Joe is a Christian, and everyone knows it. The way he lives, the things he does and does not do, the beliefs he holds, the manner in which he speaks–all of these provide evidence that Joe is in a state of spiritual health. How do we know this is the case? Well, just look at Joe’s resume:
1. Joe attends church two to four times a week.
2. Joe regularly employs spiritual language, using terms like “saved,” “Lord,” “born again,” “Calvary” and lots of others.
3. When Joe is truly showing the depth of his spirituality, he can be found mouthing important words like “sanctification,” “theology,” “propitiation,” “substitution,” “Calvinism,” “regeneration,” “predestined,” “supralapsarianism,” and a host of others.
4. Joe often says things like, “The Lord did such and such” or “The Lord spoke to me.”
5. Joe doesn’t drink or curse, or approve of those who do.
6. Joe leads a Sunday School class, and he even does a bit of preaching. Sometimes, he’ll throw in a Greek word or two when he’s teaching.
7. Joe knows all the acceptable authors and frequently urges others to read them, as well.
8. Joe is always careful to wear a smile and has a reputation for being composed, calm, and content.
9. Joe has a reputation for witnessing.
10. Joe takes his leadership role seriously, and Joe’s wife is happily submissive. On those occasions when Joe’s wife isn’t cooperating, Joe is quick to request prayer for his rebellious wife.
11. Joe really wants his loved ones to join him at church and to become a part of the believing community. Because joining the faithful is a sure sign of spirituality, Joe makes every effort to encourage his loved ones to join him at church.
12. Joe gives his money to numerous Christian causes, some of them related to missions.
For these and other reasons, Joe’s spiritual health is assured, and his reputation untarnished. Clearly, Joe has made much progress in the faith, and everyone knows it.
Now, before I go any further, it is important to recognize that many of the things I’ve mentioned are indeed potentially helpful ways to manifest one’s walk of faith. The terminology and the practices listed here can be a valid outworking of true faith.
Still, for all of the potentially good signs, for all of the sincere efforts to embody the faith, for all of the energy used to promote this religious paradigm, for all of the accolades that have come Joe’s way, none of the above statements about Joe is directly related to his faithfulness and spirituality.
Please understand that the point is not simply that we are all susceptible to hypocrisy. Clearly, that is a part of what is involved, and it is certainly true that we can all tend to be fakes. But there is more here than double-mindedness, for there is also present in the above examples a type of faulty reasoning. While many of the things Joe is involved in can be valid expressions of the faith, none of them gets at the essence of the faith. For example:
1. Joe attends church two to four times a week.
While the Bible talks about fellowship, accountability, and community, it does not define spirituality in terms of how many times per week we should meet. Neither does it say that more is necessarily better. We assume that, but Scripture does not.
2. Joe regularly employs spiritual language, using terms like “saved,” “Lord,” “born again,” “Calvary” and lots of others.
&
3. When Joe is truly showing the depth of his spirituality, he can be found mouthing important words like “sanctification,” “theology,” “propitiation,” “substitution,” “Calvinism,” “regeneration,” “predestined,” and a host of others.
While certain religious terms are drawn from Scripture, the mere use of such terms is never a sure guide for determining a person’s spiritual health. What’s more, just because we throw around religious terms does not mean that we have properly understood them. Likewise, the fact that we make frequent use of theological terms does not assure us that we have experienced (or are experiencing) the reality to which the terms point.
4. Joe often says things like, “The Lord did such and such” or “The Lord spoke to me.”
So far as “The Lord says” language, my first impulse is to ask, “How do you know?” How do you know that the Lord has spoken? What distinguishes your feelings that the Lord has spoken to you from the feeling of some anti-Christian? Indeed, are you sure that want to go out on that limb and take credit for having “gotten a word from God” when the Bible itself cautions us to avoid putting words in God’s mouth. Though I do not doubt that God can and does speak to and through us, I am very skeptical about the sloppy and often silly ways that we claim to have heard from Him. At any rate, merely declaring that the Lord has said such-and-such is not the same thing as having actually heard His voice.
