Greetings what few readers may come across this page!
It has been quite some time since i've made an actual post, i know, but there is a perfectly logical reasoning behind that which i will get to later. Anyways, i am feeling particulary compelled to talk about God today.
This morning, when i got out of the shower, i thought about a certain saying that floats around in christian apologetics, as well as something christians use against other christians. It occured to me in my personal observations that it is honestly ridiculous, and that since blogging usually is your personal beliefs, i felt i would say my peace about it. It is one of the most subtle but burning topics that lies in christian apologetics, and in between several denominations of Christianity and christians in general; being "religious", versus being "spiritual".
First, we have to define both terms. Being religious can be described as going to church, reading the bible, etc. It came up a lot when i attended a baptist church in my eighth and ninth grade years, and although it was unclear to me then, i now see how being religious was overlooked by them as "doing the bare minimum." doing the bare minimum and being religious are two TOTALLY different things. Now, where do i stand with being religious? If you are simply religious with no connection to what you are doing, then you are doing the right things for the wrong reason, which also means you are doing the right things wrong. We as christians should aim to please God, to approach him with love and awe, not simply to do what we are asked in the bible because we "have to".
Now, let's define the word "spiritual." When i think of the word "spiritual" or "spirituality" i think of that love and awe of God that i mentioned earlier. I think of having a deep personal relationship with the holy ghost and of God and how he works in the world. To feel his presence and a deep sense of calm and love that you simply can't explain. To be spiritual is to be in tune and in love with God, a higher power, and omniprescent, omniscient being, and to understand and feel a connection with it. But, there is a problem here as well. Here's my example: You can tell God you love him all you want, but do your outward actions show it? He loves you to no end, far much more than you love him. But you become complacent with that. You accept the fact that you will never amount to his love. You will never even amount to a drop in his overflowing cup of how much he loves you compared to how much you love him. Because you are simply spiritual, and say you love God with no work to back it up, then what are you good for? Your just a talking mouth that is silent to the ears of the world. You praise God on your own, but you never talk about him to others.
Without a doubt, by definiton, being spiritual and being religious are two TOTALLY different things. But, in the christian world, they coexist in the heart of the man who truly loves God.
Here's where my dilemma came in. I used to say that i was "spiritual, but i wasn't religious." I didn't even realize the death wish i was making. I realized this morning when i got out of the shower and thought about this heated topic, that although the baptist who i was acquainted with possibly misinterpreted being religious as "the bare minimum", in reality, being spiritual is the bare minimum. I was taught in the baptist church i attended that all you need is love, -gospel of John (lennon). Now, i do believe that to please God and show that you love him, you have to do mission work, and you have to witness, and you have to spread his love in order to enter his divine kingdom. Whenever people talked about this in baptist church, the baptists would claim "OH NO, ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, you don't need to work, work is optional, you're a jehovah's witness for claiming you have to actually WORK to get into heaven." Now, don't get me wrong before i go further, i don't want it to seem like all baptists are like that. That was just the status quo attitude at the church i attended.
Although there are definitely a few exceptions for babies and children who never have the oppurtunity to experience God and his awesome, awesome love. They don't have to work because they can't, they never had the chance to. But that's not the point: The point is that I think in order to find your name in the book of life, you have to be both religious, and spiritual.
I said earlier that the man who loves God in his heart with have religiousness and spirituality coexist with him. When i say that, i not only mean they have to be in the same place, but they also naturally will work together. The main point that comes across is, in order to find your salvation, you should not only want to love God and his son Jesus Christ, but also be compelled because of that to share his love, to have others stand with you in his love. And in the same, if you work for him, if you are religious, you should eventually find to come to love him, to truly understand His glory and how holy he is. You should WANT to love him, and if you love him, you should WANT to do his work. If you WANT to do his work, then you should WANT to love him. People don't do what they do for no reason.
We think we don't have to work, that it's optional. Well, for the record, everything is optional, choosing to obey and worship God is not "mandatory". But if you are one of those who chooses to worship God and follow the teaching of Jesus, but you think you don't have to work, think about the Great Commission: Matthew 28: 16-20; "16: then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go; 17: When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted; 18: Then Jesus came to them and said "all authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me; 19: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, 20: and teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you. And surely i am with you always, to the very end of age."
Now, you'll probably say "sure, i do that, i tell people about Jesus when it comes up in conversation." But that's just it, that isn't enough. You can't just wait for God to come up in a conversation, because in these days religion is a touchy subject, and with denominational feuds and intersecular debates, it is less than likely religion will come up in a conversation unless you take the proactive choice and bring it up when you see fit. When you do mission work and go on mission trips, you are doing the work FOR GOD. People see your work and ask you why do this? It is the perfect oppurtunity to spread God's love. The point of doing work for the lord is a further means that you can use to spread his love, to go about all the nations, and make disciples of their indigenous people! What is your love, without work? If you truly love, you should be compelled and willing to have others bask in that love with you, to stand beside in the light of salvation, in the glory of the father. Jesus was God in the flesh, the messiah, the messenger of salvation. The Great Commission is not simply from Christ, it is from the lips of God himself. You will must follow his will, which is to do this work God asks. If you are still confused on this "work", then you should check out this article of a biblical example about paul from First Corinthians:
God's work is not always necesarilly "labor", but you should without a doubt be willing to labor for the lord God in your love for him. You can't just either just be spiritual, or just be "religious"; If you are truly one of them, the other should naturally come to you, and if it does not, it is not true. You must be both of them to find your salvation, to eat the fruit from the tree of life.
so, with that said, believe in him, love him with all your heart, all you mind, all your soul, all your strength, and spread his love as if it was the last thing you could ever do in your life.
-hunter.
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