Seeking a True Spiritual Culture

Roy Hershberger

One of the sad realities of our present Western cultural environment is that those who consider themselves to be devout Christians often have lifestyles that differ from popular culture in form but not in substance. In other words, Christians are often defined by the fact that they go to church on a regular basis, by the words they use or don't use, by the kind of music they listen or don't listen to, by the type of books or magazines they read or don't read, by the kind of company they keep or don't keep, or by the places they go or don't go to socialize. Yet, if we look below the surface of such outward behavior we often find a lack of spiritual depth, and a lifestyle that is not all that different from everyone around them.
     This is starkly illustrated by the fact that the divorce rate among Western Christians is often shown to be as high, if not higher, then in Western society in general. We may be working hard at separating ourselves from popular culture when it comes to our outward appearances, but when it comes to matters of the heart, such as how we fare in our most intimate relationships, we are faltering at the same rate as our neighbor who confesses no depth of faith. How can this be? Why have we grown so good at putting on a religious face, and failed so miserable in living out a true spirituality?
     This is a very broad and complex issue to say the least, and there is no way anyone could sum it up in one neat little article. What I hope to do here is to create an open and honest environment where we can approach the issue head on. If we take the time and effort to examine ourselves in light of this glaring reality we may see some things about ourselves and our professed religion that we don't like, and that can be very uncomfortable. Yet it is necessary if we expect to move beyond a mere playing the part of a people concerned with spiritual matters and instead develop a passion for the genuine article.
     One of the first things we must consider when approaching this subject is the difference between our cultural definitions of being spiritual and true spirituality. This can be very difficult to perceive. It falls within the old proverbial inability to see the forest because of all the trees. We are all products of our culture to varying degrees. We must face the fact that, as the before mentioned divorce rate statistics bare out, even our present “Christian” culture, though a subculture of sorts, is still to a large degree a product of the broader culture around it.
     As mentioned one of the most disturbing things often observed within the Christian world is a preoccupation with surface behaviors while missing the deeper matters of the heart. We often put great importance on appearances, but fail to discern underlying motives.
     I have observed many people who do not confess to be religious, and have made many undesirable lifestyle choices, who had trouble controlling their sexual appetites, the amount of alcohol they consumed, or the profanity that came out of their mouths, yet their ability to be honest, and their deep sense of justice, truthfulness, and their ability to see what was important in life was profound. On the other hand I have known many “Christians” who on a surface level seemed to put a great deal of effort into doing all the right things that speak within the context of our culture as being “spiritual,” yet when it came to underlying motives, the ability to be honest and for real with their weaknesses, and an understanding of what was most important in life was missing.
     It's often hard to face but the fact is our outward flaws, these ugly outward surface issues are things that we all have problems with, Christian or not. Christians just tend to be better at covering them up in order to be more accepted within the Christian sub-culture, while the non-Christian doesn't care how he appears to the religious community and has more freedom to share his or her shortcomings. To God the surface issues are secondary to the deeper heart issues and being open and honest is much more important to him then our reputations. He cares not in the least how we appear to our fellow Christians for he sees how we really look when stripped of our facade. I must ask within such a context, “Who do we think God will judge most harshly?”
     Strangely our culture does allow Christians to entertain certain sins and get away with it, such as gluttony or gossip, and many Christians tend to overlook questionable business practices as long as the business person is active and supportive of the local church. Yet these same Christians often become incensed over profanity or certain styles of dress. We may overlook a persons failure to develop intimacy with his or her spouse or children as long as they posses some needed talent and is of service in our Sunday morning gathering. We can casually drink mugs full of coffee and drink truckloads of soft drinks until we get a sugar/caffeine buzz, but if someone is addicted to cigarettes or drinks beer we think that person must have some great character flaw, and prone to a lack of spirituality. Yet one of the most prolific and respected Christian writers of the twentieth century, C. S. Lewis was addicted to cigarettes, and partook of adult beverages on a regular basis. Lewis was a man with flaws and shortcoming like any of us, yet no one is going to accuse him of lacking moral character or sincerity of faith.
     I'm not trying to justify any of these surface issues that are truly of a destructive nature, please don't misunderstand. What I am trying to do is bring our cultural dictations of what is acceptable and what isn't to the surface. The fact of the matter is when it comes to issues of right and wrong we are often more influenced by culture then by spiritual discernment. As a result we tend to become more upset with surface sins then with deep sins of the heart. Yet surface sins are just that, “surface.” Dealing with them is a part of the human struggle for all of us, and each one of these vices and flaws has varying degrees of consequence. Yet matters of the heart, such as pride or selfishness - how we react to or speak of our neighbor - how we judge and treat those we see everyday - the priority we give to our family relationships over our careers, financial gain or social status - the time and energy we give toward our relationship with God, are of much greater eternal consequence and speak more truly of our spiritual health.
