As a spiritual AND religious contemplative Christian, I would say, of course you can have direct, unmediated access to God. I would say religion is less about mediating access to God than it is mediating our access to and relations with one another. We can have access to God individually, but we can’t embody God’s life without one another.
This reminds me of the time that I gave my friend’s six year old son a children’s book on Centering Prayer. After reading it he said, “Mom, this book says we don’t have to go to church any more!” She knew very well that it did not and told him so.
“But it says we can find him anywhere, so we don’t need church!” She was like, nice try, buddy.
Absolutely! ..and it really takes the burden of having to do anything off the table. This practice is what makes them spiritual regardless of what corporation they work for, how they treat their neighbor, whether they are compassionate or generious.. etc. It is much about how the person feels and sees themselves, and not about how others feel around them, or how they contribute to the community. Of course, evangelical/fundamentalist movements are focused on personal puritanical behaviors as a sign of spirituality.. "Don't drink, smoke, gamble or dance." is what the Baptist church of my childhood would say. Yes, the burden of action in society and with those who are in needs are bypassed in many forms of spirituality. Jesus and other spiritual leaders went up the mountain to be in prayer or meditation.. and then they came down the mountain to do the work of that spirituality! That's the model.. take care of yourself, take care of others.
This was a helpful post. Last week, I listened to a podcast where an individual really emphasized the individual and God relationship, dismissing religion. I empathized with the speaker about the frustrations concerning religion, but knew that throwing out the Christian religion meant throwing out external reference points that hold me accountable as well, such as the sacraments, scripture, worship, liturgy, confession, etc. Without these, I fear a free fall descent into creating God into my own image, which we all struggle against, but runs unmitigated in a spiritual-not religious environment. Here is the podcast: https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-33-pete-holmes-a-god-thats-better-than-larry/
I share some of your concerns about the individualistic practices, but I don't care about con$umerism . Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” matthew 15. Its not whether we purchase a thing as a consumer or not that makes holy. It's the heart.
I can get behind part 2 much easier than part 1. Well said, although too narrow a perspective. I’m guessing that is due to the short format of a multi-part article. Looking forward to reading the rest.
As a spiritual AND religious contemplative Christian, I would say, of course you can have direct, unmediated access to God. I would say religion is less about mediating access to God than it is mediating our access to and relations with one another. We can have access to God individually, but we can’t embody God’s life without one another.
This reminds me of the time that I gave my friend’s six year old son a children’s book on Centering Prayer. After reading it he said, “Mom, this book says we don’t have to go to church any more!” She knew very well that it did not and told him so.
“But it says we can find him anywhere, so we don’t need church!” She was like, nice try, buddy.
Absolutely! ..and it really takes the burden of having to do anything off the table. This practice is what makes them spiritual regardless of what corporation they work for, how they treat their neighbor, whether they are compassionate or generious.. etc. It is much about how the person feels and sees themselves, and not about how others feel around them, or how they contribute to the community. Of course, evangelical/fundamentalist movements are focused on personal puritanical behaviors as a sign of spirituality.. "Don't drink, smoke, gamble or dance." is what the Baptist church of my childhood would say. Yes, the burden of action in society and with those who are in needs are bypassed in many forms of spirituality. Jesus and other spiritual leaders went up the mountain to be in prayer or meditation.. and then they came down the mountain to do the work of that spirituality! That's the model.. take care of yourself, take care of others.
The late Rich Mullins wrote a great song about our need for Christ's Bride, His Church, called "Creed."
Here's a wonderful cover of "Creed" that I especially love because it's a group sing just like church. https://youtu.be/i3i-_VWxOAc?si=GK4SnJEnWQHrat_t
This was a helpful post. Last week, I listened to a podcast where an individual really emphasized the individual and God relationship, dismissing religion. I empathized with the speaker about the frustrations concerning religion, but knew that throwing out the Christian religion meant throwing out external reference points that hold me accountable as well, such as the sacraments, scripture, worship, liturgy, confession, etc. Without these, I fear a free fall descent into creating God into my own image, which we all struggle against, but runs unmitigated in a spiritual-not religious environment. Here is the podcast: https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-33-pete-holmes-a-god-thats-better-than-larry/
I share some of your concerns about the individualistic practices, but I don't care about con$umerism . Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” matthew 15. Its not whether we purchase a thing as a consumer or not that makes holy. It's the heart.
I can get behind part 2 much easier than part 1. Well said, although too narrow a perspective. I’m guessing that is due to the short format of a multi-part article. Looking forward to reading the rest.
Unfortunately, this is spot on based on my experience.