I'll admit...this post is slightly informed, slightly speculative. Take from it what you will. It's in response to a very special someone who wanted a quick explanation.
There seems to be a growing population of individuals claiming to be "spiritual but not religious". For a majority of church-going individuals, this seems weird. So allow me, as an outsider looking into the phenomenon, to add some clarification.
From what I've seen, this seems to be on the heels of what is starting to look like a rejection of organized religion, largely among young adults. This kind of rhetoric yields individuals who claim to "love Jesus and hate religion" or who are "spiritual but not religious". It generally stems from a discontent with the churches that the individual grew up with, manifested in perceived hypocrisy or bigotry. In other words, "The church I grew up with was full of hypocrites and close-minded people and I wasn't really comfortable in that atmosphere. I still love and believe in Jesus but I'm not really into the whole organized religion thing."
In response to that, I can see where people come from. There are some churches that are full of hypocrites. But hypocrisy is not nearly as widespread as you think it is. Talking about how bad sin is but also sinning as an individual is not hypocrisy. It's a reality of every Christian's life. We are called to hate sin, but we also face the reality of the weakness of our flesh and the fact that we are bound to disobey from time to time. But by the grace of the Holy Spirit, He prompts us to repentance and brings us back into the fold. What true hypocrisy is is condemning sin while living an unrepentantly sinful lifestyle, which is, in essence, a sign that you're not really a Christian (Don't blame me for this, blame the writer of 1 John, among others). This is, hopefully, very, very rare in the Church. And besides that, don't throw out organized religion as a whole just because the church you were involved with did some stuff wrong. That is, I believe, a grave mistake. My big issue with the "love Jesus, hate religion" thing is that it doesn't make any sense. Jesus loved "religion". He instituted a church (Matthew 16:18). He spoke on discipline within that church (Matthew 18:15-20). He was a faithful and observant Jew (evident when you read the Gospels). If you want an anti-religion poster boy, Jesus is absolutely not the man to look to. So I think it calls for us to look at religion differently. We should probably look at it like Jesus did: worship of the Triune God in spirit and truth, serving the poor, widow, and orphan, and engaging in the community of the Body of Christ. That's true religion.
Note: "Spiritual but not religious" can also refer to an undefined theism: the thought that God and the divine exist in some way but that no religion has it completely right. One of my best friends classifies himself as an "agnostic theist" who believes exactly that (from what I can tell).
Other note: Another good buddy of mine said this: "It's hilarious because saying you're spiritual is about as specific as saying you're physical." I'm inclined to agree.
http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/The_Difference_Between_Religion_and_Spirituality_a1888.html
ReplyDeleteI've found the above enlightening. I couldn't access the other article I remember reading, but the whole idea of a judgmental God and rules within religion (take LGBT issues or any other instances of less than unconditional love) point to intentions of control (closed) vs. intentions of learning to love self and others (open). Of course, these are both realities of life, as are our ability to choose our intention in any given moment. Thus, it seems many people are "waking up" and taking responsibility for their own feelings and finding a way of being "spiritual, not religious" that is true for them and allows more flow to occur in a state of openness. Not saying religion is "bad" or "wrong". I think this calls us to look at ourselves differently (changing what we want to believe and thus finding a new choice, new belief, that did not exist inside religion), and therefore our perceptions of religion change, leading us to alter our association with religion.
The question that article raises is what the "spiritual source of love and wisdom" is. If that's just a glorified self, then I think that fits this person's view of "spirituality", which I don't personally see as incredibly helpful. But of course, this is because I believe in a personal God who exists apart from His creation, but is intimately aware and active within it. Thus He is the discrete spiritual source of love and wisdom and any other source I tap into is either false or finite. But hey, that's just me and the Bible-believing Christian body. I have no problem with "waking up" and being responsible for your feelings, but I also have a responsibility to search for Truth. When I find that answer, I pour myself into it. I have found that that answer is Christ.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the phenomenon and heard the language and am completely baffled. The suggestion is "I love Jesus but not really into organized religion." Ostensibly it's because of "hypocrites" in the church. I'm not so sure. The reason seems abundantly clear. "Organized religion" puts limitations on me that I don't like.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really baffling is the phrase "I love Jesus" in that concept. It was God who organized religion in the Old Testament. It was Jesus who said, "I will build my Church." The suggestion is, "I love Jesus ... just not His plans for His people."
Commenter A hit it on the head. I think it is exactly truth that their goal is "finding a way of being 'spiritual, not religious' that is true for them", with a special focus on "true for them." It is rationally incoherent. True it true, not relatively true. Jesus said, "I am the ... Truth." But, don't worry, Jesus, we'll figure out what is "true for us". And then we'll assume you're in favor of it.
Gotta stand with you on that. It's the whole issue of submitting yourself to an Authority and Standard of Truth outside of yourself, not creating or "discovering" your own truth. And that authority is Jesus Christ himself.
DeleteThanks for addressing this issue per my request! :) Very insightful... I am also thrilled to see that you have sparked some dialogue!
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to be of service!
DeleteI've gotten into the habit of the "into relationships, not religion" (especially with my non-follower friends) because I've seen the way the world has defined religion and, as mentioned above, I would really like to distance my faith from that association. However, after reading this, I will definitely have to be more careful as to not denounce religion as Christ established it, but perhaps to redefine what religion has begun to mean to the outsider looking in.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm diggin this blog. :) I was going to include a bible verse in relation to the blog, but I can't even think of it. Anywho, continue with the doing it big in Yale!