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[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2 page.]
“Spirituality” is the state or condition of being spiritual, that is, of attending to and being influenced by the spirit world, rather than merely by the material world.
“Spirituality” is a much-abused term by modern man. Some believe that if one follows a mystical, oriental religion, that constitutes spirituality. Others believe that spirituality is an atmosphere, or at least that it depends on an atmosphere, that can be created by such things as the burning of incense in a darkened room with the accompaniment of chanted prayers. Some, especially among the young (and unfortunately many older persons who should know better have acquiesced), have completely rebelled against a planned, orderly worship arrangement in the church. Some of these want to dispose of the church buildings and meet in homes or under a tree somewhere with no “structured worship,” believing that this will be more spiritual. In both Protestantism and Catholicism there have been instances in the past where the blaring, deafening sounds of hard rock “music” have been played in so-called worship assemblies with dancing appropriate to the music, all in the name of “spirituality.” Some have been swept into the new wave of Pentecostalism that equates spirituality with various types of miraculous spiritual gifts. Then there are those who seem to feel that spirituality is either inherited or automatically imputed or absorbed, for they never exercise themselves in any way to obtain it.
Is spirituality to be found in any or in all of the above concepts? The Bible makes no allowance for any religion apart from its own. Since the death of Christ, the New Testament, which proclaims the exclusive religion of Christianity, has been in effect (Heb. 9:16-17). To the Bible believer there is no spirituality in any religion but that of Christ. While admitting that one’s surroundings may encourage or detract from emphasis on spiritual things, spirituality goes much further than mere atmosphere. The most conducive surroundings to spirituality will not help the one who is unspiritual in heart and mind. Furthermore, unplanned, spontaneous, chaotic worship that some presently desire to engage in is but a detraction from true spiritual worship. It is completely beyond this author how anyone can seriously relate rock music and its lascivious dances to anything spiritual, regardless of the place of performance.
Miraculous spiritual gifts were not the mark of spirituality even when God gave them to men. They were but temporary, pertaining only to the infancy of the church; they were not to endure, but were to pass away (1 Cor. 12:31–13:13). To seek to revert to the miraculous gifts today, or to laud those who do, is not a sign of spiritual maturity, but of immaturity and carnality, even if God still gave such gifts, which the Bible does not teach.
In the scripture referred to above Paul gives us one clue to true spirituality: Love makes one spiritually superior to one who might possess all of the spectacular miraculous gifts. To be spiritual is to “mind the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:5b), that is, His written Word (1 Cor. 2: 6– 13). One who is spiritual will “walk by the Spirit” and “not fulfill the lust of the flesh” and will produce the “fruit of the Spirit” in his life (Gal. 5:16–24). The inspired Scriptures make a person spiritually complete (2 Tim. 3:16–17). If we add to our faith all of the “Christian Graces” listed in 2 Pet. 1:4–11 we shall be spiritually fruitful.
To summarize, Paul says that for a man to be spiritual he must “take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). We may safely conclude that true spirituality is a life that has been brought under the control of the Holy Spirit’s teachings in the Word of God. It relates not only to worshipping God as he has directed on the Lord’s day, but to the quality of life one lives every day of the week.
[Note: I wrote this MS for and it was published in the July 1973 edition of Moments of Truth, edited by Burt Groves, published by Eisenhower Church of Christ, Odessa, TX.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