5. Joe doesn’t drink or curse, or approve of those who do.
Though drunkenness is condemned in Scripture, drinking never is. When we attempt to be even more strict than Scripture, we take on the role of Pharisee, and we end up exuding arrogance. So far as cursing is concerned, that is, cursing as commonly understood, the Bible doesn’t have a lot to say. Cursing can indeed be a culturally unacceptable practice, and it certainly can indicate that our hearts are wrong. On the other hand, is it truly possible to measure spirituality by the way we string together vowels and consonants? I’m not really sure, but it does bother me that we are so damn prone to judge on such superficial matters. :-)
6. Joe leads a Sunday School class, and he even does a bit of preaching. Sometimes, he’ll throw in a Greek word or two when he’s teaching.
Teaching is potentially a good thing, and such teaching can take place via a traditional Sunday School class, a Sunday preaching assignment, or a Bible Study. But the mere fact that we teach does not mean that the content of what we express is accurate or true. Nor does it mean that we are somehow godly for being involved in such activities. As for Greek, it has its place. But my suspicion is that it is often used not so much as a means of communicating the truth but as an opportunity to show how “learned (and “spiritual”) we are.
7. Joe knows all the acceptable authors and frequently urges others to read them, as well.
Reading can be a wonderful tool for learning, but even here there are many dangers. Sometimes, a certain type of book is deemed acceptable, while other books are placed on our version of the index of forbidden books. Evangelicals that I’ve known have been particularly rigid here and have sometimes closed themselves off from the insights of those who don’t cross their “t’s” the same way they do.
8. Joe is always careful to wear a smile and has a reputation for being composed, calm, and content.
There is nothing wrong with smiling, and there can be a lot right about it. However, a smile can be very unspiritual when it reflects an inauthentic attitude. While love and joy and peace are conveyed through our lives and mannerisms, a plastic, make-believe attitude is not spiritual. Furthermore, it can actually hurt others. Some will be deceived by your “too nice” antics, while others (those more discerning?) will be suspicious of everything you say or do. Please understand , I am not for a moment advocating a frowning persona; a joyful demeanor is the outworking of the Spirit's work. On the other hand, so is authenticity, truthfulness, and a willingness to be real. Smiles can be good, but they are not a sure sign of genuine or healthy spirituality.
9. Joe has a reputation for witnessing.
Sharing the truth is part of the responsibility and privilege of all believers. Still, this does not mean that we are doing it correctly or wisely. It amazes me how formulaic we can be when it comes to evangelistic faithfulness. By many people’s standards, Jesus and Paul and most of the biblical characters were witnessing failures. Our techniques, words, attitudes, and expectations can easily become a cover for genuine love for others. Not only does witnessing by itself not necessarily indicate spirituality, but our views of evangelism can sometimes be in error.
10. Joe takes his leadership role seriously, and Joe’s wife is happily submissive. On those occasions when Joe’s wife isn’t cooperating, Joe is quick to request prayer for his rebellious wife.
An arrogant male dominance is way, way too common in many circles. This does not mean that men should become subservient wimps, of course, and in some circles this has become the new paradigm. But, however these things work out, women should never be minimized, devalued, or in any way abused. Too often, I afraid, this has been the case, and that in the name of spiritual health.
11. Joe really wants his loved ones to join him at church and to become a part of the believing community. Because joining the faithful is a sure sign of spirituality, Joe makes every effort to encourage his loved ones to join him at church.
The issue is not joining our assembly or attending our services but knowing God. To be honest, many of our churches are the exact opposite of what any normal, searching individual would desire. Of course we can always (conveniently) blame a person's lack of attendance on his or her sin, and sometimes this might be the case. But often, I suspect, we have confused conversion with church attendance, spiritual rejuvenation with adherence to our particular programs, truth with tradition.
