Religiosity or Spirituality?

Reli­gios­ity is form. Spir­i­tu­al­ity is essence. They have some over­lap, but they are not exactly the same. When peo­ple define them­selves, they usu­ally start with form. They announce their tra­di­tional or cho­sen reli­gious her­itage (usu­ally with some pride). On a world-wide scale, it will begin with an umbrella term: Chris­t­ian, Bud­dhist, Hindu, Mus­lim, etc. From that point they will break it into a sub­cat­e­gory: Methodist, Bap­tist, Catholic, or one of the hun­dreds of other his­tor­i­cal iden­ti­ties. Once they have done so, they think their job is fin­ished — when in fact it has only just begun.

Ask some­one to define their spir­i­tu­al­ity apart from their reli­gios­ity and see what hap­pens. At first you will get a blank stare. Forms are easy to rec­og­nize, but essence (spirit) is another ques­tion entirely. Essence has more to do with char­ac­ter traits and spir­i­tual tone. In the end, it mat­ters far more than the social veneer. Jesus lived and died as a pretty tra­di­tional Jew. He never went to “church” as we know it. His atten­dance at Syn­a­gogue was lim­ited once his min­istry matured. His essence/spirit was one of per­fect love in tune with the Cre­ator. Though he acknowl­edged the reli­gion of his birth, he clar­i­fied in his actual life the full intent of God. That was his spirituality.

Group iden­tity is a bit like a union card. It car­ries a social right to cer­tain respon­si­bil­i­ties or priv­i­leges, but it is merely the cover to the book of your life. The pages are all about your heart and how it relates to the Ulti­mate. Not all Chris­t­ian min­is­ters are Chris­tians. The same is true for oth­ers. In For­est Gump terms, “Chris­t­ian is is Chris­t­ian does.” What hap­pens when you bump into a Bud­dhist that is more Chris­t­ian than you or your min­is­ter? Ever won­der how God sees the encounter? Which is more impor­tant — the form or the essence?

Astrologers (a despised reli­gious form) sought out and found the baby Jesus and wor­shipped. A rejected Samar­i­tan woman had deeper insights into the call­ing and char­ac­ter of Jesus than his early imme­di­ate Jew­ish dis­ci­ples. The quest for God is a char­ac­ter hunt not a shop­ping spree at the “forms” mall. Gandhi com­plained that Chris­t­ian nations did not act Chris­t­ian. (“Man looks on the sur­face but God looks on the heart.”)

Though I do not think that reli­gious form is totally neu­tral, I am com­ing to see more all of the time that it is def­i­nitely sec­ondary. A truly human­i­tar­ian pagan may be closer to God than the per­son sit­ting next to me at church. The con­fu­sion of form with sub­stance is a major part of the Gospels, as they present the con­flicts between Jesus and the reli­gious groups of his earthly days.

So, what is it about you? Group mem­ber­ship or uncon­di­tional love?