Compartmentalized faith and Christian identity
Reflecting on the 2026 Tactical Games season, I followed a rabbit hole about my Christian identity. In The Tactical Games Iowa Regional Event, I went in with my eyes off God. I had put my Christian identity in the back seat. I realized it midway through and knew I shouldn’t be doing this. That realization led me to dig deeper into what the Bible says. It also asks how the first century Christ follower viewed their identity.
As Christians we should always go to the Bible for the source of truth. This is because the Bible is the word of God. We see in 2 Timothy 3:16:
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
-2 Timothy 3:16(NASB ’95)
Throughout this article I quote both the KJV and the NASB ’95. I use whichever one lands the point clearest
Then in 2 Peter 1:21 states:
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
-2 Peter 1:21(NASB ’95)
This tells us Scripture is from God and that it is the true word from Him. Knowing this, we should refer back to the Bible to help guide us in our decisions. However, we need to remember to look at this with a first century eye. Meaning we need to take the context of what is going on in the moment and then we can apply it. Without this we would be lost.
The Two-Version Problem
This is known as compartmentalized faith. It is when a person keeps their Christian beliefs separate from other parts of their lives. I have seen this most commonly at work.
I have had a ton of different jobs and I have seen it in every one of them. Most people, including myself, keep our Christian beliefs out of decision making at work.
I saw it in Law Enforcement. I worked alongside men and women who called themselves Christians and would not pray for the people they were sent to help. I am not casting judgment here. I have been that officer.
There was a time I could have prayed with a man in distress and didn’t. He had been drinking, gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, and witnessed abuse toward their child. He asked me for a hug. I couldn’t give him that for officer safety reasons. But there was a moment right there where I could have prayed for him, and I didn’t.
It seems so easy for us to do. Why is this such a common practice for us?
After some praying, research, and reading the Bible, I came to one common answer to that question. It is easy for us in the modern age because our daily lives are split up into work, home, digital, and church. This is compounded by our busy lives, where we are forced to focus on one task at a time. Social norms have moved toward expecting neutral behavior, which pushes faith out of sight because it might be considered “offensive.” Work rules often demand a strict view on productivity and profits with no room to express your faith. This is what leads to easily keeping our faith out of the conversation in different environments.
Compartmentalized Faith Came From (Hint: Not the Bible)
So where did the compartmentalization faith come from?
It started with Greek dualism, a philosophical and religious view from ancient Greece that splits reality, the cosmos, or human nature into two separate and opposing realms. This was the opposite of the Hebrew way, which we see in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
-Deuteronomy 6:4-9(NASB ’95)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is the opening paragraph of what is known as the Shema, which takes its name from its first word, shema, meaning “hear.” But Shema also carries the weight of “obey.” Biblical Hebrew doesn’t have a separate word for obedience the way English does. It uses Shema. Hearing and heeding are the same action. So this is a declaration to hear and to obey that “you shall,” meaning you are commanded to love God with all your heart and soul. Look at where that command reaches: when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, when you rise up. That is every posture of an ordinary day. This is a strong faith woven into everything they did.
The early church knew better than this. The church didn’t stay there. By the medieval period a two-tier system had settled in. You had the clergy pursuing the sacred, and then you had everyone else, living in the ordinary world and paying the bills for the ones doing the real work. We officially rejected that idea centuries ago. Most of us still quietly believe it. Ask yourself if you have ever thought your pastor’s work counted more than yours does.
Then came the Reformation and the pushback. Martin Luther taught that a farmer in his field or a mother in her kitchen was doing work just as holy as a monk in a monastery. He called it vocation. Your job is a calling from God, not a lesser thing you do while the real Christians handle the real work. Put that next to the priesthood of all believers and the two-tier system comes down to the studs. Every believer is a priest. Every honest job is holy ground.