12. Joe knows whose “in” and whose “out” when it comes to eternal matters of the soul.
Because we live in a certain world, it is common to take on the governing traits of that to which we are regularly exposed. In church circles, the above mentioned beliefs and practices can often take on a life of their own. Though we may know better, we start judging things like spiritual health by standards that are not biblical in any immediate sense. In some cases, in fact, they are downright erroneous. Perhaps the supreme example of this occurs when we assume that we know the spiritual state of another human being. I’m not saying that we cannot make reasonable assumptions, and I certainly don’t think we should be naive when it comes to a person’s spiritual well-being. All I’m saying is that, given our often skewed standards, we can often be very quick to judge matters about which we have no right. Think, for a moment, about Jesus’ ministry and the people to whom He ministered. Most often, it seems, He came to the rescue of individuals who were anything but religiously acceptable. Yet, in at least some cases, these same people had indeed experienced a new birth. Let me ask you. What do you think when you come across a person who is holding a beer, smoking a cigarette, using a few expletives? Of course we must avoid foolishness and naivete. However, we must also be careful not to make hasty judgments. Indeed, I don’t think God really cares what our evaluations are. Actually, I suspect that He often draws people to Himself who are not acceptable or spiritual by our standards. We must be careful not only to avoid hypocrisy but to reject the idea that spiritual health is determined by our ability to identify who is “in” and who is not.
Do I sound a bit too critical? Perhaps I am, but that is not my intention. Rather, I hope to draw your attention to the fact that true spirituality is just that, true and spiritual. True means genuine, consistent with reality, not spurious, and--if we want to be biblical about it--related to God. Spiritual means associated with the Spirit and His influence and activity in our lives.
While true spirituality makes an imprint and can indeed be measured ("You can tell a tree by its fruit, etc."), it is also somewhat hard to reduce to a formula or a rigid list of activities. Thus, while there are, shall we say, parameters for what it means to "look" like a Christian, the outworking of these is often less-than easy to pin down.
Okay, so what's the point? Simply that we are all prone to confuse our own versions of the faith--be they valid or invalid, correct or incorrect--with the faith itself. When we do this, we open ourselves up to the charge of hypocrisy, close ourselves off from new insights, and end up making the activity of the Spirit something that can be precisely outlined. Perhaps, Jesus had a better idea: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Yeah, I like that. Wind, Spirit . . . and spiritual life. :-)
1. Joe attends church two to four times a week.
2. Joe regularly employs spiritual language, using terms like “saved,” “Lord,” “born again,” “Calvary” and lots of others.
3. When Joe is truly showing the depth of his spirituality, he can be found mouthing important words like “sanctification,” “theology,” “propitiation,” “substitution,” “Calvinism,” “regeneration,” “predestined,” “supralapsarianism,” and a host of others.
4. Joe often says things like, “The Lord did such and such” or “The Lord spoke to me.”
5. Joe doesn’t drink or curse, or approve of those who do.
6. Joe leads a Sunday School class, and he even does a bit of preaching. Sometimes, he’ll throw in a Greek word or two when he’s teaching.
7. Joe knows all the acceptable authors and frequently urges others to read them, as well.
8. Joe is always careful to wear a smile and has a reputation for being composed, calm, and content.
9. Joe has a reputation for witnessing.
10. Joe takes his leadership role seriously, and Joe’s wife is happily submissive. On those occasions when Joe’s wife isn’t cooperating, Joe is quick to request prayer for his rebellious wife.
11. Joe really wants his loved ones to join him at church and to become a part of the believing community. Because joining the faithful is a sure sign of spirituality, Joe makes every effort to encourage his loved ones to join him at church.
12. Joe gives his money to numerous Christian causes, some of them related to missions.
For these and other reasons, Joe’s spiritual health is assured, and his reputation untarnished. Clearly, Joe has made much progress in the faith, and everyone knows it.
Now, before I go any further, it is important to recognize that many of the things I’ve mentioned are indeed potentially helpful ways to manifest one’s walk of faith. The terminology and the practices listed here can be a valid outworking of true faith.
Still, for all of the potentially good signs, for all of the sincere efforts to embody the faith, for all of the energy used to promote this religious paradigm, for all of the accolades that have come Joe’s way, none of the above statements about Joe is directly related to his faithfulness and spirituality.
