Spiritual

"Sir," said the woman again, "I can see that you are a prophet! Now our ancestors worshipped on this hill-side, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship -"
"Believe me," returned Jesus, "the time is coming when worshipping the Father will not be a matter of 'on this hill-side' or 'in Jerusalem'. Nowadays you are worshipping with your eyes shut. We Jews are worshipping with our eyes open, for the salvation of mankind is to come from our race. Yet the time is coming, yes, and has already come, when true worshippers will worship in spirit and in reality. Indeed, the Father looks for men who will worship him like that. God is spirit, and those who worship him can only worship in spirit and in reality." (John 4:20-24 Phillips translation)

It has become fashionable these days to say, "I'm not religious, but I'm a 'spiritual' person." The problem with this, of course, is that few who make such statements could begin to define what they mean by "spiritual." Often it's used as a shield to hide behind, a way to avoid any serious question of faith, God, and human responsibility. Commonly the statement is followed with, "I just don't like organized religion," and finished off with, "more people have been killed in the name of religion than for any other cause," after which they nod with self-satisfaction, and the assurance that they are justly absolved from any further consideration of anything deemed "religious."

Even academics employ this verbal tactic. Francis Schaeffer wrote about this maneuver among the "new" theologians in his book The God Who is There:

But in the new theology, use is made of certain religious words which have a connotation of personality and meaning to those who hear them. Real communication is not in fact established, but an illusion of communication is given by employing words rich in connotation...So when the new theology uses such words, without definition, an illusion of meaning is given which is pragmatically useful in arousing deep motivations.

This is something beyond emotion. An illusion of communication and content is given so that, when a word is used in this deliberately undefined way, the hearer 'thinks' he knows what it means. (pg. 56,57)


The Bible tells us very specific things about the nature of spirit, so as Christians, if we are Biblically literate, when we speak about our spirit, or God being a spirit, or "spiritual" things, we have a clear set of properties and attributes in mind: non-material, invisible, eternal, yet containing the true essence, personality, and constitution of the individual. When we read that Jesus said, "God is spirit," we understand that he is telling us that God is not a physical, material, and finite being but rather an eternal, supernatural, and transcendent being; that when he said those who worship God must worship Him, "in spirit and in reality," he meant we must worship God not just in physical, material ways, but also by engaging our essential being in faith--not just going through the motions, but in reality.

Perhaps the next time someone tells you he or she is not religious, but is a "spiritual" person, challenge them to define "spiritual" for you. And then respectfully confront them with the Biblical meaning of spiritual: to worship the one, true, and personal God, "in spirit and in truth."