Popular in our social discourse, today, is the idea of a "Spiritual Journey." Many folks are on one but there doesn't seem to be any codified explanation of what being "on one" means.
Generally it falls into the category of a search. People are searching for spiritual truth or spiritual reality. Is there a God? What is He (or She) like? What does this God want from me? How can I live in harmony with His purposes? Does it really matter?
To this end people pursue all sorts of religious and/or spiritual, activities and beliefs. Colleges offer Comparative Religion Classes which "searchers" can take. There are Bible Study groups and Discussion Groups, books, tapes, and even weekend retreats to help people find what they're looking for.
Not a few have looked into several differing Christian denominations, Judaism and a host of lessor relgious traditions, looking for truth and/or meaning. Do any of these have the absolute answers my soul craves?
The Bible doesn't understand any of this as a spiritual journey. Paul paraphrases Psalm 14 in saying, "...no man seeketh after God" [Rom. 3:11] Why? Because they are all unrighteous and none understand God, nor what He represents.
The human search for truth or purpose is not a search for God. It is a search for something that will satisfy our need, without God. If we were seeking God:
a) it would be because the Spirit of God was at work challenging, convicting and drawing us [Jn. 6;44], and
b) it would lead only to Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
And don't think ultimate truth can be found in any Christian Church or Denomination! None of them have absolute truth. They all have their own ideas about what constitutes a truly biblical approach to both doctrine and practice. Of course, some are better than others. And not every organization that uses the term "church" is a Church in the biblical sense. Some are not even Christian.
The only "spiritual journey" the Bible recognizes is the one undertaken AFTER a person has relinquished control of his life, repented of his sin and committed his life completely to God, in Christ. From here he/she grows and develops, becoming conformed to the image of Christ. [Rom. 8:29]
The real searcher's journey begins and ends with Jesus. Until then he is serving a god of his own manufacture, often Self. Improving the Self seems to satisfy most searchers. And the process whereby they find that satisfaction is what they mean by a "Spiritual Journey."
2 comments:
Perhaps thebest word for the true Christian's spiritual journey is sanctification. That's a whole other discussion, but it is a process by which we mature as Christians.
Amen, Pastor. Psalm 119:104 "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way."
I was deceived once by what I thought was a church which was, as you said Pastor, not even Christian. Catholicism is an appeal to works and false teachings by fear without the Bible, ie, repetitious prayers, purgatory, rosary, mass, all unbiblical.
Thank the Lord Jesus that the scales fell off my eyes as it did Apostle Paul!
I agree MSwansboro, it really is a process of santification unto the mature person in Christ. Amen
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