Please understand that the point is not simply that we are all susceptible to hypocrisy. Clearly, that is a part of what is involved, and it is certainly true that we can all tend to be fakes. But there is more here than double-mindedness, for there is also present in the above examples a type of faulty reasoning. While many of the things Joe is involved in can be valid expressions of the faith, none of them gets at the essence of the faith. For example:
1. Joe attends church two to four times a week.
While the Bible talks about fellowship, accountability, and community, it does not define spirituality in terms of how many times per week we should meet. Neither does it say that more is necessarily better. We assume that, but Scripture does not.
2. Joe regularly employs spiritual language, using terms like “saved,” “Lord,” “born again,” “Calvary” and lots of others.
&
3. When Joe is truly showing the depth of his spirituality, he can be found mouthing important words like “sanctification,” “theology,” “propitiation,” “substitution,” “Calvinism,” “regeneration,” “predestined,” and a host of others.
While certain religious terms are drawn from Scripture, the mere use of such terms is never a sure guide for determining a person’s spiritual health. What’s more, just because we throw around religious terms does not mean that we have properly understood them. Likewise, the fact that we make frequent use of theological terms does not assure us that we have experienced (or are experiencing) the reality to which the terms point.
4. Joe often says things like, “The Lord did such and such” or “The Lord spoke to me.”
So far as “The Lord says” language, my first impulse is to ask, “How do you know?” How do you know that the Lord has spoken? What distinguishes your feelings that the Lord has spoken to you from the feeling of some anti-Christian? Indeed, are you sure that want to go out on that limb and take credit for having “gotten a word from God” when the Bible itself cautions us to avoid putting words in God’s mouth. Though I do not doubt that God can and does speak to and through us, I am very skeptical about the sloppy and often silly ways that we claim to have heard from Him. At any rate, merely declaring that the Lord has said such-and-such is not the same thing as having actually heard His voice.
5. Joe doesn’t drink or curse, or approve of those who do.
Though drunkenness is condemned in Scripture, drinking never is. When we attempt to be even more strict than Scripture, we take on the role of Pharisee, and we end up exuding arrogance. So far as cursing is concerned, that is, cursing as commonly understood, the Bible doesn’t have a lot to say. Cursing can indeed be a culturally unacceptable practice, and it certainly can indicate that our hearts are wrong. On the other hand, is it truly possible to measure spirituality by the way we string together vowels and consonants? I’m not really sure, but it does bother me that we are so damn prone to judge on such superficial matters. :-)
6. Joe leads a Sunday School class, and he even does a bit of preaching. Sometimes, he’ll throw in a Greek word or two when he’s teaching.
Teaching is potentially a good thing, and such teaching can take place via a traditional Sunday School class, a Sunday preaching assignment, or a Bible Study. But the mere fact that we teach does not mean that the content of what we express is accurate or true. Nor does it mean that we are somehow godly for being involved in such activities. As for Greek, it has its place. But my suspicion is that it is often used not so much as a means of communicating the truth but as an opportunity to show how “learned (and “spiritual”) we are.
7. Joe knows all the acceptable authors and frequently urges others to read them, as well.
Reading can be a wonderful tool for learning, but even here there are many dangers. Sometimes, a certain type of book is deemed acceptable, while other books are placed on our version of the index of forbidden books. Evangelicals that I’ve known have been particularly rigid here and have sometimes closed themselves off from the insights of those who don’t cross their “t’s” the same way they do.
8. Joe is always careful to wear a smile and has a reputation for being composed, calm, and content.
There is nothing wrong with smiling, and there can be a lot right about it. However, a smile can be very unspiritual when it reflects an inauthentic attitude. While love and joy and peace are conveyed through our lives and mannerisms, a plastic, make-believe attitude is not spiritual. Furthermore, it can actually hurt others. Some will be deceived by your “too nice” antics, while others (those more discerning?) will be suspicious of everything you say or do. Please understand , I am not for a moment advocating a frowning persona; a joyful demeanor is the outworking of the Spirit's work. On the other hand, so is authenticity, truthfulness, and a willingness to be real. Smiles can be good, but they are not a sure sign of genuine or healthy spirituality.
