Religion vs. Spirituality cont.

May 20, 2009 at 1:20 pm · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: christian, christianity, church, God, gossiping, importance of church, impressions, Isaiah, Life, mistakes, praying, religion, rituals

OK, so I went over the previous scripture from Isaiah again. I think the thing is this….God doesn’t want us to worship or  go about doing religious ceremonies just to fulfill our worshiping quota for the week and then, to go about the rest of our week without him. It is a matter of being genuine in what we call “religious”, rather than merely doing it to mark it off our to do lists.

I also think that there are A LOT of us Christians who live this way and think that this is all there is to it. You’re going to heaven because you are saved, but then you don’t live the life God has called you to live. To me this is one of the big turn-off for those who are not Christian. When Non-Christians look in from the sidelines and they see how we behave, they should be able to see a difference between us and them. But generally they don’t. So then “religion” becomes something that isn’t genuine or real. And all those who practice it are therefore also not genuine and real and REALLY, who wants to be a part of THAT?? I know and am friends with more Non-Christians than Christians because I have just recently (within the past 3 years or so) become more of a participant. I KNOW what they are thinking and how they see us. I was once like that myself. Most say this….”I believe in a higher-power”….”I am more spiritual than religious”…”I don’t care for religion” and I think a strong reason for this is because of how WE behave. WE don’t come off as genuine or real, so therefore “religion” seems almost cult-ish rather than something that can truly and significantly change your LIFE.

I was once told in my earlier years of agnosticism (sp?) , that Christians arn’t perfect. I know and genuinely believe this now. Christians DO NOT consider themselves perfect OR look down on others for NOT being Christians. (that’s a really hard one to realize) I KNOW and genuinely BELIEVE this now. Most of us, KNOW that we are so out of whack in our lives…thats WHY we came to God, thats WHY we need that help. Some of us were born into a family where church was a regular thing and we just became Christian through that, but each of us are there because we KNOW we need to be. The kicker is…Do we behave differently because of it? Do we go out of our way to NOT do what the world does, but what we know is the right thing?

It’s like me and my gossiping….I am working on it, praying on it and going through trying to end it in my life. I know its wrong, I know I need to change. Slowly, one step at a time I eventually will no longer be that way…God is helping me to do this. I know I’m not perfect and I certainly do not look down on anyone for being Non-Christian. It would literally be the OPPOSITE of what Christianity IS to look down on someone for not choosing my same beliefs. I can however try to live better and be better in such a way that those who know me can see the difference and wonder what it’s like and what they could do to have what I have.

SO, what we are calling “religion” is instantaneously also “spirituality” by merely being…GENUINE. All rituals that are done by “going through the motions” until next Sunday comes along….are meaningless and God literally detests it.

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