WHAT IT MEANS TO BE SPIRITUAL

By Akin Ojumu

Silverware is the currency of success in any team sport. The successful sports club is one whose shelves and showcases are garnished with silverwares. You don’t have to go far to ascertain the veracity of that statement. Just ask the long-suffering fans of any sports club that has not won a single competition in their history. Those poor blokes will give an arm and a leg, and even their eyes, just to win one single silverware,no matter how inconsequential.

But I digress. Now, back to the subject. 

Not unlike football, there’s also a currency of success in Christianity i.e., an objective measure of triumphant Christian living. I’m talking about Spirituality. You can determine, with a high degree of accuracy, who’s really a Christian by the depth of the person’s spirituality. The mark of a true Christian, and the currency of successful Christianity, is spirituality.

At this point, you must be thinking, “What?!!!” Silverware? Currency? Spirituality? Bro, what in the world are you talking about? Well, you aren’t alone. I ask myself the same question, in much more colorful terms, from time to time.

Again, I digress.

Spirituality is such a loaded word. It stirs up vivid imagery in the mind of the average Christian. Permit me, if you will, to paint a portrait of what most Christians consider a spiritual man, and thus, a highly successful and/or good Christian. By the time I’m done with the coloring and shading, and you look at the finished canvas, you are sure to immediately recognize the men and women you’ve always reckoned as spiritual Christians, and who knows, it might even be your face staring back at you.

To many Christians, the spiritual person is someone who exudes charisma, oozes power and prays for long hours. In the eyes of many Church folks, someone is spiritual when he preaches with captivating eloquence and talks about the different dimensions and deep secrets. The term “Spirituality” is almost always synonymous with someone whose proficiency in speaking in tongue is so deep and vast that his tongue speaking comes in varying degrees and in dialects of angels.

The spiritual man, of course, makes repeated roundtrips to heaven where he is ushered into the Throne Room of the Most High God for tete-a-tete. This person often hosts the Lord Jesus in his bedroom at regular intervals, has been visited by angels on numerous occasions even while taking a dunk, and he is on a first name basis with these celestial messengers. 

The spiritual man receives revelations from the celestial realms by way of dreams, visions, and flashes. He’s perpetually tuned in to the heavenly frequency where he is able to download privileged information too deep for lesser men to hear.

Likewise, the spiritual man receives messages directly from God Himself on a variety of issues, ranging from the mundane like, who will win the United States Presidential Elections or what color of undershirt to wear for the job interview, to the spectacular such as the exact date and time the rapture will take place and exact location where he and his family will be when the saints of the Lord are caught up to meet Him in the skies.

This man also has the power to heal all kinds of maladies, including but not limited to headache, back pain, and muscle strain. He might even have restored sight to the blind man, caused the lame and cripple to walk, and raised the dead on several occasions.

The man painted in the above portrait is the spiritual man to many Christians. It’s such a man that is thought to have in his back pocket the currency of successful Christianity. He is the one that many regard as the anointed Man of God.

Or is it? Are the spectacular phenomena described above what truly makes someone spiritual? Of course, the answer is, NYET! i.e., a flat out No, in Russian! Some of the things described above, with the exception of the wacky and the spooky encounters, are spiritual enablement and special abilities, aka Spiritual Gifts, which are grace gifts given to the believer by the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual gifts, however, must never be confused with spirituality. The two aren’t synonymous. Possession of spiritual gifts doesn’t make anyone spiritual. Just ask the folks at the Corinthian Assembly. They had spiritual gifts, yet lacked spirituality, profoundly. These were folks that were said to “come behind in no gift.”

1 Corinthians 1:7

“So that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In spite of their gifts, Paul couldn’t speak to them as spiritual “but as unto carnal.” These people were rich in spiritual gifts but were carnal at the same time.

1 Corinthians 3:1

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”

Whether carnal or spiritual, all Christians possess spiritual gifts. The Church is full of profoundly carnal people who are still able to perform spooky-spiritual abracadabra.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

It’s the presence and the demonstration of the Fruit of the Spirit that makes one a spiritual Christian, and hence, a successful and triumphant Christian. 

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The fruit a man bears reveals his true spiritual identity. It’s the Fruit, not the Gift, that’s the mark of true spirituality.

Any tree that produces a doctrinally bad fruit is a spiritually diseased tree. You cannot be a true follower of Christ Jesus and twist and distort the Word of God.

Mathew 7:15-20

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

Simply because a man succeeds in building an empire for himself in the name of God is not evidence that he is spiritual. That people are fawning over you and calling you “Daddy, Daddy,” is not a true measure of the genuineness of faith. Having million social media followers who consume your false teachings is no proof that you are doing God’s work. Because a man packs stadiums with hordes of gullible undiscerning emotionally manipulated crowds isn’t proof of spiritual impact. 

Establishing franchises of a religious business empire on every street corner isn’t how you determine who is making a difference for God’s kingdom, especially not when the parishes – I mean, franchises – are nothing but shrines where all kinds of metaphysical occultic practices take place in the name of God. Real positive impact is also not determined by breeding a brood of unregenerate churchgoers who, having a false sense of eternal security, believe they are on the way to Heaven.

True Christianity is in the mundane. There’s no greater demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit than the grace to live the ordinary life of a Believer in humility and simplicity giving glory to the LORD. Positively impactful spirituality is when we honor God where we are and in what we do. It is being a good husband or good wife, being a good parent, being a responsible child, being a hardworking student, a diligent employee, a kind employer, a loyal friend, etc., etc., etc. These are the very traits the Bible considers to be the marks of the true believer.

John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

1 Corinthians 7:17-24

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.”

Ephesians 5:22-33

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

Ephesians 6:1-9

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.”

Romans 12:9-21

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

What the above passages describe are the Biblical standards for judging spiritual impact and spiritual exploits. These are the hallmarks of true spirituality.

Now, back to our team sport analogy. It is when your wall – well, life, in this case – is full of the Fruit of the Spirit that you can be considered a good and successful Christian, a truly spiritual man.