Spiritual But Not Religious

(Guest article by Jack English,
minister of Center Street church of Christ in Fayetteville, AR)

“PARADE Magazine that comes in the Sunday paper carried an interesting article recently on spirituality in America. The conclusion was that many Americans today are separating spirituality from religion by disavowing organized practice altogether while privately maintaining some form of worship. The old terms ‘atheist’ and ‘agnostic’ are no longer being used to describe people outside traditional belief. In fact, a whole new category is being defined as ‘spiritual but not religious.’ For some, ‘spiritual but not religious’ means someone who has combined diverse beliefs and practices into a personal faith that fits no standard definition. Either definition reflects discontent among those who desire a relationship with God but are not finding satisfaction in their previous experience.

“Our nation was built on a foundation of strong faith but that has been lost or ignored by politicians in recent years. According to PARADE’S survey 69% of Americans still believe in God, 77% pray outside of religious services and 75% believe it is a parent’s responsibility to give children a religious upbringing. But even though 45% of respondents called themselves religious, 50% said they rarely or never attend worship services and 27% said they don’t practice any kind of religion.

“Another statistic not in the PARADE article but documented by other surveys is that 50% of those who do not attend worship services would attend if invited by a friend or relative. People who want to be spiritual but not religious will still respond to the personal invitation of people they love and trust. Who do you know that may not be religious but still have the desire to be spiritual? A simple invitation from you could make all the difference.”

Things like this make us aware of the fact that it is up to us as individual Christians to let people know we care. Let’s reach out. God did.

See you when the saints meet, Lord willing.

Love, Tony