Spiritual but Not Religious?

"I'm spiritual but not religious..." is a sentence which is becoming increasingly spoken in our society today. Christians hear it and aren't sure what it means and often times the people who use it are convinced that they have figured out the secret to divine happiness and are eager to tell the world about their superior thinking. Needless to say, the spiritual but not religious movement has become a divisive factor in our nation today.

As a pastor, I wrestle with this issue often, in regards to how I preach on the issue as well as how do I, as a follower of the Christian faith, relate to those who fall into the spiritual but not religious category. I am always eager to hear and speak on the issue.

This week, I had the opportunity to hear Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel address this very issue in a lecture at Campbell University Divinity School. She has taken some serious flack in the recent past for her public criticisms of the spiritual but not religious type citing it as an example of our "American narcissistic tendencies". She pointed out, accurately so, the approach of the Christian church has often been to either a) ignore the movement or b) apologize repeatedly for the mistakes of our faith. Neither approach works. Ignoring those who profess spirituality but not religion simply enhances the stereotype that Christians are self absorbed and believe they are holier than others. Repeatedly apologizing often leads to guilt among Christians, who in actuality, have done nothing wrong. It also sends the message that Christians hold to a faith that they are rather ashamed of. Daniel pointed out that the "Christian" many people point out and criticize is in fact a small minority of believers. This is true. Many Christians are more progressive, down to earth, and focused on issues of justice than stereotypes would give us credit for, Daniel stated she found it downright offensive when she is grouped with the loud, radical minority rather than having her true beliefs understood. Amen, sister.

Following her lecture, I had the opportunity to engage with her in brief conversation on whether or not either of us had ever had a meaningful conversation about faith with a spiritual but not religious individual. We both came to the conclusion, no not really. The stereotypes are so heavily embedded that they are seemingly impossible to overcome. And yet, as Christians we have to try. We have attempted to do this by apologizing, to no avail. Pretending the problem doesn't exist, to no avail. What is left to do? Daniel has proposed and acted out in what I would describe as a "we're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" strategy. That being, allow our actions to speak for themselves. Rather than apologizing for the actions of a few, live out a life of actions that show the truth. When someone says "I am spiritual but not religious because all Christians hate (fill in the blank), live your life in such a way where you can reply "well actually I and my church love (fill in the blank) and we have worked toward a meaningful relationship with them by (fill in the blank). No apologies, but actions.

A note here to those who consider themselves "spiritual but not religious". One of the biggest things we as Christians are often accused of is hatred and bigotry. Issues of Islam and homosexuality are the hot button issues of the day. If you consider accusing ALL Christians of hating gays and considering all Muslims as extreme radical blow up the world fanatics, then are you not making the very same general assumptions about us that you are accusing us of making? Just food for thought.

To my fellow Christians, how do we address this issue? I recently preached the story of Balaam, his donkey, and Balak. In this sermon I attempted to use some of the caricatures of Christians and spiritual but not religious folks. I portrayed Balaam as "spiritual but not religious". In that he practiced magic, and consulted the counsel of many gods, and yet still heard from the God. I made the point that the spiritual but not religious folks do have contributions to make to society. This paralleled Balaam, in that despite his limited understanding God still used him to bring blessings to others. Balak on the other hand represented those who out of fear or ignorance have a vendetta against people of faith. The "militant" religion haters. And it is often the spiritual but not religious types who are recruited to jump on this bandwagon, as Balak tried to hire Balaam to bring destruction upon God's people, the Israelites. Lastly, I addressed the donkey. I attempted to point out that in the story, it was in fact the donkey who understood better than anyone else what was going on. He faithfully served Balaam, despite Balaam's actions, and did his best to keep Balaam out of harm's way. The donkey in fact saw God when Balaam could not.

Christians, we are called to be more like Balaam's donkey. Not stubborn or hard headed, but loyally and lovingly guiding. The donkey ran Balaam into a wall, steered his course, in his efforts. When Balaam beat the donkey, the donkey simply asked "why? Have I not served you faithfully?" rather than apologizing for what he had done. Church that is our calling. To serve those who claim spirituality but not religion faithfully. And when we take a beating for it, rather than apologizing, be able to say boldly and truthfully "why are you beating ME? I have served you faithfully." Only in doing this will we be able to truly be able to combat the stereotypes placed on Christians and be able to regain the prophetic voice we are called to, which guides people to encounters with God rather than providing them with reasons to run away.

The Hunger Games and the Gospel

After several weeks of anticipation, I finally got to go see The Hunger Games Saturday night. I was eager to see the movie for two reasons: (a) I loved the books and (b) my native home, Western North Carolina, served as district 12.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. For the most part it stayed true to the book but as with any film addaptation there were cuts/changes made. The good part though was that they did not take away from the story at all. And it was quite fun seeing places I had hiked to and visited in my life on the big screen. Those who hail from more commonly filmed landmarks may not see the big deal in this, but for this small town mountain boy, it was a big deal.

As usual when I consume pop culture, I could not help reflect on the social and theological implications of the work. For those of you who don't know, without spoilers, the premise of the Hunger Games is that in a post apocalypse America, the fascist government insists on each district (think states) sending a male and female tribute (children)to partiticpate in a death match. The purpose of this is to remind the people of what it costs to rebel against the governrnment. The names of the tributes are drawn randomnly but to receieve extra food for their families, the triutes have the opportunity to enter their name additional times, hence the title "The Hunger Games."

So as I read and watched the story unfold, I couldn't help but think about the real hunger games going on in the world all around us. With the recent explosion of the Kony video, the real life issue of children being forced to fight to death came to the pullic conversation. While I am not sure if the methodology really did or will do anything to help address the issue, at least it is burned into people's consciousness.

But what about the Gospel? Jesus called on His followers to follow him, and doing so meant loving each other as oneself. Are Christians in the world today doing that? Jesus had a special place in his heart for children. With the two coupled together realizing that children are the ones who suffer the most from hunger and war, and the church's less than stellar record in addressing it, I can't help but have my heart broken. And I know Jesus heart breaks as well. For He told us "whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." If we really believe that then I can't help but think to myself, we are subjecting Jesus Christ to hunger games the world over. Jesus went to the cross for us, why do we shy away from being his heart, his hands, his feet in a hurting broken world? The way I see it, if believers do not step up, then our world will increasingly look like Panem, the world of "The Hunger Games". Is that the kind of world you want?

I didn't think so.