What Scripture Actually Says About “Whatever You Do”
The Bible has a lot to say about living separate lives. Let’s start with Colossians 3:17 and 3:23. Colossians 3:17 says:
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
-Colossians 3:17(KJV)
“Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed.” That phrase covers our entire life as believers. It covers the way we talk, how we work, how we treat others, and how we spend our free time. All of it should glorify God. There is no split between the “spiritual” parts of life and the “secular” parts of life. Jesus’ character and authority guide every word we speak and every action we take. We need to realize that we are acting as Jesus’ representative. That is a huge mind shift, because you will start asking yourself whether Jesus would approve of this. If the answer is no, then we shouldn’t do it. It also means we shouldn’t split up who we are in Christ.
Now let’s look at Colossians 3:23:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
-Colossians 3:23(KJV)
Paul is calling out that all things we do are for God, and not for man. We are not working to please our manager or supervisor. This goes further. We aren’t doing all things for the culture either. We do things for God. Scripture is pointing to how we should do all things for the Lord, and that it shouldn’t be segmented from the rest.
1 Corinthians 10:31 shows another example. Even the most mundane task should be done for the glory of God:
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
-1 Corinthians 10:31(NASB ’95)
If the mundane task should be for the glory of the Lord, then all your tasks should be for the glory of the Lord. If you are a Christ follower, then all your life should reflect this.
Romans 12:1-2 states:
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Paul is calling us Christ followers to offer up our entire lives to God. It is a natural, grateful response to God’s mercy. We are giving up our whole life and all the things in it to God. There is no segmenting out different parts of our lives. This is a shift from the worldly habits of the modern age.
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;
-1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)
1 Peter 2:9 defines our spiritual identity and our divine purpose as Christians. We are a “chosen generation,” meaning we are intentionally chosen and brought into God’s family. This is done with a spiritual rebirth, regardless of where we come from. We are a “royal priesthood,” which is worth sitting with for a second. Priesthood isn’t a job title held by other people. It is a category that covers all of us. We are a “holy nation,” meaning we are set apart from the culture. We are called to live differently from the culture, and we should reflect God’s character. I am not saying we need to be perfect like God, because we are not, but we should do everything in our power to reflect His character. Finally we are a “peculiar people,” meaning we belong completely to God. Another example that our identity is in God, and that we should reflect this in all the things we do.
When we look at modern society it is easy to separate things out. However, the Bible calls this out. Matthew 6:24:
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
-Matthew 6:24(NASB ’95)
Jesus calls out that no one can serve two opposing masters. The person will be devoted to one over the other. And notice He doesn’t say it is hard. He says you can’t. The same can be said about compartmentalizing your identity in Christ from the rest of your life. When you get down to it, you are serving two masters, and you can’t serve them equally.
James 1:22-27 outlines this:
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
-James 1:22-27(NASB ’95)
James is outlining that you cannot just hear the word of God and do nothing. You must also do what God outlines in the Bible. We should strive to be more Christlike each and every day and be doers of God’s word. Obeying God’s teachings brings spiritual freedom and blessing. The culture will tell you it brings strict, joyless legalism.
James goes on to define pure religion as keeping oneself unstained by the world. When I read that, a light bulb went off in my head. To be unstained by the world is to not live like the world, and to live a life guided by Jesus instead. The world teaches us that religion is separate from the rest of our lives. That is a lie, and it shows exactly why we shouldn’t separate ourselves as Christians. We should be Christians in any setting.
Finally, in Revelation we see what happens to lukewarm Christians:
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
-Revelations 3:15-16(KJV)
I know a majority of people have read Revelation 3:15-16. However, there is another key point being brought up here. Being segmented in your life is what makes us lukewarm, and Jesus said He would “spew” us out. We can’t be a true Christian if we are not doing all things for God. Meaning there isn’t a different version of us for work, or when we are competing. We should be a Christian in all settings. We should be on fire for the Lord in all the things we do.
After studying the scriptures it was hard hitting for me. I should be set apart in the things I do. I should be the light in the dark places we go.
How the Early Church Lived It
As a research nerd in general, I like to go down rabbit holes. I do this with shooting, history, and of course the Bible. We as Christians can learn a lot from the early church, and I was curious how they lived their lives. I know most people are thinking we are in the modern day and we have advanced so much. That is true, but we can still learn from history. So how did the early church live?
They Had Nowhere to Compartmentalize To
Looking back at the early church, they literally had no option to compartmentalize. For most of the church’s first three hundred years, dedicated church buildings were the exception. They gathered in private homes, rented rooms, and public places.
