Chapter 15: Goo-Goo Spirituality

12/16/1990

NOW that you’ve decided to bow your knee fully to Christ Jesus, don’t get weird and super-spiritual, okay? The kind of consecration to God’s Purposes that I’m speaking of is not weird at all. It is not clerical or stone-faced. It is not lofty and “cloud nine-ish.” That means, commitment to Jesus lived out will not result in gushy, romantic, broken-voiced discourses or lofty, ozone spirituality.

Hebrews 4:12-13 speaks of the Living Word of God exposing what we’ll call “soulishness.” Soulishness is a different animal than true spirituality, though it apes spirituality very well. It looks so wonderful, goo-goo eyes and all. It has an appearance of spirituality, but there’s something wrong with it. It will turn your stomach if you’re really in touch with God. Fortunately, when the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, the Rhema of God, comes forth from the Priesthood of Believers, it divides between soul and spirit; it separates soulishness from spirituality.

It’s good to be aware of the nature of soulishness so that we don’t fall into it. Spirituality is real. Jesus was spiritual (obviously to the fullest extent possible or imaginable), yet He was a man’s man. He was strong. He laughed, He cried. When He was thirsty he said, “I thirst.” He didn’t say “Praise God, Glory, Hallelujah,” every other sentence. Neither did the apostles say “Praise God” with every breath. “Hey, John, let’s go to Caesarea, Praise God!” “What do you think about that, James?” “Well, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!” They didn’t act that way. They were real guys who lived it out on real turf. They did not prance around with religious lingo. Their lives were so much deeper than that. You don’t see that stuff in any of the prophets, or Apostles, or the Lord’s brothers, or Jesus Himself — the true Standard. What you do see when you look at the men that God has accredited is real humanity — “partaking of the Divine nature,” in strength and stature. These men, and our Lord, could walk into a crowd of tax collectors without fear, and actually draw them into the Father’s Presence.

Let me explain further. If a holy-roller, super-spiritual person with goo-goo eyes went to a party where people were smoking pot, he would be thrown out in a second or mocked. Jesus, on the other hand, though He never compromised with sin, was the guest of honor with such people. He was real, He was strong, He did not sin but He was spiritual, not “hyper-spiritual.” I don’t know how else to describe it. He didn’t shout, “Glory, Hallelujah.” Instead He would say, “Hey, come here a minute, I want to talk to you.” He was real, and He was strong.

I hope that gives you a glimpse of the difference between what could be soulish and what might instead be of Christ’s Spirit. True spirituality isn’t an external, nor does it come with a certain vocabulary. Soulishness does come with these, and more: a certain way to dress, to talk, to act.

You be real, okay?! Find your security in your relationship with the King of Glory, and ignore the pressures of conformity or fear of mere men’s opinions or your own pride or arrogance. He’ll take excellent care of you, and likely gather around you more and more saints who also seek Him with a pure heart.

We Do This With Joy

We will know more than just sitting in chairs

We will walk with one another and daily will we do this

We’re preparing the Bride for when Jesus arrives

And we’re working and waiting for our Lord’s return

So we do this with joy knowing that one day we’ll hear

Well done, my good and faithful child

We don’t feel forced to be with each other

We do it because we want to and we truly love each other

We’re preparing the Bride for when Jesus arrives

And we’re working and waiting for our Lord’s return

So we do this with joy knowing that one day we’ll hear

Well done, my good and faithful child

The eye can’t say to the hand, “I really don’t need you
because I’m smart enough and I know what’s best for me”

We’re preparing the Bride for when Jesus arrives

And we’re working and waiting for our Lord’s return

So we do this with joy knowing that one day we’ll hear

Well done, my good and faithful child

— Esther

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