Spiritual Versus Religious

Chuckle: Headline read: "Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half!" Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

Good Quote: "Four worthy goals: to feel at home at church, to feel at ease at prayer, to feel at odds with injustice, and to feel at peace with God." --William Arthur Ward

"If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name" (1 Peter 4:16 NIV).

I once ran across an article in the magazine section (USA Weekend) of my local newspaper that addressed our subject. The article, "When the Spirit Moves you,” dealt with the modern day idea that we can be spiritual and have a close personal relationship with God without openly claiming to be religious (having a strong belief in a religion) or affiliating with any specific religion. In essence, "You can stay close to God -- even when you're not close to a pew."

No doubt we can all have meaningful and life-changing experiences with God at any time no matter where we are. I have had many such experiences over my lifetime. But I never saw such experiences as substitutes for fellowship, corporate worship, and ministry with other believers in my local church or for identifying myself as a member of the Christian religion.

According to this article, fifteen percent say they do not identify with any specific religion. This is up from half that number two decades ago. More than nine out of ten people believe in God and more than half say they pray at least daily. But to say you believe in God without expressing a religious affiliation begs the question -- what God do you believe in -- and to what God do you pray? Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

Today, it is more acceptable to say you are spiritual rather than to say you are religious. If you let it be known that you are a Christian, you have proclaimed your allegiance to a religion -- Christianity, through faith in Jesus Christ. I wonder if this reluctance to identify with any religion is a product of the growing climate of political correctness in our society. "If I don't outwardly identify with a specific religion, then I will not offend anyone who may believe differently." In other words, we are becoming more and more reluctant to stand for anything that might bring discomfort to ourselves or offend someone else.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, you are a Christian. Why be reluctant to identify yourself as such, and why not affiliate with a local congregation as the New Testament teaches. The article quoted Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham: "We can be out there and sense God's presence in nature because we are created by God and in his image, and we have an instinctive capacity to know him built into our DNA. But my Bible tells me we can only know God in his fullness as he reveals himself, and he reveals himself through Jesus."

Love, Jerry & Dotse