Spiritual, Religious, & Christian

The Bible teaches that our faith will be expressed in our practice.   That's a dominant theme in the book of James.   Here is what chapter 1 says:
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

There are three words I wanted to concentrate on briefly:  spiritual, religious, and Christian.   Someone might say he or she is "spiritual", but that could even mean those people believe in something or someone beyond themselves or some sort of mysticism, but polling data shows that the "spiritual" person is not better off - there's no real effect on mental health.   A religious person puts faith into practice, but may not actually have a relationship with God or Jesus Christ.   Believers in Christ have all 3 - we can walk in the Holy Spirit, practicing our faith effectively, and enjoy a relationship with God through Jesus.   And, we experience the abundant life that He promises to us - not rooted in vague spirituality or in sanitized practice, but in a dynamic experience with the living God!

In 1st Corinthians chapter 2, we are challenged to view our lives from a spiritual point of view through the direction of the Holy Spirit:
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.   According to a WORLD News Service piece found on ReligionToday.com, British researchers say people who say they are "spiritual but not religious" are more likely to have a wide range of physical and psychological problems.  Professor Michael King of University College London surveyed more than 7,400 people and divided them into categories.  35 percent described themselves as "religious," 46 percent described themselves as "neither religious nor spiritual," and 19 percent were in the "spiritual but not religious" category. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, "Members of this final group were 77 percent more likely than the others to be dependent on drugs, 72 percent more likely to suffer from a phobia, and 50 percent more likely to have an anxiety disorder. They were also 40 percent more likely to be receiving treatment with psychotropic drugs, and at a 37 per cent higher risk of neurotic disorder."
Christianity Today reports that according to CNN, the new study supports previous American research onthe topic, including past studies by Tanya Luhrmann, a Stanford University psychological anthropologist who found that "organized religion provides three outlets that benefit churchgoers' well being: social support, attachment to a loving God, and the organized practice of prayer."

"'When you become spiritual but not religious, you are losing the first two points and most spiritual but not religious people aren’t participating in the third,'” Luhrmann told CNN. “'It is not just a generic belief in God that works; it is specific practices that work.'”

So, it isn't very effective to have a vague, generic spirituality, according to the research - you have to put what you say you believe into practice - the "religious" element, I presume.   A spirituality that is consistent with the Bible exercises a dependence on the Spirit of God - more than just an acknowlegement of something or someone out there, beyond ourselves, but demonstrating our trust in Christ by the practice of our faith.

And, according to Gallup, that works. An analysis of more than 676,000 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index interviews conducted in 2011 and 2010 finds that Americans who are the most religious have the highest levels of wellbeing. The statistically significant relationship between religiousness and wellbeing holds up after controlling for numerous demographic variables.  


The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index comprises six sub-indexes. The most substantial differences between the very religious and nonreligious groups are in the Healthy Behaviors, Work Environment, Life Evaluation, and Emotional Health Indexes. Differences between the very religious and nonreligious on the Basic Access Index are smaller, but statistically significant. The one exception is the Physical Health sub-index, which is slightly higher for nonreligious Americans than for very religious Americans.

For the Christian, we are promised abundant life, we are told that God has given us a sound mind - we have the mind of Christ, and we can know the peace that passes understanding.   Our faith can be expressed by the way that our minds operate - if we are trained to think according to the word of God, we can experience the peace of God, and our lives will reflect the fruit of the Spirit.