Being "Spiritual"

There’s something cool about being “spiritual.”  A growing number of people in the US refer to themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”  Typically, they mean by this that they don’t want to be part of any organized or institutional religion, but that they have a sense that there’s more out there that we usually recognize.
 
The fact is, we are all spiritual, whether we realize it or not.  It’s part of what makes us human, like having 23 pairs of chromosomes.  The human being is more than flesh and blood, muscle and bone.  We are an inseparable blend of the physical and the spiritual.  We share a physical nature with the animals, and we share a spiritual nature with the angels.  But only in human beings do the two natures come together in such a wonderful way.  To call yourself “spiritual” is about as remarkable as saying that you have red blood or that it hurts when you step on a nail.  It is valuable to be aware of this, but that awareness does not make you more spiritual than anyone else.
 
We have a special admiration for “spiritual” people, whose prayers seem to be so special, who spend time every day studying the Scriptures, or who have some sort of a glow about them that leads you to believe that they’re in touch with God more than the rest of us.  That’s not what it means to be spiritual, either.  Being “spiritual” has nothing to do with how eloquently you can pray, or how much you can feel the presence of God around you.
 
To be spiritual – or to put it more accurately, to live out your spiritual nature – is to allow your awareness of the spiritual dimension of life and your familiarity with the things of the Holy Spirit to shape your life.  Being spiritual isn’t about thinking spiritual thoughts.  It’s about living spiritually: having your words and deeds flow from the workings of the Holy Spirit within your spirit.  Or as Paul wrote to the Romans, it is about “living in accordance with the Holy Spirit,” and having our “minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Romans 8:5).
 
Being spiritual means acting in a way, and treating others in a way, that reflects the change in your life that comes from the Spirit of Jesus Christ within you.  As Galatians 5:22-23 puts it, it is a life that bears the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
 
If you want to be spiritual, it’s important to recognize the spiritual dimension of who you are.  The disciplines of prayer, Scripture reading, and church attendance will help you become more attuned to how the Holy Spirit is at work.  But you don’t become “spiritual” until all of this changes how you live.  After all, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).