Chapter 10 in one sentence: “The Sacrament of Living” argues that the Christian does not need to divide life into a small sacred zone and a large secular zone; lawful ordinary acts can be offered to God when they are done under Christ’s lordship, according to Scripture, and for God’s glory.
Tozer ends the book with an everyday problem
Chapter 10 opens with 1 Corinthians 10:31. In the 1948 text, Tozer identifies the sacred-secular split as a source of inward strain: Christians may think prayer and church activity count as spiritual while work, eating, sleeping, and ordinary responsibilities feel like interruptions.
The chapter’s aim is not to make church, Scripture, or prayer less important. It is to refuse the idea that most of a Christian’s actual life lies outside God’s concern.
The sacred-secular split creates a divided Christian
When only obviously religious activities seem meaningful, people can begin to resent the tasks that fill most of their week. Work becomes something to endure until ministry begins. Caregiving feels like lost spiritual time. Meals, rest, administration, cleaning, exercise, and ordinary conversation appear neutral or second-class.
Tozer answers by asking whether even basic human acts can be directed toward God’s glory.
What “all to the glory of God” does—and does not—mean
It means ordinary responsibilities can be received and performed before God. It does not mean every chosen activity becomes holy simply because a Christian performs it.
Scripture still defines sin. Dishonesty, exploitation, sexual immorality, cruelty, idolatry, and other disobedience cannot be baptized with spiritual language. Whole-life worship includes refusing what God forbids.
Ordinary acts become spiritually significant through motive and manner
Consider four examples:
- Work: integrity, diligence, justice, service, and gratitude matter even when no ministry title is attached.
- Family care: patient attention to a child, spouse, aging parent, or household responsibility can be offered to God.
- Rest: receiving limits can honor God when rest is wise rather than escapist or neglectful.
- Meals and recreation: ordinary enjoyment can be received gratefully without becoming gluttony, idolatry, or avoidance of responsibility.
The chapter does not abolish distinct Christian practices
Gathered worship, Scripture, prayer, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, fellowship, and church responsibilities retain their particular biblical importance. Tozer’s point is not that every activity is identical. His point is that the Christian belongs to God during all of them.
How Chapter 10 completes the book
The book begins with desire for God and ends with life offered to God. That movement is significant. If pursuit remains only a private feeling produced during prayer or reading, it has not yet reached the ordinary places where character is revealed.
Chapter 10 therefore tests the entire book: Does spiritual hunger change Monday?
Three biblical texts for reading Chapter 10 carefully
1 Corinthians 10:31
Paul places even eating and drinking under the glory of God. In context, the verse belongs to a discussion of Christian freedom, conscience, idolatry, and the good of others—not a slogan for self-expression.
Colossians 3:17
Word and deed are brought under the name of the Lord Jesus with thanksgiving. The following verses then apply Christian identity to relationships and work.
Romans 12:1–2
Presenting the body to God connects worship with embodied life and transformed thinking.
A seven-day Sacrament of Living experiment
Choose one ordinary responsibility you regularly resent. For seven days:
- Name who benefits when the task is done faithfully.
- Pray briefly before beginning.
- Do the task with the quality and integrity Scripture requires.
- Notice the temptation to complain, perform for recognition, or escape.
- End by thanking God for the opportunity to serve through ordinary life.
The goal is not to manufacture a spiritual feeling. The goal is to practice undivided faithfulness.
A necessary correction for disciple-making
Disciple-making does not happen only during formal meetings. People learn what following Jesus looks like by watching speech, work, apology, generosity, patience, time, and endurance. Yet Chapter 10 should not be turned into the catalogue’s primary disciple-making page; that broader mission belongs in later Kingdom Pathways.
For the specific use of 1 Corinthians 10:31 in this chapter, see the passage-focused article.