Roughly three months ago, Jon Meacham published an article for NEWSWEEK titled The End of Christian America. In this article, the author mentions that “the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated Americans are people more apt to call themselves ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘religious.’ (In the new NEWSWEEK Poll, 30 percent describe themselves this way, up from 24 percent in 2005.)” […]
To begin with, I think that society as a whole harbors incorrect presuppositions about religion. I won’t necessarily play the blame game, seeing as I feel that Christianity has often been misrepresented by its supposed adherents, but nonetheless, society now possesses numerous false ideas about what the movement is or what it should be. The truth of the matter is, Christianity becomes simply religion when relationship is replaced by routine.
This is the exact problem the apostle Paul dealt with in writing to the church at Philippi. In Philippians 3:1-16, Paul addresses the difficulty in dealing with the Judaizers in the church. This group set out to impose a sort of “Christian checklist” for all believers. The problem in this, of course, is that salvation is nothing that can be earned by human means. Upon successfully explaining this issue, Paul then proceeded in 3:17-4:1 to address antinomianism. This movement was essentially the opposite of the legalistic Judaizers, and these people felt that salvation could be obtained only by faith. Unfortunately, these people had actual standards for behavior.
What this means for Christians today is that we won’t be saved by simply fulfilling self-imposed obligations of praying, reading the Bible, etc. However, we do have to maintain behavioral standards for spiritual living, and these disciplines will involve structure and order to some extent.
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The moment that a man communicates his spiritual emotions to another man, religion takes shape, because from this communication, a dialectic springs forth, and association occurs. Through the success of these ideas, or Revelations, Religion becomes the inescapable connection between the human group and the Divine.
Reading the article in this light, we notice the loss of contact from people towards this connection, to place themselves exclusively in the grounds of spiritual individuality. Why does this happen? A diversity of cultures living together and having a common territory produces a system which has to sustain them economically based on a democratic and secular ambience independent of their beliefs, creating space for an elective form of spirituality for the individual. However, this form of spirituality is often lacking.
We know that the mystic experience takes the form of the subjective , but its action framework doesn’t end there. It tends to be communicated, compared, and transmitted simply due to the love for Truth. Beyond seeing religious precepts as norms, religion brings behavioral standards to aid in a successful life in the community.
What does a man or woman gain by entering into traditional religion?
-Knowledge, peculiar to the communicative nature of religious association.
-An expert’s guidance in metaphysical and ethical issues.
-Identity.
-Social cohesion with like minded people, disposed to common objectives.
-Friendship and even romantic relationships with persons of similar values.
-Familiar integration in religious activities.
An individual of spiritual wealth can only benefit from traditional religion, acquiring associative capabilities and an opportunity to share knowledge.