Religious or being Spiritually Real

Sometimes when I am reading the day's selection from My Utmost, I find it impossible to find a way to express the intensity of the truths any other way than how they are already put down. All I can do is supply the thoughts and memories that are awakened and stirred in my mind and heart as I am reading. Today's passage was one of those. If you do not own one of these books and you are wanting to be serious about experiencing true reality, I suggest that you go out and buy one soon. They usually only cost about $5 and can be found in any Christian bookstore. This book and author is considered one of the all-time great classics and nearly every day that I read it I can easily see why. I just wish that I had started reading it 40 years ago instead of 7 or 8.

One of the things I took to doing in my daily reading of this book each year is making notations in the margin along with excessively underling many portions. One of the things I look for in each passage are self-definitions of words and terms. I have found this helpful not only with this author but with everything I read. Each author has in their mind a particular meaning for the words they choose that may often be quite different than what we understand them to mean, particularly if it was written over 50 or 100 year ago as is the case here. For example, Chambers defines clearly what he means by the word “lust”. In his writings lust means “I must have it right now”. The main emphasis in his mind is the demanding, impatient nature of our spirit, not whatever it is that we are desiring at the moment.

Of course, most of us have almost exclusively associated lust with sexual activities and thoughts so this definition by Oswald Chambers comes as a bit of a shock to many of us. But it also help greatly in understanding the real point the author is trying to make any time they use the word when we allow the definition that they supply themselves even if it is quite different or even opposite of what we expect.

I have noticed this problem with words and terms from the Bible as well and we would understand a great deal more about God if we took the time to let Him define His terms instead of overlaying our very limited current usage of words and terms on Scripture and then extrapolating all sorts of strange doctrines and rules to define Christianity.

“A Christian worker's greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.”

As is the case throughout most of this book, I am strongly reminded here that I am always in danger of allowing all sorts of good things distract me from the one and only important thing in life – facing God openly and constantly with my heart, soul and mind. And those distractions often appear to be things that fool me into thinking I am doing what is important, things like “service to Jesus Christ”, studying “doctrines”, working on my “religious experience” and examining my “beliefs”. While all of those things should not be ignored they can so easily eclipse the one, most important thing of staying in the presence of the One who created me, Who loves me unlimitedly and Who is the only source of real life and satisfaction.

“Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord's surprise visits.”

This reminds me of the times – the least-expected most illogical times – when my heart has been suddenly awakened and my mind squirmed with great protests in trying to avoid embarrassment and shame. Unfortunately my mind usually wins out and I suppress my emotions and feelings for the sake of “saving face”. But always I regret it later when I realize that I once again probably missed an opportunity to experience something very significant, possible a surprise visit by God to take me to another level of intimacy with Him.

“This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle – we must be spiritually real.”

First I would like to point out that I believe one of the most tragic things most of us have lost and subconsciously mourn is our sense of “childlike wonder” and the accompanying freedom of innocence and abandon and joy that it seems only young children are capable of enjoying. All too soon the world moves in to begin its destructive, damaging abusive activities on the hearts, minds and bodies of the young to steal from them the natural reflections of God's character and personality that still persist after thousands of years of sin. And worse than that, much of this damage is carried out under the cloak of “religion”, whether in the family or in the church. It is no wonder then that Chambers says that “we have to stop being religious” if we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ. The true alternative to this counterfeit is to “be spiritually real”.

The amazing thing about this statement is that many times the people I meet who have more of an aura of being “spiritually real” about them are often people who have little to nothing to do with organized religion. And while I cannot blame them for that considering that state of “religion” today, I believe they are potentially ripe for experiencing true spirituality if they are really honest enough to accept the real truths about God that He has expressed. They are often very much closer to the “kingdom of heaven”, according to Jesus Himself, than most of the “religious” people claiming to be in charge of that kingdom.

The last paragraph of this passage is a description of those who choose to accept the challenge of getting real instead of acting religious.

“If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today's world, and instead are 'looking unto Jesus' (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thought, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.” (My Utmost for His Highest 3/29 edited version)