A False Sense of Spirituality

Most of us seem to struggle with understanding God things, spirituality, the Bible and where we fit in. That includes the preachers.

Some of the questions I have struggled to understand are: Why is it many of the people I have known who know the most Bible or are the most faithful to the church, are some of the meanest, judgmental, unkind or mentally unbalanced people I have ever met? Why is it that for many of us, claiming to know God and going to church doesn't seem to help us get our bad behavior under control? Why is it that many people I know who claim to be deeply spiritual are just a bit weird? Are spiritual and weird that same thing? Why is it that the more I learn about Christianity and the longer I hang out with God, the less I know for sure – the fewer rules I find to be valid?

The answers to many, but not all, of these questions are beginning to appear out of the fog as I continue to read and think and pray about them. And several of the answers seem to be linked to the same basic flaw in our thinking about how Christianity works. Many of us tra-la-la along through life, living as if we had good sense, with a false sense of security. Several things might contribute to this. Because nothing particularly bad has happened to us in the past, we begin to feel "bullet proof." For many, we think that because we live in the suburbs or in the country or in a certain neighborhood, we are safe from the possibility of any harm or alarm. It is interesting to see how many folks attach several impressive looking locks to their front and rear doors but fail to lock their windows and yet have no fear of home invasion. We think we are safe because we are careful to avoid traveling in "those neighborhoods."

When something does happen to us or something happens in our community or neighborhood, we are stunned. On the news we often hear people make statements like, "I can't believe this happened in our town. Things like that just don't happen here." Sure they do. Bad things can take place just about any place to just about anybody. Our sense of security is false. I am not suggesting that we become paranoid and seclude ourselves in fortified positions. I am just saying, we had better pay attention all the time because this is a tough old world we live in.

In a very similar way, I believe many Christians suffer from the delusion of a false sense of spirituality. In some cases this is caused by legalism. People join churches that tell them what to think and do with the unspoken guarantee that if they follow the rules God will be happy with them. Unfortunately, this is much too shallow a take on what it means to be a Christian and have a relationship with God. Especially when you consider that Jesus came to set us free from the law of works. We are not called to be rule followers, we are called to be God followers.

Some have a false sense of spirituality because they come from a Christian family. Because their parents were good Christians they assume they are, too. Do they think being Christian is a genetic thing; something they inherit from their parents? Along that same line of thinking are the people who believe that because they attend church or, at least, have their name on a church roll, that somehow makes them spiritually okay. I think it was Billy Sunday who first said, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than sitting in a garage will make you a car." A more "evangelical" take on this concept are those who have recited the "sinner's prayer," and rarely give God another thought, and think they have their ticket punched and are on their way to heaven.

Worship is another spiritually confusing exercise. It works like this. A person attends a worship service that is really great. By really great, I don't mean that God was glorified, I mean the worshipper attendee enjoyed the service, it was done according to his or her concept of how worship is supposed to be done, it was done according to their tastes and their emotional needs were met. We fail to notice that, like most in our lives, the service was good if I liked it. After all, it is all about me. Such an exercise lends itself to feelings of false spiritually because, even if the worship really is spiritual, the worshipper confuses a good spiritual experience for their spirituality. They think that because they have felt spiritual, they are spiritual. When, in reality, spiritually is not about goose bumps, teardrops, warm fuzzies, thinking cryptic thoughts, kneeling, standing, sitting, folding hands, raising hands and singing certain favorite songs. It is about walking with and moving closer to God daily in a gracious and growing relationship. It is about treating your spouse, children, parents, co-works and others in your sphere of influence with love, kindness and respect. It is about dying to self everyday in order to bless and minister to others. It is about truly understanding that IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU.

What we must understand is that having a false sense of spirituality is dangerous, much more dangerous than a false sense of security. It causes us to believe we are okay with God when we are not. It opens us to being easily mislead in understanding the things of God. We can quickly become people God doesn't like – judgmental, close minded, unkind and lukewarm. As scripture says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

False spirituality is dangerous because it seems right, but it is not.

Copyright © 2008, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved