to serve God as a pastor?” You’d instinctively reply, “Everything you do as a pastor is serving God.” But not so for a doctor, or a farmer, or an engineer. This ingrained idea—that anything connected with the body is spiritually meaningless—has a long history, but it is profoundly mistaken. Until we overcome this perspective, our Christian worldview remains incomplete.

Relationship of Body, Soul, and Spirit

The Bible teaches that a human being is comprised of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We see this relationship vividly in the creation account in Genesis:

“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.” (Genesis 2:7)

Here, Adam is formed from dust (the material, which is the body). God then breathes into him the breath of life (the spiritual part, which is the spirit). When the spirit unites with the body, Adam becomes a “living creature” (in Hebrew, a “living soul”). Since the soul represents the complete human person, it’s often used to refer to the whole individual (e.g., “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41).

We can use the analogy of a computer to understand this relationship. We think a computer is the hardware (body). But it cannot function without power (spirit). When you turn it on, the software (soul) is what you primarily interact with. The Bible states, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). If you unplug a computer, it’s “dead” in a sense (the difference with a human being is that while you can plug a computer back in, you cannot resuscitate a human being so easily). When Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says he “yielded up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). When we die, our spirit departs, and we are no longer a complete soul—we are merely a lifeless body.

This biblical concept of humanity differs significantly from the Greek tradition, particularly Plato’s view. Plato believed the human soul was imprisoned within the body, seeing death as the soul’s liberation. That’s why he depicted Socrates waiting for execution as a happy person. However, the Bible does not portray the body as a prison. Instead, it describes our earthly body as “the tent that is our earthly home” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Just as God dwelt in the tabernacle, we dwell in our bodies. And just as God eventually dwelt in the temple after Israel entered the promised land, we will one day dwell in “a building from God” (2 Corinthians 5:1)—the body of resurrection.

Body of Resurrection

No one would suggest the tabernacle was a bad dwelling place for God. Similarly, our current bodies are fitting dwellings for us in this world before resurrection. After resurrection, however, we will have a new dwelling: the body of resurrection. Paul elaborates on this in 1 Corinthians 15:

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:42–45)

Here, Paul describes our current body as a “natural body,” literally a “soulish body,” because it is animated by the soul. Upon resurrection, however, we will receive a “spiritual body”—a body animated and empowered by the spirit. This radically differs from Plato’s idea that earthly life is an imprisonment to be endured. In the biblical view, our lives in our current bodies are good, and our lives in our spiritual bodies after the resurrection will be even better.

Many people consider 1 Corinthians 15 a random text attached to a collection of random messages. But, as Karl Barth pointed out, it is the interpretive key and the secret nerve of the entire letter. 1 Corinthians addresses many problems in the church in Corinth, many of which were caused by their misunderstanding of the body. In fact, the concept of body is so important in this letter that the Greek word for body (soma) is used 46 times here and only 96 times in the rest of the New Testament.

Corinthians, in general, were famous for their immoral life: in Greek, there was a verb (korinthiazo) which literally meant to live in a Corinthian fashion but in reality means to live as a prostitute or pimp, or to visit whores. Even Christian Corinthians were not much better. Paul had to address their sexual sins in the letter:

1.  Sexual Immorality: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

2.  Prostitution: “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’” (1 Corinthians 6:16).

3.  Incest: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1).

It’s easy to commit those sins when you have a low view of the body. And when you think your body is only for this world, then it’s easy to have a low view of the body. However, when you realize that you will continue to have a body after resurrection, then you understand that you will continue to dwell in your body (in a transformed way) in eternity and will value your body.

The Transformed Body

Examining Jesus after his resurrection provides insights into our own resurrected state. First, people often didn’t recognize Jesus immediately after his resurrection. Consider these passages:

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). (John 20:14–16)

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (John 21:4)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:16–18)

This last passage is particularly revealing. Imagine the scene: Jesus meets his disciples, and they could see that the rumors about his resurrection were true. Yet, some doubted. How could they doubt when the resurrected Jesus was standing before them? The most plausible explanation is that Jesus looked significantly different after his resurrection.

So, if he looked different, how did they recognize him at all? Consider John 21, where “the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (John 21:4), but later, after some conversation, John exclaims, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7). How did he recognize him when others couldn’t? It was through intuition. Medieval theologians explained that angels know through intuition; for instance, when Gabriel appeared to Mary, he recognized her not because he saw her picture before, but through intuition. This knowing without sensory data is how angels perceive the truth, and people could recognize Jesus after resurrection in a similar intuitive way. In this world, our physical appearance is highly valued. But we should remember that after resurrection, our appearance will be profoundly transformed.