Believers met in domestic spaces known as house churches. They shared meals together. In public they gathered at the Temple in Jerusalem early on, in public halls, and in local synagogues before facing exclusion. They also gathered at burial sites outside the city walls for memorial meals during the Roman persecutions. The earliest known Christian building we have is the Dura-Europos house church, dating to 233-256 AD.
I would even say the early church didn’t have a choice, because they faced persecution for being Christians. They still didn’t shy away from being Christian all the time. At times this meant death for them and their families, but they were bold in faith all the time.
Outsiders Named Them Because They Were Impossible to Miss
The early church was named by the culture around them. We know this because in Acts 11:26 we see:
26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
In Antioch the culture gave the disciples of Christ a name: Christians. This tells us the culture knew they lived differently and didn’t hide away from being Christ followers. They lived out being Christians in all parts of their lives. Then they took that term and were proud of it.
“Jesus Is Lord” Was a Public Confession, Not a Private One
The early church used the phrase “Jesus is Lord,” and it was a public confession. It comes from the Greek Kyrios Iesous. Kyrios meant “lord” or “master.” The Roman Empire used this title to demand worship and absolute allegiance to Caesar. It declared that the Emperor of Rome was divine. Christians publicly rejected this by calling Jesus the true Kyrios.
In certain provinces and under certain governors, this was a death sentence. By stating it, the early church knew they could be thrown in jail, tortured, or executed. If the early church was that bold in their faith and didn’t shy away, then we should be the same in all spaces. We don’t face death when we say “Jesus is Lord.”
We also know a confession like this was a visible and audible act of joining a new community. That in turn separated the church from the surrounding culture. Rome didn’t police private belief. A Sunday-only faith would have been perfectly legal. That should concern us as Christians, because a private faith is a form of conforming to the culture rather than living out what we say we believe.
They Paid for It at Work
The early Christians paid a massive economic and social price to live out their faith. Ancient workplaces were entirely integrated with pagan idolatry. Trade guilds had a patron god or goddess. Guild meetings were held at pagan temples or in halls dedicated to those deities. Business meetings included a sacrifice to the patron god.
If early Christians chose to follow Christ, they were cut off from trade networks, cut off from their income, and alienated from their community. Following Christ was not a private belief. It affected every part of their lives. They still chose to follow Christ, and they didn’t shift to a Sunday-only type of Christianity. They didn’t compromise.
Think about what that actually means. They walked away from money to avoid bowing to a god at a business meeting. Most of us won’t bring up our faith in a meeting because it might be awkward.
An Outsider’s Description
Looking into church history we come across Pliny the Younger. Pliny was a Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus. He wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan asking for official guidance on how to deal with the growing Christian population. In the letter Pliny states that Christians worshiped Christ as a God, sang hymns together, bound themselves by oath to do no evil, and ate meals together.
Sit with the source for a second. This is not a Christian writing about Christians. This is a hostile Roman official describing them to his emperor, and even he could see that these people met before dawn, swore off theft and fraud and adultery, and then went to work. Ordinary commerce, extraordinary conduct. No separation between the two.
The Epistle to Diognetus
The Epistle to Diognetus is a letter from an anonymous 2nd century Christian describing how Christians lived in society. The letter defines an “all-in” Christian life as one where believers fully participate in everyday earthly society while keeping their loyalty to God. They were indistinguishable in dress, food, and custom, and distinguished entirely by conduct. This outlines again that we should be living out our faith in all areas of our life. There shouldn’t be a separation.
What This Looks Like at the Range, the Job, and the Kitchen Table
Now that we’ve established we shouldn’t be compartmentalizing ourselves as Christians, what does this look like in real life? It means we should do all things to honor God and to glorify what Jesus has done for us as sinners. That includes work.
On the Clock
It is easy to shift to a different version of yourself at work. You are dealing with a lot of stressors. Difficult clients or coworkers and fast approaching deadlines all pull on us to be a different person. This is exactly the time to lean into your identity in Christ, because it lessens the stress and the burden rather than adding to it.
