Chaplain’s Blog

Sometimes being like everyone else is a bad idea. Last week the pew

Research Center released the results from their research on the spirituality of Americans. It may be surprising to you, but 92% of people believe in God. That’s pretty cool. 78% of people believe there are absolute standards of right and wrong. That is still a strong percentage.

 

Here’s the part where I have to step into the minority and invite you to do the same. More than 50% of people find their absolute sense of right and wrong from “practical experience and common sense.” Less than 1/3 – (29%) find their right and wrong from religion.

 

So, let’s break this down a little bit….

 

92% of people believe in a God. If there is a God, then by default, by definition God would define the ultimate right and wrong.

 

If God exists, then by logical deduction, we will not be able to understand the way He works – if we could, then He would not be God.

 

Which brings us to how do we determine right from wrong. Here’s where I must completely turn away from the majority. I cannot – and this one of the fundamentals of true spirituality – I cannot on my own determine what is right and wrong – or I would be God.

 

This idea of being able to determine right and wrong is becoming epidemic in our culture. I think Oprah, whom I have considered to be a very talented broadcaster, has deeply missed the mark. This is from a transcript of a webcast found on her website:

 

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): And she [talking about an another author] talks about old spirituality versus the new spirituality, and she says the old was—the old way is—the hierarchy has the authority. Church authorities tell you how to worship in church and how to behave outside of church. The new spirituality is that you are your own best authority as you work to know and love yourself, you discover how to live a more spiritual life.OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): The old is, “God and the path to worship him have already been defined, and all you need to do is follow the directions.” The new is being able to listen within for your own definition of spirituality, your deeper longings are under search. And the old says exact here what Eckhart was saying. That there’s only one path. It’s the right way and all other ways are wrong. And the spirituality says that many paths lead to spiritual freedom and peace.OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): You have a rich array of gems from which to draw illumination. The world’s religious traditional, mythology, psychology, healing methods, scientific wisdom, your own experience and that you can begin to string a necklace all your own. Then she lists, you know, other old and new. And so it’s really a question of what you were saying to us earlier that this material strikes a chord within you.OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Something in you opens up and wants, you know, feels alive and is awakened to that. And yet there is the ideology that says what to you? What is the conflict for you?KELLY (

ILLINOIS): Just thoughts on the afterlife, things like that. You know, you—in a lot of books such as Tolle’s, we get teachings from Buddhism or Hinduism, and those thoughts don’t go along with, you know, what I was raised to believe as a Christian. So that’s been the biggest thing that I’ve struggled with, I think, so…OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.KELLY (

ILLINOIS): Right.OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): I’m a free-thinking Christian who believes that, who believes in my way, but I don’t believe that it’s the only way, with 6 billion people here on the planet. 

Masterfully woven here is truth an error. It’s true that spirituality based on “church authority” is not true spirituality; the other extreme is just in error. The other extreme which is, “I get to pick what works for me – no matter where it comes from.”

 

This in essence makes each of us God. And if that is the case then God does not exist, or is irrelevant!

 

Make no mistake, despite what so many people say, there are radical difference between Christ based spirituality and other religious traditions – whether Buddhism, Islam, other Eastern Religions, mythology, or whatever.

 

I am deeply concerned for those of us who profess Jesus Christ, who call ourselves Christians… We often profess an ultimate right and wrong from God – but in our actions, are we making excuses, justifying, and rationalizing what we want to do, or what makes sense to us?

 

How many Christians do I know who are justifying:

• Having sex outside of marriage – whether married or un-married
• Spending money on the stuff of this world
• Watching and listening to things that defy the way God says to live
• Pursuing their career like it is their eternal future
• And more…

 

Now, I’m not saying we are saved by what we do… I’m saying if we really believe in God we might want to look to Him for the ultimate source of wisdom for our life. This is one of the ultimate questions of spirituality – is there a God; if there is, does He have authority in my life?

 

So, I challenge you to be different – to disagree with others and live like it… Live like there’s a God. And go to Him for truth.

 

PS. If you’ve been burned by people who are “religious” please remember that many people who claim the name of Jesus don’t speak or act for Him. Look at Him – not at those people.