False Assumption 1:
Promoting Spirituality is Dangerous (see 2/5/05)
Many Christians believe that promoting spirituality in and of itself is not only wrong but dangerous. But if we examine what Jesus said, we might get another perspective...
John 5.23
It sounds as if we need to get this right. It sounds as if its vital to understand what it means to worship "in spirit and in truth". So what does it mean?
This seems to say to me that our worship must first of all be "spiritual". I take this to mean that "worship" without "spirituality" is empty and lifeless. Doesn't this make sense? Isn't Jesus saying, in some way, our inner being needs to recognise its potential and need for connection with the sacred long before that connection takes some form such as worship. Won't worship be more meaningful if it is a result of a yearning desire to connect with the sacred?
This may seem obvious to us but I think we not only need to re-assess our Christian worship, I think we need to re-educate the Christian Community about spirituality. A lot of what we call Christian Worship is empty and lifeless because it assumes that we have an understanding of our spirituality which, unfortunately, is not true.
But there is something else to which the Christian Community needs to awaken. The Church needs to understand that it will be only through the journey of the "spiritual" that people will arrive at "worship". The Church seems deathly afraid of awakening spirituality in the community for fear that it will lose people to other religions or the New Age. The Church seems to be happy producing "worshipping" Christians who haven't a clue about "spirituality". The Church seems content with superficiality when what is needed is for her to take the initiative in leading people through the journey of spiritual discovery and renewal.
This may seem harsh. But then Jesus didn't mince words when he said -- they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
posted by ronaldo @ 8:33 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I think that spiritual or true worship in this context implies that we will actually engage with the 'Other' - being God, the Divine, the Creator. The reality we face however is that we struggle to go beyond ourselves - to see life from the perspective of anyone but ourselves. Which is why so many of our songs are about how we're feeling rather than centred on God.
Hi there ronaldo, I was just cruising the blogosphere searching for the latest information on Testimony and came across this great blog. Although False Assumption 1: wasn’t quite what I was looking for, it has excellent articles. I see now why I found your page when I was looking for Testimony related topics. I’m glad I stop by, keep up the good work.
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