Mike and I had a lil debate today about the difference between religion & spirituality. He’s a Christian and he identifies as spiritual, not religious.
His point was that religion is a practice and spirituality is the relationship one has with their higher power. He said that someone can be religious and not spiritual (vice versa).
My question: shouldn’t the two be intertwined…..
Him: look up the meanings of the words in the dictionary…..
Me: so you can be a Christian without practicing Christianity?
Him: some ppl go to church because they feel like they have to, but they really don’t focus on their connection with god. They’re too consumed with making sure they complete their rituals, when they should be concerned with knowing the Lord.
My question: why do a lot of Christians these days feel like it’s so important to differentiate themselves by identifying as spiritual rather than religious?
Him: it’s not about differentiating yourself….
My question: what’s so wrong with being religious? Everybody wants to call themselves spiritualist now, like religious comes with a side of herpes.
Him: there’s nothing wrong with being religious, it just doesn’t do anything for me. Why practice something if I don’t feel like it’s making my relationship with the Lord stronger….
Me: That’s a cop-out…. So going to church does nothing for your personal relationship with Jesus? (the question was aimed specifically at him, not a general question)…. I’m not saying you have to go to a physical building, cause history shows that ppl had church in the woods…. (We were using going to church to symbol all religious Christian practices)…. You’re using definitions created by some random person named Webster to justify your laziness. Most Christians are lazy, period. Y’all prefer to focus on the worthless distinctions between two words rather than using them interchangeably to help each other grow.
The conversation then started to go in circles, no love was lost during our dialogue…..
Although I’m not a Christian I’m still entitled to my opinion, and what I take away from my observations of average Christians. I think that if you identify as a Christian then you have to be religious and spiritual. If “Religious” describes action and “spiritual” refers to the feeling; I have relatively no respect for “Christians” who are comfortable NOT practicing (religious) what they preach (spirituality). To be a Christian you must first develop a spiritual relationship with Jesus, and then become religious about the connection you have with him. Meaning you need to perform the necessary rituals, or you’re not considered a Christian. Spirituality is like the “pre-christian” phase (yes, i just made that shit up). I think that you need to be spiritual before the ultimate step of becoming religious (a Christian), because if you did it the other way around it would be harder to reach your goals with God.
You don’t do a bunch of shit for somebody and then expect to fall in love afterwards. This backward ass thinking is probably why many women find themselves in relationships with males who they’ve made countless sacrifices for (ride-or-die bitches), but are still waiting for their return on their investment (unmarried females)…. Typically you fall in love first (spirituality) and then you do everything in your power to make that person happy (religious rituals).
The word “Christian” is thrown around too loosely….. If I were a Christian my goal would be to become both spiritually and physically (via rituals) connected to the Lord.
Niggas out here putting little to no significance on religious rituals, but they’ll wear their favorite jersey on game day for good luck. You think Olympians win gold by only having faith that they’ll win without practicing religiously?????
NBA players, practice. NFL players, practice. Artists, practice. Kids practice writing their ABC’s. Chemists, practice. Magicians, practice. Strippers, practice!
Seems like the only niggas who think they can get away with not practicing is you “Spiritual Christians”…. And to clear things up; people who are not spiritual but go to church and pray are not considered religious…. They’re just fake ass Christian too.
Sacrifice of Leadership 