Skip to main content

Makes Me Sad


  It’s a popular new credo in the world today, ‘I’m spiritual but not religious’. Whereas religion is seen as old fashion and conformist, spirituality is seen as individualistic and hip. A person defines their beliefs by themselves and not by what some group lays down. The motto comes from the idea that people don’t want to view themselves as vapid in terms of moral thinking and merely physically minded yet don’t want to be hindered by adopting a preset set of convictions.
 
  Yet it doesn't seem to be working out well for people. A study in The Journal of Nervous Disease by Jeffrey Vittengl found that those that define themselves this way may not be happy about it. The risk of depression was over a third greater than for those saw themselves as spiritual but not religious[i]. While religion has been shown over the years to have significant positive effects on people’s mental well-being, this study showed that just being spiritual didn’t have the same results.

  Yet before this terminology, James spoke about a similar phenomenon. In James 2:14 we read, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” James ‘faith without works’ is akin to ‘spirituality without religion’, an idea that one can have the trappings of faith without having to do much with it. Yet James is clear that kind of faith is no faith at all.

But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.  But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
James 2:18-20

  Faith that doesn’t act is dead. A spiritual mindset not practiced is meaningless. No wonder people are depressed! It sad however many man-made religions are moving to a mindset that seeks to follow the same path. As more groups divorce the intertwining of faith and behavior, making religion seem only about what one feels rather than what one does, it leads people to the same self-destructive destination.

 Years ago Solomon came to the same understanding: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Listen to God when it comes to spiritual matters, listen and act.  Life is meaningless without God’s direction. You have to know the answer but also get the solution. It matters not just what we believe but it how we live it out!




[i] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychiatry-the-people/201804/spiritual-not-religious-is-associated-depression

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Until Midnight

    In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back.       I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mighty Gulf

  It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding.  To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two.   Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God?   In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Dare You!

    Lewis Keseberg was tired of all the accusations against him so he filed a defamation lawsuit against Ned Coffeemeyer the man he saw as responsible for the rumors. The court found that Ned had indeed called Keseberg a “thief and murderer” without any proof but it didn’t rule very strongly in his favor by only imposing a fine of one dollar.  Maybe they were lenient because Ned Coffeemeyr had earlier rescued Lewis Keseberg from a terrible situation.  Maybe it was because the accusations while not proven were highly likely.  And maybe because Lewis Keseberg had admitted to eating people.   Lewis Keseberg was one of the members of the infamous Donner Party, a wagon train that got caught in the Siera Nevada mountain and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Keseberg wasn’t known as a very good person before those events and they certainly didn’t help improve his image. But to sue the very person who saved you seems to define the kind of person he was....
Post a Comment
Read more