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SpiritWalk
Restoring Spiritual Vibrancy, part 2
How we became Spiritual Refugees
Do you remember how exciting those “first years” of being a Christian were? Everything was different. It was like walking out of a thick fog into a bright sunshiny day; everything looked different; everything tasted different. Jesus loves us and we are going to live forever. We couldn’t wait to tell our friends about this “new thing” because we wanted them to know Jesus too. We were taking our first steps on a journey of discovery and wonder where all things are possible for those who believe.
But along the way, something changed. The spiritual highway that we thought we were on started to feel more like a twisty path through familiar landscape. Just when we thought we were making progress, we came to a crossroad that felt eerily like one we had stopped at a few years back. The change in landscape kind of snuck up on us. The sermons began to sound familiar and we seemed to be doing the same stuff at church that we were doing 5 or 10 years ago. We were busy and we were moving, but instead of a journey of new discovery it seemed like we were just recycling through religious activities. Our path had cut through the forest and we emerged into a desert land where everything looked the same.
Others were jolted off the journey by “the event”. It may have seemed positive at the time; a new job that required a substantial time investment; a promotion and move to a new city far away from family and friends; or a new relationship with someone who really understands me. Or it may have been very negative; the loss of a loved one; a nasty church split where friendships were broken; a betrayal by someone that you trusted; the realization that you were not really a uniquely gifted ministry partner but just another replaceable part in someone else’s work. When “the event” happened, everything changed and now, many years later, you are disconnected. If you handled “the event” well, those around you might not even realize that you are a spiritual refugee, interpreting your calm demeanor as a sign of contentment.
Whether the change in direction came gradually or traumatically, we find ourselves no longer spiritual adventurers taking the world for Christ, but spiritual refugees instead; wandering in the desert and thirsting for a sip of living water. Once we have gotten off course, it is difficult to find our way back onto the spiritual highway. Part of the problem may be related to how we started the journey in the first place.
For many, the change from “living in the world” to “being in the church” was so dramatic that we didn’t realize that much of what we were experiencing was more of a cultural change than a spiritual change. We walked out of our “worldly” culture into a “churchy” culture that was both stimulating and helpful in our spiritual infancy. That “churchy” culture, however, was not enough to sustain spiritual growth. When we felt that we were stagnating, we were often told to “do more” churchy stuff. Instead of just drinking spiritual milk, we also volunteered to feed others the same milk. We experienced a real benefit from such increased activities because we were serving others, but years later we realized that we and everyone around us were still milk drinkers and few seemed able to digest solid spiritual food.
Others grew up in that “churchy” culture and had the code of conduct down. They could talk the talk and walk the walk as long as the walking path stayed within the cultural boundaries of the local fellowship. As far as they knew, they were “doing church” just right. They knew how and when to drink spiritual milk and were actively participating in the recommended doses of church activities, bible study, prayer, helps ministry, and evangelical outreach. They had church down to a science and hardly noticed that they were truly thirsty. When they had those “what is all this religious stuff really worth” moments, they quickly reminded themselves that they were in a relationship with Jesus (even though it seemed more a memory than a reality) and put on their favorite teaching tape or praise CD to ease the pain.
In both cases, the “churchy” culture can skew our way of looking at our journey.
This culture tends to provide a set of principles and rules that map out in detail
how we should travel. This can make it difficult to walk along a dynamic spiritual
path that can only be properly navigated by revelation provided in real-
Our journey is not about accomplishing some set of pre-
Whether it happens gradually or suddenly, the awareness that we are spiritual refugees changes our perspective on how we practice Christianity. We are thirsty for living water and spiritual vitality. The same old religious routine no longer is acceptable for us. We no longer fit into our religious clothing and we become weary of trying to grow our human spirit by applying religious principles to our soul life. We want more of Jesus and we begin to look for a way back onto the path of spiritual growth.
Some try to “grow where they were planted” and stay in the same church, trying to be faithful, doing the same things the same ways, hoping that somehow tomorrow will bring something new, something healing, or something exciting. Some go to conferences where dynamic preachers tell them that they need to change and then send them back to their church where they try to “do a new thing” within the existing churchy culture. Some become “church hoppers”, going from church to church, leaving each “old place” for yet another “new place” whenever that familiar longing begins to well up inside. Some give up on church altogether and stay home, practicing a more “private” religion.
At first these various approaches may feel like they are leading us to that spiritual destination we have been longing for. But after a while we realize that we are still in the desert and our thirst has not been satisfied. We have tasted the things of the Kingdom, but we are still grounded in the things of the world as colored by our churchy culture. Our destiny is to experience the Spiritual Kingdom, but our life is full of worldly and religious accomplishments that are earthbound. We live in the desert of the world where our religious practices sometimes lead us to a temporary oasis where we experience a brief time of refreshing, before returning to familiar life. This is the life of a spiritual refugee and it is a common experience among many Christians today.
We do not have to be satisfied with the life of a spiritual refugee. We can immigrate to our true homeland, the Kingdom of God and learn how to take our place as citizens in the Spiritual Realm.
Next: Part 3: How to become a spiritual immigrant.