9. Joe has a reputation for witnessing.
Sharing the truth is part of the responsibility and privilege of all believers. Still, this does not mean that we are doing it correctly or wisely. It amazes me how formulaic we can be when it comes to evangelistic faithfulness. By many people’s standards, Jesus and Paul and most of the biblical characters were witnessing failures. Our techniques, words, attitudes, and expectations can easily become a cover for genuine love for others. Not only does witnessing by itself not necessarily indicate spirituality, but our views of evangelism can sometimes be in error.
10. Joe takes his leadership role seriously, and Joe’s wife is happily submissive. On those occasions when Joe’s wife isn’t cooperating, Joe is quick to request prayer for his rebellious wife.
An arrogant male dominance is way, way too common in many circles. This does not mean that men should become subservient wimps, of course, and in some circles this has become the new paradigm. But, however these things work out, women should never be minimized, devalued, or in any way abused. Too often, I afraid, this has been the case, and that in the name of spiritual health.
11. Joe really wants his loved ones to join him at church and to become a part of the believing community. Because joining the faithful is a sure sign of spirituality, Joe makes every effort to encourage his loved ones to join him at church.
The issue is not joining our assembly or attending our services but knowing God. To be honest, many of our churches are the exact opposite of what any normal, searching individual would desire. Of course we can always (conveniently) blame a person's lack of attendance on his or her sin, and sometimes this might be the case. But often, I suspect, we have confused conversion with church attendance, spiritual rejuvenation with adherence to our particular programs, truth with tradition.
12. Joe knows whose “in” and whose “out” when it comes to eternal matters of the soul.
Because we live in a certain world, it is common to take on the governing traits of that to which we are regularly exposed. In church circles, the above mentioned beliefs and practices can often take on a life of their own. Though we may know better, we start judging things like spiritual health by standards that are not biblical in any immediate sense. In some cases, in fact, they are downright erroneous. Perhaps the supreme example of this occurs when we assume that we know the spiritual state of another human being. I’m not saying that we cannot make reasonable assumptions, and I certainly don’t think we should be naive when it comes to a person’s spiritual well-being. All I’m saying is that, given our often skewed standards, we can often be very quick to judge matters about which we have no right. Think, for a moment, about Jesus’ ministry and the people to whom He ministered. Most often, it seems, He came to the rescue of individuals who were anything but religiously acceptable. Yet, in at least some cases, these same people had indeed experienced a new birth. Let me ask you. What do you think when you come across a person who is holding a beer, smoking a cigarette, using a few expletives? Of course we must avoid foolishness and naivete. However, we must also be careful not to make hasty judgments. Indeed, I don’t think God really cares what our evaluations are. Actually, I suspect that He often draws people to Himself who are not acceptable or spiritual by our standards. We must be careful not only to avoid hypocrisy but to reject the idea that spiritual health is determined by our ability to identify who is “in” and who is not.
Do I sound a bit too critical? Perhaps I am, but that is not my intention. Rather, I hope to draw your attention to the fact that true spirituality is just that, true and spiritual. True means genuine, consistent with reality, not spurious, and--if we want to be biblical about it--related to God. Spiritual means associated with the Spirit and His influence and activity in our lives.
While true spirituality makes an imprint and can indeed be measured ("You can tell a tree by its fruit, etc."), it is also somewhat hard to reduce to a formula or a rigid list of activities. Thus, while there are, shall we say, parameters for what it means to "look" like a Christian, the outworking of these is often less-than easy to pin down.
Okay, so what's the point? Simply that we are all prone to confuse our own versions of the faith--be they valid or invalid, correct or incorrect--with the faith itself. When we do this, we open ourselves up to the charge of hypocrisy, close ourselves off from new insights, and end up making the activity of the Spirit something that can be precisely outlined. Perhaps, Jesus had a better idea: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Yeah, I like that. Wind, Spirit . . . and spiritual life. :-)
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