Authentic Spirituality

“Authentic Spirituality”

Throughout the gospels, the Lord Jesus castigates the Pharisees, scribes and teachers of the law for their excessive dedication to religiosity and tradition rather than a faithful pursuit of authentic spirituality.  These religious people wrote commentaries on the Law of God, the Midrash and the Talmud.  These writings were designed to ensure that the people did not transgress the law of God.  In time, they became more devoted to the traditions of their commentaries than they were to the Law of God.  In fact, the Pharisees separated themselves from people who did not adhere to their traditions.  Actually, they looked down upon such people.  Unfortunately, the Pharisees lost perspective and began to esteem their interpretations of the Law as being greater than the Law itself.  They did not consider anyone religious who failed to follow their interpretations and teachings.  Moreover, they put an undue burden upon the average people to follow their Pharisaic teachings in order to worship and rightly relate to Almighty God.  In stark contrast, Jesus announces that rigid adherence to religion, ritual and tradition does not necessarily yield righteousness with God.

Jesus challenges people to seek a vibrant and growing relationship with God.  In accordance with the teachings of Jeremiah 29:12 and 33:3, Jesus encourages people to seek God with their whole hearts.  Instead of furthering religion, Jesus defines the components of an authentic spirituality, which is the gracious and free gift to anyone who asks sincerely.  Whereas rituals and religiosity may contribute to one’s spirituality, they are not synonymous with it.  Authentic spirituality is primarily dependent upon one’s ability to be honest with God, one’s self and other people.  Simply put, honesty is the foundation of genuine spirituality.  Additionally, an emerging relationship with God includes integrity, truth, love, respect, dignity and justice.  Those principles contain the enduring riches of life.  Since God is love and life, those characteristics naturally flow from Him.  Accordingly, Jesus teaches the masses that knowing God is the surest path to inner healing and wholeness.

God requires complete honesty from us.  First and foremost, we must be honest about whether we have faith in Him or not.  Hebrews 11:6 says that authentic faith is necessary in order to please God.  In addition, James 1:5-6 states that belief is essential in order to receive anything from God.  A double-minded person cannot expect to gain anything from prayer.  Furthermore, God demands that we pray frankly, straightforwardly and truthfully.  We cannot hide sin while we pray about other matters.  We cannot ignore the resentment, bitterness, vengeance, judgment, strife and envy that lurk in the closets of our hearts and the crevices of our minds, when we pray about other issues.  God does not allow us to overlook our brokenness in several areas in an attempt to achieve healing in another facet of life.  Since “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account, (Hebrews 4:13)” God insists upon complete disclosure within prayer and our dealings with Him.

To obtain inner healing and wholeness, we must also be willing to be as honest with ourselves as we must be with Almighty God.  We will never grow to the point of loving and accepting ourselves if we will not admit our failures, shortcomings, and areas that need improvement.  If we have a problem, we must first acknowledge it in order to resolve it.  Honesty is critical and non-negotiable as it relates to resolving our personal challenges.  In fact, a forthright admission of the problem is the first step in overcoming it.  God and the organic process of healing that He uses necessitate personal honesty.  Whether it is food, gossip, debt, jealousy, procrastination, fear, sloth, drugs, alcohol, etc., one must recognize one’s need for help in order to achieve inner healing and wholeness.

Nevertheless, authentic spirituality and the love of God, which is its natural outgrowth, are primarily dependent upon our willingness to be honest.  Religion allows the possibility of cloaking our sin and weaknesses under the fabric of ritual and tradition.  Furthermore, religiosity often produces a self-righteousness and self-justification that eventually leads one to judge others by one’s own standards rather than the word of God.  Jesus saw this phenomenon in the actions and hearts of the Pharisees, scribes and teachers of the law.  He railed against it.  More significantly, Jesus encourages us to discard the moss and withered laurels of petrified religion.  In its place, Jesus offers an authentic spirituality, which necessitates honesty, integrity and truth.