Becoming a more spiritual person for many of us means nothing mroe than being more tolerant of others. Of letting others be who they are and we will be who we are. Pluralism is the new spirituality.
Pluralists contend that no one religion can know the fullness of spiritual truth, and therefore all religions are valid. But while it is good to acknowledge our limitations, this statement is itself a strong assertion about the nature of spiritual truth.
A common analogy is cited—the blind men trying to describe an elephant. One feels the tail and reports that an elephant is thin and flexible. Another feels a leg and claims the animal is thick as a tree. Another touches its side and reports the elephant is like a wall. This is supposed to represent how the various religions only understand part of God, while no one can truly see the whole picture. To claim full knowledge of God, pluralists contend, is arrogance.
I occasionally tell this parable, and I can almost see the people nodding their heads in agreement.
But then I remind them that the only way this parable makes any sense is if you’ve seen a whole elephant. Therefore, the minute you say, "All religions only see part of the truth," you are claiming the very knowledge you say no one else has. And you are demonstrating the same spiritual arrogance you accuse Christians of.
We live in a world where everyone wants to be spiritual. They want to be spiritual on their own terms and they want no one to say no to them. There are also some every destructive ideas out there. I would like you to turn with to I Tim 4 where we will recieve some clear instructions on how to be spiritual without getting taken in.
The warning is clear that some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits. We have seen it over and over again where people start out right but end up wanting to build a kingdom for themselves. Charles Templeton started out as a Pastor of a church and a great friend of Billy Graham and some say a better evangelist than Graham but he gave up the faith for false teachings and lead many astray. Jones started out as a great pastor. He was making a difference in the community and then it all went to his head and he became a cult leader. He took his people to Gana and there they established a community called Jonestown. He had many brides many young children who were sexually abused by him. Then he gave to all his followers poison and killed all of them before the police could move in. Then there are the Televangelist who are so evil. Jimmy Baker who so oversold the vacation place he built in the name of Christ. Send me money he claimed and God will bless your donation 100 fold. If that were the case I should be a millionaire at this point. Jimmy Swaggart who preached one thing and did another. More showman than teacher. There are lots of those who claim that they know the way and yet they only want one thing and that is your money. The test is to see if their lives line up with their words. If they say that they are wanting to serve the poor and then live in mansions and have 100.000 dollar cars it would seem to me that they meet the definition of Hypocritical liars.
These false teachers are always telling us what to wear and not wear who to marry and who not to marry. what you can eat and what you can’t eat. They have the truth and no one else does. Well does that not sound like pluralism to you? No these are teachers in the body of Christ that we are evaluating and not different forms of religion. They make rules the way to God rather than jesus the way to the father.
Everything God has made is good. If you don’t eat meat like I don’t don’t make it about some weird intrepretation of the word of God. I don’t like beef and so if you want to eat it go ahead. What ever you eat do it with thanksgiving. If you have the gift of being single then be a single person with thanksgiving putting Christ first in all that you do.
The doctrine issues are easily solved by going back to the word of God and keeping it simple. Read it and take it for what it is. Don’t let anyone make it hard because it is not hard. Keep away from myths and old wives tales. Instead train yourselve to be godly. To be christ like. Make it your goal never to see how far you can get from God but to always be moving toward him and alway trying to be like him.
Brendon Manning tells about hearing the 5 step of an alchohic and then getting a note from that same person the next day. It read:
Dear Jesus, in thankgiving for what You have done for me, I will make known to my brothers and sisters how kind You are toward sinners, and that Your mercy prevails over all malice, that nothing can destroy it, that no matter how many times, or how shamefully we fall, or how criminally a sinner need not be driven to despair of your pardon. It is in vain that Your enemy and mine sets traps for me every day. He will make me lose everything else before the confidence that I have in Your mercy.” (The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, 136-137)
There is value in physical training it makes you stronger physically. It helps you function better mentally and relieves stress in your life. There are lots of benefit to physical training. I know some every fit people who I would not trust with my dog. They are liars and cheats. I make sure my locker is locked at the gymn when they are around. I know some increditiabley in shape people who are morally desitute. They opening have affairs on their spouses. Holiness, Godliness has value for all things. When I want to be like Jesus I give him my body and my mind. We train our bodies not to look good for self but so that they are not stumbling blocks for the gospel and so that we don’t limit how much we can do if we never take care of ourselves. We live with a different standard in our moral life. We talk differently. We respond to pressure differently. Stress still happens to us just like anyone else but that stress is keep in prespective that God is in the worldwind with us and we don’t have to face anything without him and his grace. We who want to live godily lives are not afraid of death because just as Christ was raised from the dead we will be raised as well. Godily living makes a difference to our grades in school to the length of our lives and to the length and happiness of our marriages and children. So Paul was right that Godilness if good for all things.
Application:
There are a lot of dangerous spiritual ideas in our culture.
May God help us to become men and women who train ourselves to be godly.
