The degradation of "spirituality"

[Akita Suggagaki]

We see it a great deal on this forum. Spirituality gets appropriated to support political biases.

And yet, what else can we do? For spirituality manifests itself in our daily lives, decisions and biases. We seek to apply God's justice and precepts to ours social milieu. I think tour main problem is that we are in too much of a hurry. We want to act on what we think we already know rather than listen openly in silence to a deeper truer instruction. And we want to force our view ,or at least argue it, with those who have other views. And so spirituality degrades into an intellectual contest and is no longer spirituality at all.

 

[Lukaris]

I believe in a polarized political climate that Christians have to be aware that we may be in disagreement with another person on some secular issue yet understand that both individuals might have grace.

So if a person opposes or supports tariffs is probably irrelevant pertaining to grace. On matters like abortion though there will be obvious conflict on faith and politics. While pro life should be a given in Christian faith, the complex secondary issues from 50 years of abortion status quo have to be carefully understood and approached. The political situation on this matter is chaotic. Some Christians do not understand or acknowledge pro life as implicit in the Gospel.

There will also be Christians and non Christians in various competing political coalitions. Faith should be how we approach any issue but balancing wisdom and intelligence is not easy.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

The political situation on this matter is chaotic.

Yes, and I wonder if we sometimes bring chaotic spiritual beliefs to it as well. In other words, most of us probably do not fully understand our own positions and beliefs and why we hold them.

 

[Laodicean60]

Some Christians do not understand or acknowledge pro life as implicit in the Gospel.

Individually, my wife and I do. But where do we have the license to preach the biblical principle or create laws for non-Christians? All that I see in the bible is to preach Jesus and his works.

Preaching the teachings of Paul to nonbelievers is antagonistic because Paul states

1Co 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

I believe the warfare with our neighbors is because we worry about what they are doing instead of worrying about ourselves.

 

[Lukaris]

Yes, and I wonder if we sometimes bring chaotic spiritual beliefs to it as well. In other words, most of us probably do not fully understand our own positions and beliefs and why we hold them.

I tend to believe common understanding on matters of right and wrong becoming diffused alongside technology development is something Christians have to constantly be aware of. This is where I believe we have to put our faith and intellects into our daily witness in daily living. I believe technology is neutral but how we understand and apply it is increasingly complicated.

If secular tensions throw our faith off balance, then our witness is thrown off balance. I believe as Christians we need to increasingly meditate on the Lord’s commandments to be a faithful witness ( as best we can) to guide our daily living. Personally, I am of low level intellect but I need the Lord’s commandments for my conscience to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in living life as any genius does. I always think of scriptures like John 14:15-18, Romans 13:8-10 etc.

 

[Lukaris]

Individually, my wife and I do. But where do we have the license to preach the biblical principle or create laws for non-Christians? All that I see in the bible is to preach Jesus and his works.

Preaching the teachings of Paul to nonbelievers is antagonistic because Paul states

1Co 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

I believe the warfare with our neighbors is because we worry about what they are doing instead of worrying about ourselves.

I know and I am going along the lines of thinking before I act on things. I always try to keep the golden rule in mind. There is a time when we need to know what should be done ( Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). This is actually a dangerous thing because there are times the consequences are sinful. We need the Lord’s commandments to cooperate with the Holy Spirit ( John 14:15-18, Matthew 19:16-19 etc.) so we don’t do what is wrong.

I am actually doing janitor work right now & posting somewhat on the fly but I believe this is a valuable thread.