Monthly Archives: April 2008
“Spiritual but not religious”
Here’s something that’s been on my mind for a while, and it’s become especially important to me after reading an article entitled “More Folks Eschew Organized Religion but Not Spirituality.”
It’s a cultural trend for people to say that they are “spiritual but not religious.” You gotta hand it to this group—this slogan sounds really nifty (if not creative). Who wants to be religious? Spiritual sounds much better. And quite frankly, the word religion is laced with the connotations of empty ritual, pointless façade, and self-righteous indignation at people who don’t live up to an arbitrary standard. Nobody wants that.
But why has the “spirituality” discussed in the article become so popular? Why are we rejecting organized religion, doctrine, and traditional understandings of God?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the West takes so readily to this mindset. Postmodern “spirituality” is characterized by customization and convenience.
The customization takes place in one’s understanding of God. Does the God of the Bible offend you in certain ways? Do you prefer the teachings of the Dalai Lama to those of the Apostle Paul? Well, why not do a little mix and match, developing your own idea of God? In a sense, even American Christians obsess over customization, demanding churches that cater to their preferred mode of music and entertainment styles. This is the product of an individualistic, consumer-oriented culture. So why not take it to the next level and customize God Himself? “Spirituality” is perfect for our culture because it is self-pleasing and self-centered.
The convenience takes place in one’s understanding of the gospel. Nobody wants to believe something difficult. Why adapt your life to an externally-invented system of beliefs and practices when you can simply adapt them to the life you are already living? Why go to church and have to deal with all those inconvenient, difficult people? Why not just surround yourself with beliefs, practices, and friends which never challenge you or convict you? “Spirituality” is perfect for our culture because it demands no change and expects no sacrifice.
Ultimately, it all comes down to our understanding of God. Is he really so pliable that we can poke and prod him, carefully molding him like so much Play-Do? Is he really so small that we can tell him what he can and can’t demand of us? Is he really so stupid that we must educate him about right and wrong?
Maybe others are content with such a “god”—if such a pitiable being can even be called a god. As for me, I loathe him, and I am weary of thinking he is anything but a poor counterfeit of my Lord.
The only God I can love is the one true God, the triune God of the Bible, holy in all His ways, a God to be feared and a God of love. He alone is good; He alone is worthy of worship. He says to us, “Be still and know that I am God“ (Psalm 46:10).
Fender-bender #2! (sorta)
After Monday’s incident in the jail parking lot, I had the misfortune of being involved in yet another traffic incident, this time at a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill. As I was sitting behind a pickup truck, I saw a car approaching from behind. I looked away from my mirror and turned my mind to other things. However, the driver must have eased up on the brakes after coming to a stop, and she gave me a nice solid tap on the bumper.
The funny thing about these things is they always sound worse than they are. I heard a loud “BANG,” sat for a moment in stunned incredulity, then got out to inspect the damage. Actually, there was hardly a scratch, so once again we parted ways. It was nice to be on the receiving end of an apology, unlike last time. 
Fender-bender!
Yesterday morning, I was visiting a prisoner at the county jail. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.) Unfortunately, upon leaving the jail, I got into a little accident in the parking lot.
As I was backing out of my parking spot, a lady in the opposite spot was backing out as well…and we collided. Or rather, our cars collided. After a moment of stunned silence, I pulled up into my spot again, got out of my car, and inspected the damage. The paint was scraped off of the corner of my bumper, and there were a couple small dents. Her car was mostly untouched (she had the fortune of owning a bumper made out of real metal).
The other driver’s reaction was along the lines of an irritated “DIDN’T YOU SEE ME?” I guess I could have asked the same question.
Anyway, after seeing there was no serious damage, we decided just to drive off. There’s no way it would have been worth the hassle of a police report, insurance claims, and a ticked-off woman yelling at me. 
Tomorrow…I will be blogging on the the latest trend of being “spiritual but not religious.” I think you can already guess what my opinion on the subject is, but hopefully it will be a helpful (and possibly even coherent) essay.
Primitive Western idolatry
April Fools! I promised in my last post that I would start blogging more often. Three weeks later, here we are. Gotcha, didn’t I? Unintentional April Fools’ jokes are the best.
Now, the good news is that I’ve had at least three posts bouncing around in my head in the meantime. This is the first.
As part of our Hebrew class, Psalm 115 was required reading. It’s a great psalm made even better by the unfamiliar, fresh, and raw Hebrew poetry. Its mocking description of idolatry in vv. 4-8 are pretty hilarious but sobering. Why would anyone worship idols that can’t actually do anything? The psalmist observes that “those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them” (v. 8).
The tragic irony is that while we sneer at these ancient idolatrous practices, we ourselves are idolaters at heart. In fact, John Calvin famously referred to the human heart as an idol factory. We obsess over the self-absorbed celebrities of Hollywood. We seek a political savior in the next presidential candidate. We gather to worship at vast sports stadiums, cheering on our gods as they do battle with the gods of enemy cities. We lavish attention and praise on our cars, motorcycles, and iPhones. We hide from the world all day with iPod earbuds nestled gently in our ears, soaking in the music of our favorite musicians. We gather as families in front of our living room shrines, basking in the glow of our television sets, amusing ourselves with the latest trivialities of our culture. Our attention and energy, our passion and joy, is devoted to all of these and not to the God of the heavens.
As I think about it, at least the ancient Canaanites had a leg up on us. They worshiped idols which—they thought—possessed supernatural abilities, were immortal, and could help them in times of need. Our idols fail in every respect. These people would probably laugh at us today. They would laugh at our primitive practice of idolatry and our pathetic attempts to supplant the Lord Almighty.
The Book of Happiness – Meditation 8: Believe
It has been a long hiatus, but I’m back to blogging. It’s been a crazy time with seminary, though honestly, I could have blogged during this time…I just haven’t. So the time has come to break the non-habit of not blogging. I present the latest installment of The Book of Happiness: “Believe.”
