A Primer on Spirituality, Human Experience, and Redemption
Cultural Christians and proclaimers of the 'spiritual but not religious' fad ditch the sovereignty and redemptive plan of God for all shades of beliefs and human-centeredness.
“In facing death, the possibility of a spiritual realm is conjectured. In the depth[s] of despair, one may be overcome with a sense of burden because of a sinful act. Under the umbrella of the stars, one asks, Who made these?”1
Scientologists and naturalists can deny it all they want, but the reality of this life, the whole universe, is that the spiritual and the material coexist. There are just far too many shades of ‘spirituality’ nowadays, some of which aren’t even ‘spiritual.’
Some scholars define spirituality purely by the wellness benefits one derives from it, like “a self-chosen2 connection that inspires individuals to achieve their optimal being, and these connections are not limited to some higher power, supernatural or omnipotent.” But what this definition succeeds in doing is merely changing the source of the ‘connection’ from divine to human (that is, human-centered spirituality).
This appeal to “inner strength, resilience, and connectedness” makes human-centered spirituality self-centered because (1) begins with humans, (2) derives its goals for humans, and (3) values a person’s “autonomy and freedom [and] rejects the idea of an absolute source of moral authority.” There is nothing spiritual about this view. It cannot serve the fulfilling ‘essence’ that seekers need. Even more, such a perspective permits inherent human limitations (subtle and otherwise).
On the contrary, a divine approach offers “a transcendent external focus,” which is necessary to achieve “an embracing of the transformational reconciliation with God and the world and our true self made possible by Jesus' dying and rising.” This redemptive approach is the goal of Christian spirituality, not wealth, health, or whatever else any charming guru might affirm.
The Nature of Spirituality
Despite prolonged efforts in modern society to distance morality and spirituality from their divine origins, certain proposed scholarly definitions and classifications of these terms still have biblical roots. For instance, the “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) phenomenon has been given a broad definition, in keeping with predominant religious traditions, of spiritual life as consisting of “(1) an ethically directed (2) way of life, (3) with a particular focus on inner transformation (4) in the light of what is taken to be ultimate.”
I propose that three (3) core elements of spirituality are observable in this definition and biblical spirituality: (1) goal, (2) process, and (3) expression. Though the ultimate (goal) is not stated, it asserts that an inner transformation (process) will result in an ethically directed way of life (expression).
Similarly, the Holy Spirit undertakes some activities (processes) to reconcile us with God (goal) while we express certain fruits (Gal. 5:22-23). “As we pursue God, we will become more like him, which is exactly what God intended and empowered us to be… [with] Christ’s righteousness becoming our righteousness, we see that we are holy as God is holy because we have become a part of the Sacred.”3
Spirituality and the Human Experience
When it comes to spirituality, Christians have an advantage that other religious systems can seldom afford: the Holy Spirit, whose endeavors to refine us toward redemption are in perpetuity. The Holy Spirit leads, empowers, proclaims, and resides within us to stabilize us in virtuous living. Why? Because of the “essence of man that is drawn toward physical inducements … known as the ‘natural man'.”
We are complex. We want the godly or the sacred, but the ‘natural man’ in us is prone to satisfying fleshly desires that contrast spiritual expressions enumerated in Galatians 5:22-23, even when the heart knows better.
If this sounds rather lofty, pardon me, but it should. After all, Moses didn’t draw near the burning bush with his shoes on. Christian spirituality calls us to holiness so that we can be with God. It calls us to cast the sacred upon the profane and not merely separate them, as some of us like to keep our business and our faith apart.
However, our progression toward godliness does not exempt our quest for meaning, the satisfaction we get from ordering our material existence to some divine ideals. Some would say that all this talk about righteousness will not pay the bills. And they’re right, as Viktor Frankl once said, “A man's concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease.” Jesus also said, “In this world, you will have many troubles,” some of which are answerable by money. Christian spirituality calls us to holiness, but it doesn’t banish our concerns for clothes, food, shelter, and school fees. The holes in our hearts are often triggered by the pursuit of the material with diminishing divine guidance.
Outside God, our search for meaning, identity, otherworldly connection, fulfillment, guidance, or transformation opens up nearly any spiritual possibility imaginable. We have seen women turning to expensive rage rituals only to be afforded the opportunity to dash into the woods and scream their vicious anger away.
Someone once disclosed an affinity for Èṣù (Satan), a deity in the Yoruba pantheon known for facilitating communication between humans and other deities, yet he’s notoriously dubious. Upon probing, I was told that his duplicitous nature makes him likable, as this reflects the “true nature” of humans. True, we are capable of holding dubious personalities. We, and others we may know, exhibit some degrees of cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy. The logic, then, is that since Èṣù is capable of good and evil like humans, spirituality should be centered around such affinity via Èṣù worship.
That would be spiritual, by the way. Still, a flaw in Èṣù veneration worth mentioning here is that it tailors spirituality as a reflection of the ‘natural man,’ an example being duplicity. No doubt, there are gray areas in life, and in such cases, people may seek spiritual direction. The Bible acknowledges the sense that some things may not be “clearly commanded, prohibited, or permitted,” but “God wants us to obey his commands in the black and white areas, and to seek his wisdom in the gray areas.” The Christian knows that even in such gray areas, one must be careful not to fall into sin.4
Our tendency towards evil and good, however, continuously seeks permission to maximize opportunities that appear to be on the fringes of moral binaries. If one believes that Satan understands our animated desires better, then those desires will find fulfillment and amplification with him. It is, therefore, no surprise that numerous satanic temples may be found openly across the world. This kind of spirituality has no transformational value.
