Religious or Spiritual? by Clint

The other day, I overheard a guy having a conversation with a girl (I was not eavesdropping, they were just talking loud!). It was fairly obvious that he was trying to impress her. He kept talking about how he was spiritual but not religious. He didn’t go into much detail about what this meant, but he kept saying it, thinking that it would certainly intrigue the young lady he was attempting to charm. I thought a little bit about what he was trying to get across by saying that, and I also contemplated the fact that I’ve heard that expression before; it seems to be almost a buzzword in our society. Everyone wants to be spiritual and forego the religious aspects. In a way, I understand this. Often, religion is viewed only in a negative sense: Bigoted, intolerant, authoritarian, and sometimes even hateful. People’s minds often drift to those unappealing adjectives upon hearing the word “religious.” But my problem with saying, “I am spiritual but not religious” is that it is such a nebulous comment. Anyone can pronounce themselves as spiritual. Spiritual in our 21st century context can be any of these things: artistic, poetic, quiet, introspective, yoga-practicing, emotional, green-tea drinking, etc… Certainly I do not have an issue with any of these things (Yahoo says green tea is good for your complexion), however are they really spiritual?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Christian theologian during the time of WWII. He wrote about a costly faith, a faith that involved truly following Christ even at a high cost. He practiced what he preached, as he was executed by the Nazi regime at the end of the war for his involvement in an attempt to overthrow Hitler. While he could have left the country and taught theology in New York, he stayed in Germany to suffer with the people and preach against the hatred of the Nazis. One of Bonhoeffer’s more interesting theological assertions was one of a “religionless Christianity.” In this, he spoke that following Christ goes way beyond the safer man-made boundaries of religiosity. In these man-made boundaries, he found people hiding behind an easily defined legalism, a system of piety which boiled faith down to rules of life which would most likely never really cost anyone anything truly valuable. He called believers to go beyond these safe boundaries and enter into a suffering world, carrying the gospel of Christ, and taking the risks of entering into challenging relationships. He did not view this as a loophole for living a hedonistic lifestyle, though. The spirituality of living out the teachings of Christ in a hurting world would not mesh with a sinful, worldly lifestyle. But, the point is that faith and discipleship goes so far beyond just religion and attempts to make people think you’re not naughty but nice. Bonhoeffer seemed to support this idea of “I’m spiritual but not religious,” but the context for spirituality was completely Christ-centered. There is no other spirituality but through the Holy Spirit and through discipleship in Christ.

In examining Jesus’ life, he had aspects of one who was religious. He observed Jewish holidays (John 13) and he spent time in the temple (Luke 2:41-49). However, he was not satisfied with religion, but he pointed to something greater. He pointed to true spirituality which rests in two focuses in life: Love God and love your neighbor. In this, everything hangs in the balance (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus did not come to earth to just start a new religion. Jesus Christ came to teach and show the one truth of God. He came to bid those to follow him and live a life of spirituality, a life in relationship with God through discipleship and faith in Christ. I guess its ok to be spiritual and not religious, but this is only possible in Christ Jesus and in Christian fellowship. And any proclaimed spirituality outside of Christ is actually just an empty religion.