I have been blessed to not separate who I am in Christ at work. I worked remote jobs early on, which let me set my foundation of not compromising my faith. That allowed me to be bold and strong when I went back into an office. Now I am even more blessed, because my boss and coworkers are all strong Christians.
Work is the best place to show God’s mercy, kindness, and love. Including to the people you think don’t deserve it. That coworker who takes credit for your work. The client who moves the deadline and blames you for missing it. The supervisor who has never once given you the benefit of the doubt.
None of us deserved the mercy and grace we were given. God gave it anyway. If we actually believe that, then we don’t get to hand out mercy based on who has earned it, because we didn’t earn ours. That is the part that is hard. That is also the part that people notice, and it says more than anything you could tell them about yourself.
On The Line
We should be looking for opportunities to share love, mercy, and grace with others. This glorifies God and expresses that all the things we do should be for the Lord. A great place to do that is during competitions.
Whether you are the one shooting or you are there to support your family or a loved one, we should find those moments to pray for people. When an athlete just bombed their stage, look to pray with them and ask how they are doing. These are all moments to be the answer to someone’s prayer.
If you are the one competing, remember God is using you whether you are in first place or last. God will use us in our strengths as well as in our weaknesses. And remember to be Christlike when you are gassed or losing during a stage. Anybody can be gracious when the run goes well. The stage where everything fell apart is the one people are actually watching. We should be set apart from the culture, and that is where it shows.
At Home
I have noticed that if you are not intentional about being an all-in Christian at work, the compartmentalizing spills into the home. This is a huge error, because as Christians we need to guide our children and spouses into being all-in for Christ. God calls men and women to shepherd our children, and Scripture calls the man to lead spiritually in the home:
3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
– 1 Corinthians 11:3 (KJV)
Notice that the chain doesn’t stop with the man. The head of every man is Christ. You cannot lead a home toward something you have switched off for eight hours a day.
If a man is compartmentalizing at work, he is definitely doing it at home. It becomes the autopilot setting, and that has huge ramifications for the family as a whole. This is why it is important to be our true selves at work and at home.
I can already hear that it is hard to be a Christian at work. My response is that you need to be bold, because the early church didn’t shy away from it at work and it cost them more than we can even imagine.
The Zero Analogy
I know we have all heard this one before, but it is a perfect example of why being all-in matters. We can have the best quality parts and components on our rifles and pistols. If we don’t take the time to zero them, none of it matters.
And the error doesn’t stay small. A rifle that is a quarter inch off at 25 yards is a foot off at 300. Up close you might not even notice. Stretch the distance out and you miss every single shot.
Compartmentalizing works the same way. On a good week you won’t notice the gap between the man at church and the man at work. Stretch it across a season, a career, a marriage, and you will. The parts were never the problem. The alignment was.
This Isn’t a Call to Be Louder
Being an all-in Christian doesn’t mean you turn into one of those CrossFitters or vegans. You know what I am talking about. You meet them and within 30 seconds you already know they do CrossFit or that they are a vegan. (Don’t worry, I can make fun of them, because I am a vegan who used to do CrossFit.)
The same goes with being an uncompromising Christian. You don’t have to tell people within the first 30 seconds that you are a Christian, and you don’t have to get louder about your identity in Christ.
Think of Diognetus’s Christians. They were indistinguishable in dress and diet. They were marked by living differently in ordinary spaces, not by talking more in them.
To Make a Long Story Short
This article was born because I failed to be an all-in Christian. I realized it at The Tactical Games Iowa event. It was eye opening to lose sight of why I was there and who I was working for in the first place.
The early church didn’t have the option I gave myself that weekend. They met in each other’s houses, so there was no line between where they worshiped and where they lived. Outsiders had to invent a word for them because they were impossible to miss. They said “Jesus is Lord” out loud in an empire that punished it. They walked away from trade guilds and income rather than bow to a patron god at a business meeting.
Nothing about their faith was private, because they were never given the room to make it private.
We have the room. That is the problem.
There isn’t a different version of us for work, or for competition, or for when we walk through our own front door. There is one of you. Either Christ has all of it, or you are just managing the parts.
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