What does it mean to be spiritual? If you hang around some churches through observation you might get the idea that being spiritual means singing the loudest in church. Or perhaps parking your pickup truck as close to the pastors as possible. Or maybe it means sitting on the front row, wearing the nicest suit, or being the one selected to teach Sunday school once a month? Perhaps it means saying God bless you the loudest, or saying Amen every time the pastor stops for a breath?
If you've been through any kind of higher education you'll know that a byproduct of that can be a certain arrogance, that you know more, are smarter, or better than someone else. Because I've been through both Baptist and Pentecostal Bible colleges, I've seen that the same applies to Christian education. There is a certain amount of of pride that goes along with being able to say hermeneutics and exegesis, or properly knowing how to use a Strong's Concordance. And all these things are good, they are tools, but they in themselves are just knowledge, and the pride and vanity that can come from them do not cause spirituality.
This is what Paul refers to when he writes 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Can. Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you like spiritual people but like unspiritual people, like babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink instead of solid food, because you weren’t up to it yet. Now you are still not up to it because you are still unspiritual. When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren’t you unspiritual and living by human standards?
Being spiritual is simple stuff, it's laid out pretty clearly in the scripture. Galatians 5:22-24 NASB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. BAM! There it is!
No amount of human effort can cause you to be genuinely spiritual or have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Only time spent sowing to the Holy Spirit through prayer, fasting, reading the Word of God, and spending time alone in your prayer closet on your face can cause you to exhibit these fruits.
When you run into a truly spiritual person, it will be obvious. They will have joy and peace, their words will come through with joy and peace. They will have patience gentleness and self control, you'll know it when you see it. Their Facebook page will be the same way, not angry rants and bitterness.
It's easy to run into people in church who are not spiritual. Galatians 5:19-21 also gives us an illustration of what they act like. Selfish motives, doing whatever feels good, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, jealousy. Paul says: I warn you as I have already warned you, that those who do these kinds of things won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
Do you see these things in yourself or those around you: fighting, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, jealousy? The only way to beat it is through time spent in the Word, with prayer and fasting. Nothing else works.
As we spend time with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we become more like him. That's just common sense, we act like who we spend time with.
God bless you!
James Disciple Johnson
Natl President and Founder
Disciple Christian Motorcycle Club
What it Means to be Spiritual http://disciplecmcblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/what-it-means-to-be-spiritual.html