     Jesus judged the people around him strictly on a heart level. As a result he was much more critical of those who thought they had it all together than those who knew they didn't. He dealt and spoke about real issues of eternal consequence rather then the rights and wrongs of the culture he lived in. He didn't even address the social evils of his day, never got into discussing the evil of the Roman empire, its repressive tax system, or its use of slaves to build its social structure. Yet he was sharply critical of the religious minded who claimed to speak for God.
     The Pharisees believed themselves to be the ones who knew what God was all about, yet they were ultimately the ones who pushed to have Jesus killed. They seemed more interested then anyone else in shutting him up. Perhaps this is where we need to examine ourselves most critically as well. If we are going to claim allegiance with the creator of the universe then we better be sure we do actually represent him and not our cultural perceptions of who he is. We had best be sure that we are seeking a true spirituality of depth and purpose and not just a poor substitute defined by our earthly environment.
     The obvious question then is how do we make the distinction? How can we start to more clearly see what is true spirituality and what is only man-made religious ideals that our culture uses to define being spiritual?
     The ability to see through these cultural preconceptions takes a great deal of effort. We can't expect to live our lives everyday without undergoing critically evaluations of why we think and act in certain ways. We need to be constantly aware of the problem and looking to expose it in our lives. Even more than effort it requires God breathed discernment. We need to make it a priority of prayer and seeking God that he strip us of our cultural prejudices and open our minds and hearts to the broader spiritual world. And perhaps most important of all we must be ready and willing to face up to how wrong we really are.
     The ultimate goal for us should be to discover and live out the culture that is represented by the kingdom of God. Jesus stood out so profoundly in his world because he lived his life according to the principles of God's kingdom. He functioned outside of the earthly culture around him, saw past its destructive and false ideas, and lived a life defined by a reality that existed on a much higher plane. His ability to be unaffected by the pressure of his pears to conform was key to his impact. He lived so perfectly by those higher principles that those who spent time with him could not help but be transformed themselves. He pulled them up out of their social stagnation and presented a vision of a world that transcended what they saw around them.
     As Christians we need to develop this same ability. We need to develop an attitude of total disregard for what our culture deems as important, what our culture deems as good, and start living a life consumed by God's culture. We need to become heavenly minded rather then earthly minded. The old adage that we can become so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good is a misnomer. Such thinking shows how shallow our understanding of what it means to be spiritual has become. It is an impossibility to become too heavenly minded, because the more our thinking is consumed with a vibrant and real vision of the kingdom of God the more we will live out that reality, and the more we live by the principles of such a God centered worldview the more of a Christ like influence we will have on the society around us.
     One of the great debates taking place currently in my part of the country is concerning Native American culture and religion as it relates to Christianity. Many native people have started to reach back into their culture to help define who they are as both American Indian and Christian. For example, they may use a drum in their Christian worship. They see this as a way of redeeming their culture, taking back the things that once represented their animistic past and revitalizing them in the light of Jesus Christ. Many see this as watering down the Gospel, mixing Christian beliefs with Native American religion. They see the drum as something that once summoned up evil spirits so how can it now be used to worship God?
     I must confess to a lack of true knowledge on this subject as I have not studied it in depth, nor have I talked at length to those on either sides of the issue, and I am not here to say that there is no danger of crossing over the line at some point. Yet my greatest concern is that the reasoning being used to define and drive this debate is more cultural in nature than it is truly spiritual. The one thing white European Christians need to ask themselves is how much of what we believe and practice is born of the Spirit and how much is born out of our culture?
     For example, when we decorate Christmas trees in our homes and even our churches are we not borrowing from our pagan past? Have we redeemed the Christmas tree or are we dishonoring the memory of the birth of Jesus Christ by putting them in our homes? Does their presence water down our faith by mixing Christianity with paganism? If we want to dig deep we will find numerous examples of this kind of thing. Much of what we now think of as part of our “Christian” heritage and tradition actually have their roots in paganism. Perhaps if we are to demand that Native Americans set aside their culture in order to become Christian we should demand the same of ourselves.
     A lack of ability to seperate culture from the Gospel is a serious matter. We must learn to discern between mere physical acts of interaction with inanimate physical objects (i.e. Christmas trees, drums) and true worship. If we are unable to recognize the difference we have revealed a spiritual shallowness and immaturity. If it is our cultural sensitivities that are being violated and we perceive it instead to be our spiritual sensitivities are we not being carnal minded? Likewise if things that should truly disturb us in a deep spiritual sense have no effect on our being what does this say about our spiritual condition? These are vital question we must ponder deeply and often if we are to move toward a truly spiritual culture.

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