Spiritual But Not Religious

 

I hear people speak of being ‘spiritual but not religious’ or about being against organized religion. These are just two ways of saying, “I want to define spiritual activity by my own rules,” which is exactly what Adam and Eve did in their attempt to interpret reality by their own knowledge and wisdom. 

To rightly understand the Christian faith, one needs to go back to the beginning and build from there. The incarnation took place and when Jesus was thirty years old, he began his ministry. He did so by choosing twelve disciples, whom he instructed in right thinking, right words, and right actions. He did not tell them to look within themselves and figure it out.

After his death, resurrection, and ascension, these disciples became apostles and by the filling and guidance of the Holy Spirit, they began traveling around the known world, preaching the gospel, and establishing churches based on the teaching they learned from Jesus. They did speak ambiguously, telling people to look within themselves and form their beliefs based on their experiences. What Jesus taught the apostles; the apostles taught the first-generation church.

These churches were established in unity, all believing the same doctrines and practicing the same faith. Within a few generations, other people came along and began to introduce contrary doctrines and practices, which required the churches to gather as a unity and say, “here are the doctrines that the church has always believed and taught.” Anything outside of or contrary to that apostolic teaching was rejected and identified as heresy.  

The foundation of the Christian church is that which Jesus taught the apostles, and what the apostles taught to the first-generation church. It was specific, articulate, identifiable doctrine and those beliefs and practices have been handed down to this day, protected and guided by the Holy Spirit within the Church.

The Awkward Questions

 

It is curious to start identifying and understanding how many things in life have been influenced or formed by Protestantism. The use of money, the approach to employment, the form of government, marriage. Romance/emotions/dating, the raising of children, appearance/fashion/modesty, the use of entertainment, housing/family connectivity, the centrality of the church, and the methodology of/labeling of crime / sin.

But one needs to step back and, with an understanding of the theological flexibility that exists in the Protestant/American Evangelical world, question the validity of these relatively new beliefs and practices. We should be asking the question, “What has the Church always believed and taught in this regard?”

Remembering Context

 

It’s all about context. When someone speaks or writes, they are writing within a cultural context, within a personal context, within historical context, and from a foundation of genetics and family influence. The million variables that make up a person cannot be fully understood by another.

Some people are open to dialog which can lead to a change of perspective, but some people are not. Simply winning an argument does not necessarily mean that you have changed the person’s mind. Someone will not be convinced of their logical or historical errors simply by being shown that they are wrong, especially if that error is used as a weapon to humiliate them.  

Putting our effort into understanding someone else’s perspective is vastly superior to simply proving them wrong. Learning to ask the right questions, especially of ourselves will lead to growth and deeper understanding. Being willing to admit that we don't have all the answers and that someone else's perspective may be valuable will move us and others ahead.

Reinventing the Wheel

 

I would say that it is odd that so many people identify as “spiritual but not religious” but this mentality fits perfectly with the Protestant idea of individualism. Because this idea is the foundation to Western culture, what we are seeing today is the fruit of that misguided thought. It began en masse when Luther and Calvin went solo from the church in Rome. There is no argument that the Roman church had greatly deviated from the historic Christian faith.

Instead of trying to start a new church, Luther and Calvin (and the Anabaptists as well) should have connected with the rest of the body of Christ, that is, the churches in Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople/Moscow. Rome was an unfortunate deviation / break off from the rest of Christendom. The creation of Protestantism was a tragic mistake that has led to a terrible global splintering of those who take upon themselves the label of Christian.

Relationship as the Goal

 

We need to stop thinking of Christianity as a philosophical system or a book of rules to follow. Those two categories originate either from European rationalism or Old Covenant/Jewish thinking. Prior to the incarnation, men were childish and enslaved to sin and death but with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, mankind is now free to pursue holiness and to love.

God restoring mankind to a place of freedom puts him in a place where he can have a relationship with God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the Church. The relationship between God and man has always been about relationship and within “the people of God”. Loving God and loving one’s neighbor is the framework we are to build our lives within. Our goal is not a checklist of “things not to do” but of loving and being loved.