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I agree, Tom. I wish more people understood the concept of “I will tell you in your mind AND in your heart”. As usual, I love “pure Mormonism” – even as some members make me want to administer atomic wedgie justice.
😈 Old-Timer wrote:The following is the largest reason why I am uncomfortable with a focus on spirituality rather than righteousness: …we have altered the original meaning of “spiritual” to mean “emotional”… I just don’t see spirituality as an end result of its own – and I am wary of the results that occur when it becomes such…I believe righteousness (being right with God) should be our ultimate goal – not spirituality. If I had to choose between one or the other…I would choose practical righteousness over spirituality personally and for most people…if I had to choose between one or the other, I would encourage action over feelings as a rule.
I agree that spirituality is not the same thing as being emotional but I’m not so sure about the idea that righteousness is more important than spirituality. In my opinion, genuine spirituality actually provides the proper motivation behind truly righteous behavior. Without this understanding and direction it is way too easy to just spin our wheels thinking we are doing something important and necessary when this is not always the case (Luke 10:38-42).
Personally, I think excessive focus on too many questionable rules and rituals often has very little to do with “being right with God” and is typically more about upholding tradition or even arrogant self-righteousness. I have known some Church members that go way above and beyond the letter-of-the-law as far as attending church, paying tithing, magnifying their callings, not watching R-rated movies, not drinking caffeinated soft-drinks, etc. but then they are hateful and treat other people terribly. Basically, they think they are already righteous and that others are the sinners so they end up missing the whole point of Christianity in many cases.
It seems like there are always people willing to do what they have been told without ever really knowing why or what exactly they are trying to accomplish. At the same time, religious organizations are more than happy to tell them what to do. I think this resulting corrupt and confusing religious environment is one reason there are starting to be more and more people that describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious” because they think that some of these ideas being spread by religious institutions just don’t make sense and aren’t worth worrying about so they don’t bother to go to church even though they still believe in God and morality.
I agree, DA. That’s the fine line we walk in this type of discussion.
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