Furthermore, the resurrected Jesus transcended many physical limitations:

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19)

And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:31)

We can therefore expect that after resurrection, we too will be capable of things we cannot do now.

Despite these new capacities, Jesus still had a physical body that the disciples could touch:

And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:38–39)

He even ate food:

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. (Luke 24:41–43)

Now, consider the implication: if Jesus ate after the resurrection, we will also eat in the new Jerusalem. To eat, there will need to be people who produce food and people who cook. This implies there will be farmers and chefs in the new Jerusalem. And since food is inherently cultural—there is no “general” food, only food from specific cultures—it means cultures will persist there as well.

Body vs. Flesh

Many Christians confuse the terms “body” and “flesh,” but the Bible clearly distinguishes them. The body is the physical part of a human being and is largely neutral in the Bible. The flesh, however, refers to our sinful human nature inherited from our parents. Since human beings are fallen, “flesh” is often used in a negative sense (for example, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8). Yet, Jesus is said to have come “in the flesh” (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; John 1:14). Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35), so he received human nature without corruption, making it accurate to say he came in the flesh. We, however, are born of sinful parents, so our nature is sinful. The Bible does not call us to “improve” our flesh; rather, we are called to put our flesh to death:

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

Furthermore, our sinful nature (“flesh”) isn’t limited to our bodies but extends to our souls. For instance, Paul lists “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies” (Galatians 5:19–21) as works of the flesh. Many of these—like jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy—are problems of emotions or attitudes that originate in our souls, not merely our bodies.

If the body isn’t the source of sin, then tormenting the body won’t remove sin. We see the problem of asceticism (severe self-denial and austerity) in the early church in the Bible. In the Middle Ages, many sincere Christians tortured their bodies through practices like wearing hairshirts, kneeling on glass shards, or self-flagellation. The Reformers later rejected these as works-based righteousness. When Paul warned against the dangers of asceticism, he stated:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1–5)

Here, Paul describes individuals who attempt to appear spiritual by forbidding marriage and requiring abstinence from certain foods. They sought to oppress the body by denying sex and food. Even today, there’s a temptation to adopt ascetic practices to feel or look more spiritual. However, when we do this, we are rejecting God’s blessed creation, whether it’s marriage or food.

The False Knowledge of Gnosticism

If the Bible consistently teaches that the body is good, why do we often perceive it as evil? This erroneous idea primarily stems from two historical influences: Gnosticism and Platonism.

Gnosticism was a syncretic movement that blended Christianity with various philosophies and religions. Paul alluded to this danger when he wrote to Timothy, “Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge.’” (1 Timothy 6:20). “Knowledge” in Greek is gnosis, from which Gnosticism derives its name, as its adherents claimed to possess special, secret knowledge. This claim to unique insight often garnered respect, allowing Gnostics to gain influence in the early Church.

Gnosticism caused significant problems in the Colossian church, which Paul addressed in his letter. Through his warnings, we can understand its nature:

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Paul emphasizes that Gnostics were misled by human philosophy, not divine truth. Their syncretic approach meant they didn’t center their lives on Christ. Because Gnostics viewed the body as inherently evil, they struggled to accept that Jesus had a physical body. Paul directly countered this:

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

Their belief in the body’s evil nature led them to asceticism. Paul warned against this:

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. (Colossians 2:18)

This verse highlights several Gnostic characteristics:

 Asceticism: Their belief that the body should be mistreated.

 Worship of angels: Their obsession with spiritual phenomena.

 Visions: Their claims of exclusive knowledge.

 Puffed up: Their arrogance.

John also confronted Gnosticism, distinguishing true belief: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,” (1 John 4:2). This was crucial because Gnostics, believing all physical things were evil, denied that the Son of God could truly become flesh.

Given their rejection of the body, Gnostics also rejected the resurrection of the body. This became such a critical issue that “I believe in… the resurrection of the body” was included in the Apostles’ Creed to counter their heresy. Some Gnostics even took their beliefs to their logical extreme, asserting that the God of the Bible did not create the physical world, but rather an evil god did. Gnostic gospels, like the Gospel of Thomas, present Jesus as a revealer of hidden wisdom and secret teachings, rather than a Savior through crucifixion and resurrection.

