Some people say, “I don’t go to church, but I am spiritual,” or “I’m spiritual but not religious.”
“Some see the term ‘spiritual but not religious’ as indecisive… Others embrace it as an accurate way to describe themselves… the label applies to a growing share of Americans,” say Michael Lipka and Claire Geceqicz, writing for Pew Research.
Some people want to be spiritual — but do not want to belong to an organized religion.
Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity, pollster George Barna says.
The internet defines spirituality as “an individual's search for ultimate or sacred meaning, and purpose in life… a search for personal growth, religious experience, belief in a supernatural realm or afterlife, or to make sense of one’s own inner dimension.”
To be spiritual speaks of “personal practice and personal empowerment having to do with the deepest motivations of life,” the internet says.
A person can be spiritual, in the world’s eyes, and still be eternally lost.
RELIGION?
“To be religious conveys an institutional connotation, usually associated with Abrahamic traditions,” the internet says.
In other words, religious relates to attending worship services.
Some spiritual people want to simply live happy lives, help others, and develop qualities that religious people often develop — but they don’t want involvement with a traditional religion.
In the past, spirituality was associated with religion, deities [gods], the supernatural, and an afterlife, Wikipedia says.
But tradition no longer wins out.
HAPPY AND KIND?
One writer gives his definition of a spiritual person:
“A major sign of a spiritual person is that they are always happy and kind to others. They don’t like to degrade or criticize people. Instead, they always offer motivating and kind words, in hopes to make the world a better place.”
That’s pretty general.
AN ATHEIST’S DEFINITION
Wikipedia says some atheists define spiritual as “nurturing thoughts, emotions, words and actions that are in harmony with a belief that the entire universe is, in some way, connected; even if only by the mysterious flow of cause and effect.
“In contrast, those of a more New-Age disposition see spirituality as the active connection to some force-power-energy-spirit, facilitating a sense of a deep self.”
SEPARATE?
Some see spirituality and religion as separate.
William Irwin Thompson, a cultural historian and yogi, said, “Religion is not identical with spirituality; rather religion is the form spirituality takes in civilization.”
“Religion is a set of beliefs and rituals that claim to get a person in a right relationship with God, and spirituality is a focus on spiritual things and the spiritual world instead of physical/earthly things,” says GotQuestions.org.
Those who speak of spirituality outside of religion generally believe in the existence of many different spiritual paths.”
WITHIN ONESELF?
“One might say then, that a key difference is that religion is a type of formal external search, while spirituality is defined as a search within oneself,” Wikipedia says.
But a person can be spiritual — and even religious — and still be lost forever.
TRUE CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 2:7).
GotQuestions.org (GQO) answers the question “What is Christian spirituality?”:
“When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us “into all truth” (John 16:13).
“Part of that truth is taking the things of God and applying them to our lives… the believer then makes a choice to allow the Holy Spirit to control him/her.
“True Christian spirituality is based upon the extent to which a born-again believer allows the Holy Spirit to lead and control his or her life…
“The most common misconception about spirituality is that there are many forms of spirituality, and all are equally valid.”
Many people seem to be talking about being spiritual, but real Christians know the true spiritual path to God is found in what Jesus said about himself:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