Basically, duplicity undermines integrity and erodes trust, and no reasonably functional capitalist society can function without these. Like other sins, it seeks to secure affluence or other gains for the one who wields it.
When we opt for sin, laced with spiritual rituals or not, there is an underlying assumption that righteousness deprives us of a good life. Suffice it to say that one who does not believe that God exists but upholds some spiritual practices is not significantly different from one who believes in a trickster god, except that the devil believes that God exists (James 2:19).
Again, spirituality that fulfills its ends only in mental or physical well-being, at best, conscripts some godly ideals to foster human-centeredness. Such spirituality misses the point. One can show kindness while rejecting its source, God. If one doesn’t acknowledge God, one isn’t spiritual because the essence of spirituality is to bridge the gap between the profane and the sacred.5 And no one is more interested in that in our redemption than God.
The Necessity of Divine Redemption
Biblical spirituality begins on two accounts: (1) God opens up the possibility of a spiritual relationship with him, and (2) we seek Him when we realize the necessity of that relationship. Spirituality would never be possible without the benevolent and merciful God who not only acknowledges our nature regarding sin but also offers a compassionate way out of the challenging complexities we face.6
The emptiness that compels us to acknowledge a spiritual void is caused by sin's pervasive nature. Each expression and experience of sin alienates us from the sacred, the divine, and God, which warrants redemption.
‘Redemption’ is of Latin roots, meaning to ‘buy back.’ For example, there was once something that we lost or gave up, but we want it back to redeem it. Economists call it seller’s remorse. In scripture, it means that a desired state once ensued in “original creation, at one's birth, and in the redeemed state.”7 In the Garden of Eden, when our first parents, Adam and Eve, opted for the serpent’s explanation of God’s direct command, they lost their purity and fell into the world as we know it.
Morally, as children, we assume a clean slate (without sin, not without ‘purpose’) at birth, but as our consciousness grows with age, we pick up desires and habits that shape the rest of our lives. Nevertheless, even if we are morally righteous, we cannot enter a spiritual relationship with God on the basis of our good deeds.8 As Srygley & Lynn9 put it, “The redeemed state is where the condemnation brought on by breaking the law is removed (Romans 8:1-2). It is an actualized spirituality; it is not a guarantee of salvation to the redeemed person who later chooses an alternative faith or unspiritual behavior.”
Various forms of spirituality exist, but the concept of redemption is nearly unique to Christianity. Our faith rests in God’s redeeming invitation to lasting spiritual fulfillment through Jesus Christ.
God had planned in eternity past for His beloved Son, “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world,”10 to be the basis of our reconciliation with Him, not human-initiated discovery routines or journeys. Being orchestrated and fulfilled by God, this kind of redemption is fail-proof to the extent that we accept God’s plan, renew our pledge of a good conscience toward God11 at baptism, and subject our lives to the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit.12
God’s spiritual plan to redeem us from our sinful tendencies has been established through Jesus Christ so that “each person [can] respond to God”13 but our spiritual experience cannot ensue without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us to break free from the chains of sin and experience genuine spiritual renewal. It is through the Holy Spirit's work that the promise of redemption is fulfilled, that believers in Christ are reconciled to an eternal relationship with God.
The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit
Redemption is not merely spiritual talk because the Holy Spirit works to produce certain fruits in our daily lives.14 “The outward, daily life of the Christian is a reflection of his or her faith. It takes shape out of a conscious decision to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is empowered by God through the Holy Spirit. It involves ethical behavior, ministry, and worship.”15
Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we are liable to the consequences of sin, no matter the type. The physical consequence of sin affects us and other people. Even such things as telling a white lie can have damaging results beyond obvious self-deceit and erosion of trust to infamous social proportions. One may opt for an honest life rooted in Christ, where “... the truth shall set you free (John 8:32),” or be confined to the contrary. As Jordan Peterson16 says,
“If you say yes when no needs to be said, however, you transform yourself into someone who can only say yes, even when it is very clearly time to say no. If you ever wonder how perfectly ordinary, decent people could find themselves doing the terrible things the gulag camp guards did, you now have your answer. By the time no seriously needed to be said, there was no one left capable of saying it.”
Romans 1 reveals the spiritual consequence of sin, for God gives humanity up to “sinful desires,” “shameful lusts,” and “a depraved mind” when we refuse to glorify Him, swap His “truth for a lie,” or discard His knowledge. However, believers “who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” are not subject to the damnation of sin (Rom. 8:1) because the Holy Spirit informs their desires (Rom. 8:5), controls their body (Rom. 8:9), and gives them life (Rom. 8:11).
Therefore, meaningful spirituality begins with God, is actualized through Jesus Christ, and is exemplified by the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.
Srygley, D., & Lynn, M. (2024). Encountering Biblical Spirituality: A quest for authentic spirituality: its reasonableness, its connection with the sacred, its actualization, and its manifestation. NationsUniversity, MRS 622E.
[italics added]
Srygley and Lynn, 2024
Rom. 14:23; James 4:17
Srygley & Lynn, 2024
2 Peter 3:9
Srygley & Lynn, 2024
Acts 10; Romans 3:10
(2024, p. 36)
Rev. 13:8
1 Peter 3:21
Acts 2:38
Srygley & Lynn, 2024, p. 38
Gal. 5:22
Srygley & Lynn, 2024, p. 55
(2018, p. 212)