“A lot of what goes on here is spiritual. That doesn’t mean it’s good, but it’s definitely spiritual.”
–A pastor from Cincinatti, at Burning Man (from GiftingIt)
What does “spiritual” really mean? Amy and I discussed this on the way to work the other day, and came to the conclusion that it’s pretty hard to tell what is spiritual and what is emotional. People call Burning Man a spiritual experience, and you get the impression that they’re having the time of their lives while also creating tremendous meaning personally.
Church people usually mean something entirely different by “spiritual.” Usually it is more head-oriented, and probably centered around prayer or meditation. A cool example from Red Moon Rising (link) is examen, a practice attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola. Author Pete Grieg describes it as
a deliberate commitment to recollect events in the presence of God - the opposite of Eastern meditation, which is about emptying the mind. Just as God gave Abraham a covenant as a memorable landmark in their relationship, so He gives us landmarks and memories today. The Passover Meal helped the Israelite nation remember how God had delivered them. Examen asks people to look at the last 24 hours and take three steps:
1. Express gratitude
2. Reflect on how God’s presence might have been made tangible in that time
3. Confess failure
Red Moon Rising, p88
How do spiritual practices or disciplines relate to what we would call a spiritual experience? Is reading my Bible a spiritual experience if I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary?
maybe we should not ask about the “experience” of it. As many say we live in an experience economy and the church should get with it and make EPIC experiences. I think that is a bad idea, unless you mean the experiences of BAptism and the Eucharist.
Are out practices faithfully forming people into Christ? that’s my question, and let the experiences come and go. (but don’t get me wrong, i’m not on a mission to squash spiritual experiences and hope for them all my days, just not as a litmus test…)
“Is reading my Bible a spiritual experience if I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary?”
Are you strengthening your marriage when you talk with your wife, even if you are tired and don’t feel like it? Yep.
Obedience to Christ’s commandments is what makes something “spiritual”–whether you “feel” anything or not is, in many ways, not primary or even very important. Feelings will follow action. If we waited for feelings to preceed vituous living, we’d hardly do anything and never for very long.
Geoff nails it when he writes, “Are out practices faithfully forming people into Christ? that’s my question, and let the experiences come and go…”
This is one reason why, historically, Christians were told not to worry about “spritual progress” or the nature and worth of specific “experiences”…just like in physical training, you won’t notice the difference for quite a while and it may hurt quite a bit.
We have to see what “experiences” or disciplines have a track record of producing holiness. Then we have to faithfully enter into them, whether we “feel” like it or not. The rewards are amazing.
Karl, you’re not saying something cool and fun, but I think you’re right.
Perhaps this is difficult because we’ve become accustomed to well-packaged discipleship programs that are both enjoyable and have immediate benefits (e.g. feeling good, peer esteem, etc.) - but maybe not the long-term results we’re looking for.
So what are we to do with postmodern people’s longing for spiritual experiences?
I’m personally frustrated with the general mentality of most church people today.
I hear church people talking about how much the Church isn’t appealing to the newer generations and how we need to pay more attention to our attractiveness.
This is insane! I don’t want people around me who complain when there isn’t something “fun” and “exciting” happening all the time for them. I want committed Christians who know how to hold onto joy and peace when their circumstances are void of those things.
The reason people need to come to Jesus is because they realized they’re corrupt and sinful and will be judged outside of Christ and live in an eternal hell. It’s not about having a better party in God’s kingdom than we did in the world.
It’s about our right and wrongs on the scales of God and how He can bring us back into balance. Jesus told us to seek His righteousness and kingdom first then all these other things (joy, an abundant life) will be added. He also warned us that being a Christian (His disciple) would bring untold persecutions and trials. Only those who come to Jesus because they saw their need for a savior and not a golden calf of spiritual experience, will be able to survive the storms of life in a broken and sinful world.