Gnosticism was a formidable adversary for the Church for several centuries. Only after a long struggle did the Church solidify its identity and doctrines. Yet, many Christians today unknowingly echo Gnostic beliefs, particularly when they devalue the physical realm and claim spiritual superiority by exclusively valuing the spiritual.

The “Gospel” According to Plato

The fight against Gnosticism was difficult but relatively straightforward: you were either a Christian or a Gnostic, with no middle ground. Platonism, however, is different. As a philosophy, it has influenced many Christians, some of whom are highly regarded thinkers like Augustine, Origen, and C.S. Lewis. Augustine famously said, “None are closer to us Christians than the Platonists.” Even C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters, has a demon remark, “We make the Sophists: he [God] raises up a Socrates to answer them” (Socrates was Plato’s teacher). So, while being a Gnostic is incompatible with Christian faith, being a Platonist is not.

Nevertheless, as a human system of thought, Platonism has its inherent weaknesses, and its adoption can lead to negative consequences. For example, Lewis, an esteemed literature professor who taught in Oxford and Cambridge, wrestled with the intrinsic value of literature. As a Platonist, he could only fully appreciate literature if it directly led to salvation. He questioned if literature itself held inherent worth.

Having also studied literature, my answer to the question of the value of literature aligns with Eric Liddell’s defense of his passion for running in Chariots of Fire: “I believe he made me for a purpose, for China. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” God delights in human flourishing. In sports, we witness the flourishing of the body, bringing both God and us (as athletes or spectators) pleasure. In the arts, we see the flourishing of the soul, bringing God and us (as artists or art lovers) pleasure. The value of literature was even a problem for Plato himself; despite being a brilliant prose writer, he advocated for expelling poets from his ideal state for being liars.

Platonism is characterized by a sharp dichotomy between the world of Ideas (or Forms) and the physical world. In this system, anything belonging to the physical world is deemed meaningless and should be avoided, while anything leading to the world of Ideas is cherished because the world of Ideas is considered the “real” world. When a Christian unknowingly adopts the mindset of “everything spiritual is good, everything physical is bad,” they are, in essence, allowing Plato’s philosophy to shape their minds.

When Christians embrace Platonism, it often leads to a “Platonic gospel”—a set of ideas many Christians believe are biblical but are, in fact, Platonic:

• The physical world is evil and will soon disappear.
• We should focus only on heaven, where we will spend eternity.
• The body is the enemy of the spirit; there is nothing good in it.
• We should turn our backs on the world and worldly affairs (politics, economy, etc.).
• The body is evil, and it will be discarded.
• Only the soul can be saved.
• We should engage only in “spiritual” activities (like prayer and worship).

What happens when a Christian lives by this Platonic gospel? Firstly, they believe their earthly life lacks inherent meaning, leading to a life of escape. Moreover, they cannot be good stewards of their lives or of this world.

As Bible-believing Christians, we must understand what the Bible actually teaches:

• God created the physical world: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
• God was satisfied with the physical world: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
• God’s creation longs for God’s redemption: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19–21)
• God will renew the physical world: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1); “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)
• Jesus is in heaven now, but he will return: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)
• We will reign on earth: “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him…” (2 Timothy 2:11-12); “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Therefore, in the biblical worldview, we are not to reject the material world or our physical bodies. Instead, we are called to use our bodies to please God on earth. First, we should not use our bodies for sin but use them to achieve righteousness. Paul says:

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Romans 6:13)

In this materialistic world, people often use their bodies to pursue pleasure without considering God’s will. They might eat, drink, and engage in sexual activity in ways that are not pleasing to him, effectively presenting their bodies “to sin as instruments for unrighteousness.” Instead, we are called to present our bodies to God as instruments for righteousness. This means using our bodies to bring God pleasure by doing what is right, good, and aligned with his divine purposes.

Paul teaches the same thing in Romans 12:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

Here, Paul directly challenges the spiritualizing tendency of Platonism, which was influential among the Romans at the time. He reminds believers to see their bodies as a medium of worship. His exhortation to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” means changing our thinking from worldly (often Platonic) ideas. This mental renewal is essential to recognize our bodies as God’s good creation and as a potential to be developed for his glory.

