Self Made Spirituality

In part one of my series; I would like to touch on self made spirituality. What do I mean by this ? It is difficult in a blog to go very far in depth on any topic, but I will try and hit the high points of what I mean ..

America was founded on the belief that Christian values and God should be on the fore front of all polices and lifestyles. Now I know that many early American churches did things in the name of God that were extreme. I’m not excusing that. However, we have gone so far the other direction in America that we have lost focus of God and what this Country was founded on. Even though the early Americans dealt with spiritual and Biblical disobedience harshly, it dealt with it, rather than excepting it or embracing it, and those violations were the rarity not the norm like it is in many cases today.

So what do I mean by this “self made spirituality”. Well it’s the idea that God and Biblical authority can be softened, altered, changed, or ignored. The New Age Movement or New Age Spirituality is a good example of what I’m talking about..

Wikipedia

New Age Movement is a movement that seeks universal truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It combines aspects of cosmology, astrology, esotericism, complementary and alternative medicine, various religious practices, collectivism, nature, and environmentalism. New Age spirituality is characterized by an individual approach to spirituality, while rejecting religious doctrine and dogma.

Beyond that definition, New Age is hard to define. You won’t find any New Age churches on your local street corner. But mostly the movement in its basic form puts man as the central figure. He is viewed as divine and progressing toward godhood or “Christ Consciousness”. It believes that God is in everything and everything together makes up God, therefore as part of nature, man is a part of God.

This kind of thinking, whether as strong as the New Age Movement or just slight variations of their ideas is moving away from God.

Self made spirituality, as I noted earlier is the softening and altering of Biblical truths. The gay movement in America is a prime example. Let me sit this straight right off, I am not a gay hater. I am simply pointing out that the Bible is very clear on how God feels about homosexuality and sexual immorality. However, the Gay movement either softens or ignores what the Bible says. The idea that you were born Gay and that was the way God made you and God would not hold that against you, is self made spirituality. That line of thinking would be like saying that child sexual serial killers were just born that way so we should not judge them. Homosexuality, adultery, child molestation, alcoholism, drug addiction, and murder are all choices that a person makes for themselves.

The idea that we can live life on our terms, in any situation that violates Biblical principles, is self made spirituality. The idea that you and God have your own thing going and the “old rules of religion” don’t apply to you, is self made spirituality. The idea that God would not let “good” people go to Hell, is self made spirituality. The idea that decisions are never wrong, provided they are not wrong in that person’s own mind, is self made spirituality.

Self made spirituality is any idea or actions that moves you away from God and Biblical principles, while at the same time convinces you that it’s all right and you are still walking in a Christian walk, and along the narrow road as the Bible warns about. The biggest draw to this type of thinking is the release from personal accountability and Holy Ghost conviction.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 Warns that; For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, Do what it says.

Jesus warns in Matthew 12:33-35 that the heart is untrustworthy. Proverbs 12:20, states that there is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. Jeremiah 17:25 tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

My prayer is to not be led by your heart, be led by the Holy Spirit. Be led by Biblical principles and truth. Seek God and His authority in all situations. Put God first in all things and search the scriptures for understanding to spiritual questions.

Above all, if you are not currently attending a Bible believing church, find one in your area and learn what God says about righteous living, and living a life of spiritual maturity…….