Welcome to another new installment of Counselor's Corner. I ask each of you this question, and I know that you are asking yourselves, what does he mean am I religious or spiritual? Well, funny you should ask that, I am going to tell you.
If you are religious, you get dressed up in your finest attire on Sunday morning. You stand up tall and sing as pretty as you can, never missing a word of the hymn being sung. You never miss a word of the Bible verse being read, and an Affirmation of faith? You can recite them front and back, no matter what the preacher puts in the bulletin this week. You put in 15% of your earnings in the offering plate because you believe that putting in that extra 5% may get you a better mansion when we get upstairs. You put on your best Christian smile on and shake as many hands as possible to remind everyone who you are. You come to church 15 minutes early so you can scan the bulletins for typos and catch up on the latest gossip, or start some of your own. You go home and forget the message all together and you live for six days like there is no God. Come Sunday morning, that dress or suit better be nicely pressed and shoes shined because we are religious and we want to look our best for the Lord on the sabbath.
Well that sounded good for a while didn't it? We all want to look our best on Sunday morning. We would all like to put in 15% or more in that offering plate as it comes around.
Well, now let's look at spiritual. You may not be a bad dresser, but you can't afford a nice suit, so you wear jeans and a t-shirt. You may not remember by heart the affirmation of faith, but you read it and dwell on what it says, taking every word to heart and try to understand what you are affirming. You may not shake everyone's hand, but you are being friendly to everyone you see or meet. You may sing flat or off key, but you are singing from your heart. Your paycheck may be a little short this week. So you put a dollar in the offering plate rather than your normal $20. You serve the church as best you can and never expect any recognition. You live your life in the hopes of doing your best to glorify the Lord anyway you can.
Now, ask yourself the question again. Are you religious? or are you spiritual. Be honest with yourself. Is your dream to be in the showroom window, or just the best you can be if it suits your creator. We need to all be a little less religious and alot more spiritual. Not that the church doesn't appreciate your money, because they do, but God doesn't care how much money you make. God cares where your heart is. He doesn't care that you came to worship in jeans and a t-shirt. He cares that you mean what you say when you affirm your faith, or sing a hymn, or pray. The rest is a show. The rest is religion. A good friend of mine told me once that the difference between religious and spiritual was that religious people are scared of going to Hell, and spiritual people have already been to Hell and don't want to go back. That didn't come from a preacher, deacon, or even a church goer for that matter, it came from an alcoholic. Who hit rock bottom and reached up and the Lord Himself grabbed his hand and pulled him back up. That is spiritual. That is what I strive to be. That is my wish for each one of you to try to be as well. Thank you for listening.
