Spiritual, But Not Religious

There is a church near me that often has some odd or disturbing sayings on their signboard. The most recent was, “Are you spiritual but not religious? Come worship with us.” Warm, inviting, open, non-threatening. All things that would appear to be good to attract people. But what is it really saying? What does it mean to be spiritual but not religious?

It seems to me that a church cannot be both spiritual and non-religious. Religion is merely a community of people that agree to worship together and agree on their spiritual tenets. The implication of spiritual but not religious would be that one believes in the supernatural, but there is no centralizing of those beliefs. So how could a church, which is a place of worship for people that share a centralized belief, be spiritual, but not religious? The two ideas are obviously in opposition. A church cannot be both spiritual and non-religious.

A church can be spiritual and religious, which I’d really hope is going on in a church, but the moment you get a group of people together believing the same thing, it becomes a religion. Just because that religion may not have a name yet doesn't mean it isn't religious. It is merely a means of identifying similar belief structures, akin to identifying as American, or Canadian, or Mexican-American. Labels are not the evil things we seem to think they are. Our brains need to label things in order to be able to identify them. If you didn't label anything, it would be difficult to communicate the idea of something without that label.

And just because people have done bad things in the name of their religion doesn't mean religion is evil. Religion helps us to identify, vocalize, and live out our spiritual beliefs. It helps us to find community, fellowship, and acceptance. It is why cliques form, like-minded people enjoy being together. It is much easier to communicate with and understand someone that believes like you.

It seems that spiritual has become good, and religion bad, but without being spiritual, you can’t be religious, and without being religious, you can’t find people to encourage you in your spirituality. It is complete absurdity to try to be spiritual and not religious in a church setting. 

Changes

I eventually earned my flight instructing license, about 2 months after my last post. But as is the norm, things have not worked out as planned. Initially I wanted to go into instructing to earn more flight hours to get into more commercial flight operations. But when I finished my training, the economy was well on its way to tanking, and flight schools weren't hiring. Thankfully, God has given me a fall back skill of being able to repair machines. I certainly miss flying, and had hoped to be doing it as a living, but I must always be reminded that God has a plan for my life that I may not always see. I can rest assured in His plan, even though I don't feel assured all the time. I have faith Lord that you are in control, forgive my unbelief.

In His Hands

Tomorrow I go up for my Flight Instructor Practical Test. I have never been more worried about being able to pass a test before. All I can do now is leave it in God's more than capable hands. Too many times we try to depend on our own abilities to get us through the trials in life. Up until a few moments ago, I was going to go in there and try to pass it under my own power. Then, as I was looking for a picture to put on the cover of my Instructor Notebook I came across a picture of an eagle with Isaiah 40:31 as the caption. It dawned on me that I have been neglecting to include God in this situation. For the past month I have been stressing out about this test. Remembering to include God, and lay it before Him has allowed me to calm down. I am of course still nervous about tomorrow, but I am no longer in near panic mode. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of Your eternal grace.

Introduction

I am a recent graduate of San Diego Christian College, with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology. I am working to finish my flight instruction rating, and thought this might help me to become a better instructor, and maybe give some people some instruction at the same time. This will only be the ground portion for obvious reasons, and until I receive my rating, nothing here can be officially used as a training supplement if you are planning on becoming a pilot. Also, being a Christian, I'll probably include some things other than flying. I hope we all learn something through this process, making each other better and stronger.