Heaven’s Beachhead

People influenced by Platonism often see the world as inherently evil. If the world is evil, they believe, we should avoid anything outside the church. They view salvation as an evacuation operation, akin to the Dunkirk evacuation at the beginning of World War II. At Dunkirk, Allied forces were pushed to the northern French coast by the Third Reich, facing annihilation or capture. The British government dispatched naval ships, joined by numerous civilian boats, to evacuate the soldiers. Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk vividly portrays the relief of the troops being rescued.

Many Christians similarly believe Jesus is the ship sent to evacuate us to heaven. For them, the meaning of life is simply to be saved from this world. But if this were true, it would imply that God’s original plan to rule the earth through his image-bearers has failed. It would suggest God has given up on the world, saying, “This world is so messed up that I can’t do anything about it. I’ll just save those willing to leave. I’m abandoning the rest of the world.”

The troops evacuated from Dunkirk didn’t simply return to a peaceful life in England. Instead, they were regrouped and redeployed to Continental Europe – that was the entire purpose of their evacuation. In the same way, we are saved not to escape the world, but to be sent into it. In this crucial sense, Jesus’ coming is more like Normandy than Dunkirk. Normandy was the site of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. This marked the beginning of a prolonged process to reclaim Europe from Nazism. Before the landings, the Third Reich seemed secure. But after the Allies established their beachhead in Normandy, the tide turned, and within a year, the Third Reich was no more.

This illustrates the crucial importance of securing a beachhead—a safe entry point for soldiers and resources into enemy territory. Without a beachhead, even the vast human and material wealth of the U.S. would have been ineffective in Europe. But once secured, the retaking of Europe could begin. It was the same with Jesus. Without him securing a beachhead, heaven’s spiritual resources could do little on earth. Earth remained under Satan’s dominion, ruled by sin and death. But when Jesus came, a beachhead for heaven was secured. Through this beachhead, the kingdom of Heaven began its advance, and it continues to progress even today through the followers of Jesus.

Heaven’s Colony

The body of Christ is not just a beachhead of heaven, but also a colony of heaven. In modern usage, a colony is often a territory occupied by another country. However, in the Roman Empire, the meaning was different. When Rome conquered the Mediterranean basin, it observed that conquered peoples often didn’t adopt Roman “civilized ways.” To civilize them, the Roman government sent Romans to live among them. These settlements, where Romans lived together according to Roman customs, were called colonies. Many European cities today, like Lyon in France or Valencia in Spain, originated as Roman colonies, and Cologne in Germany (from Latin colonia) still bears the name.

One such colony mentioned in the Bible is Philippi (“Philippi, which is… a Roman colony,” Acts 16:12). Located in Macedonia, the surrounding people were Macedonians, who were culturally similar to the Greeks, but the Philippians were Romans. When Paul preached the gospel there, the Philippians were agitated, exclaiming, “They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” (Acts 16:21). Just as Jews living outside Israel maintained their Jewish identity, these Romans in Philippi preserved their Roman identity.

Roman colonies didn’t exist for their own sake; they existed to radiate the light of Rome into the region. Without colonies, locals wouldn’t learn how to live as members of the Roman Empire. For example, the Celts practiced human sacrifice, and even after the Roman government forbade it, they continued. Only through the influence of Romans living among them did they abandon this barbaric tradition.

It’s the same for the people of the world. Without Christians living among them and radiating God’s light, they remain lost and don’t know how to truly live. They need exposure to the people of heaven to learn God’s ways. This is precisely what Jesus commanded his followers: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Paul addressed the Philippians with this powerful reminder:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20)

As mentioned, Philippi was a Roman colony, and its residents held dual citizenship: as Philippians and as Romans. While they lived in Philippi in Macedonia, their culture and identity were Roman, the citizens of a city far away. They were called to preserve and spread Roman culture throughout Macedonia. In the same way, we have dual citizenship: we are citizens of the world, and also citizens of heaven. As citizens of the world, we live in it; but as citizens of heaven, we live according to heaven’s culture.

We are called to be in the world without being of the world (John 17:15–16). This means maintaining our identity as God’s people without withdrawing from the world. We cannot fulfill God’s will without being present in the world. Simultaneously, if we lose our distinct identity and act just like everyone else, we cannot shine God’s light. Thus, being a Christian means being an “outsider” in the world while remaining deeply engaged in it. The world needs us to be among them. We are God’s presence in the world, and we cannot shy away from it. May we shine his light in the world until the world sees God’s glory through us.