The great theologian Paul Tillich once defined religion like this:
Religion is the
state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains the answer to the question of a meaning of our life.
I might suggest that we change a word here: I think it might be better to
say this is a great definition of “spirituality,” as we use the term today. It's not that I disagree with Tillich in any way … it's just that the usage of our terms has changed since he wrote this.
Today, people in our society make a distinction between
religion and spirituality. Many people try to develop a spiritual life without “organized religion.”
It's helpful to think of spirituality as the essence of what we’re about — it is that “ultimate concern” that Tillich is talking about. And
then religion is the community, the tradition, and the teaching, or orientation that a person adopts to develop that spiritual connection. In other words “spirituality” might be thought of as a vital communion with God, and "religion" is the container of that communion, or the window that we see through to find and live out to that communion.
With that said … Tillich makes the point VERY CLEAR:
Everybody has some kind of
spirituality.
Everybody has their own “ultimate concern” -- the thing that, as Tillich says, qualifies and organizes all other concerns in their lives.
The only question is whether this “ultimate concern” is worthy, whether it’s helpful, whether it leads to human flourishing, or not. Whether it helps a person connect with God -- the ultimate Ground of Being -- or if it helps the person to live in illusion. It will only be worthy and helpful to the degree that it
corresponds with reality -- with the truth about God, life, and our place in all this.
One thing I need to add here is an unfortunate and painful reminder -- there are many church-goers today who profess their belief in Christian teaching … but for all intents and
purposes, their spirituality ("ultimate concern" and focus of their lives) is something else. They profess faith in God, but live as though God doesn't exist. A professor I had years ago called people like this "practical atheists."
When it comes to matters of
ultimate concern — which is what our faith is all about — we’ve got to be committed to finding and facing the truth at all costs, rather than shielding ourselves from truth that is uncomfortable because it threatens us in some way.
The goal
in all this is alignment. That what I say I believe is actually what I do, in fact, believe. When there is a mismatch here, there will always be struggle. And it's also the case that when there is a mismatch -- we will always find that our behavior doesn't match up to what we profess. It matches up to what we REALLY, truly believe.
So what do you really, truly believe? About God? About the Bible? About how God works in your life? About prayer? About how to live in relation to God?
Most every man
I know who professes to be a Christian, and yet struggles with addiction in any form always has questions and disconnects in his faith, and I assume this is the case for women as well.
Does this need some attention in your life? Some deeper thought?
Reflection?
