Wanting Others to be Spiritual (Reader Comments)
I received many comments in response to the message “Wanting Others to be Spiritual” (May 8, 2009).
While I can’t include all of the emails I got, here are excerpts from some of them.
Reader Comments:
“Being a hindu I follow hindu practices and go to any religious place even if they belong to other religions. I read books of any religion. Bible is one of my favorites. If people realize this small thing perhaps there will be more peace on this globe.”
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“I accepted Jesus Christ as my Personal Saviour in August last year and will never be the same person again. At first I did not do much, ie. in terms of convincing others, but then all that fell away, I realised that many religious people or spiritual people were just that, they did not know God. This is NOT being judgmental, these are my own thoughts, I also happened to see well-known evangelists either on God TV/DVD or in person, and the message became more clear to me. There are many lost souls in the world and I was there and I thought I had good thing going with God since young adulthood, 20 odd years ago, how wrong I was. When I accepted Jesus and gave my life to Him totally, everything changed.
He leads the way, I follow. I now do things like buy and give gifts to my “unsaved” family and friends, often it is a book for them to read or even cup coasters with bible verses on it and they can see the change in my life, some are hesitant, not saying much, others ask questions and really engage biblical topics with me. Why am I doing it? Because I want them to have the opportunity to experience the awesomeness of God.
We all have free wills, if they think that I am judging them which I am not, then they are acting in the flesh and not in the Spirit. I am working towards going to be with Jesus in heaven and I want to see Jesus when He comes again and I don’t want to leave this earth without even trying to convince these loved ones of our awesome, gracious and amazing and loving Jesus is.
What did Jesus tell his disciples, in Mark chap 1, Go and make fishers of men, don’t be an ordinary fisherman catching fish. Jesus directed them to go and teach the Good news of the Gospel and in so doing win souls for Him. I am doing the same, winning souls for Jesus, it warms my heart to be involved in groups at Church, eg. Bible study and Alpha groups and I have seen people’s faith grow, I have seen them yearn for more.
Getting to know Jesus is an ongoing journey as long as I know that I have played my heart in spreading His Good news and leaving behind a hot coal and a burning desire to know Him more, then I know that I have played my role.”
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“I agree with your comments in today’s message. If we are truly spiritual it will shine through like the sun creating a gravitational pull that is indisputable. People will grapple for what you have without any pushing, they will be dragged to it through your example. I wish I was there and know of people who are like that. It is like being around light and love.”
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“Ironically, my pastor at our Catholic Church said basically the same thing a few months ago and shocked the entire church! WOW! What a dead silence there was after Msgr. said “who are we — you or me — to judge others based on their religion?”
He went on about loving and accepting and not judging others. Needless to say, after mass, there was an outpouring of whatever happened to preaching that Catholic was the one and only way to go! It proved to be a whirlwind of discussions for the next several weeks.
The conclusion was basically the same as yours…
LIVE your religion and others will be drawn to you!
Others will approach out of a feeling of acceptance…out of a sense of inquiry of why you are peaceful in life by living a “God-Like” life!”
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“I agree with the basic premise of your piece. The tricky part is when you have children. It is a difficult balancing act between wanting to expose them to the importance of spirituality (and
religion) at an early age without forcing it on them. My faith is very important to me, and I want my children to experience the comfort and joy that comes with learning and sharing about God.
When they were young, my wife and I took them to church, talked about God some at home and would mention why we had our beliefs. As they got older, we did that less often, giving them the choice to go and to develop their faith. I often would get frustrated if they didn’t want to go to church. I know going to church doesn’t necessarily equate to being spiritual, but with kids, you want them to develop healthy habits and get exposed to ideas that hopefully will help shape beliefs.
I think the most important thing to remember is that the spiritual journey is continuous and people are in different places during that journey. If I can model my beliefs and demonstrate the importance of continually learning about my faith, then hopefully my children will pick up on that.”
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“Whenever you think someone else should be “more spiritual”,
you are the one who is not spiritual. You are making
judgments and not accepting and loving others as they are.”
I couldn’t disagree more.
Text messaging as a way of communicating with the youth of today is extremely popular. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told friends that I can’t get a hold of my kids on the phone, but am amazed how quickly they answer me when I send a text.
Do I think my adult children need to be in touch spiritually? Absolutely! So every day I send a spiritual message of encouragement to my children via text message. For me it is non-invasive; but the message and power of persuasion is there. I do not display any judgment by this particular way of persuasion. There is no “must haves”. It is simply love. Just as you send your spiritual newsletter to me, I feel it is non-invasive. I feel it is love.
I don’t believe it is our duty, no matter what religious belief someone holds, to sit at the side-lines and do nothing. If St. Paul had not spread the good news and used persuasion to turn people to God, what would our world look like today? Jesus lived for only 33 years; 3 years of true ministry. Had he not persuaded, what would our world look like today? In other words, I feel the most important question is “How does one define persuasion?” And what does it mean to be “salt of the earth”. Salt adds flavor. Salt is used as a preservative.
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
How can I “live” or persuade a loved one who lives 3 states away, if I don’t share the good news? I believe the key is how you persuade. Again, there are ways to be persuasive in a loving way, void of judgment. There are ways to be “Roaring Lambs”.
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“I’ll respond to today’s topic with a quote from Apostle Paul:{not the exact words but the meaning}” You who is Spiritual do not judge the person who is falling short of the way because you can fall for the same temptations and commit the same sins.” Why do we always want people to think and do as us? Because at those times, we are thinking with our worldly mind{Ego}instead of our right mind{Spirit}
Everyone has their own Spiritual Path to find their way which has to be respected by all. I’ll say what you said in the closing of your article but in a different way: When we change ourselves, the people or situations we want to change will then change.”
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“I like what you wrote, and I agree, and I know there are those who disagree. I remember before I “found Jesus” - or at least would admit to knowing Him - I did not want others forcing their opinions on me, whatever their intentions. The more they pushed, the harder I resisted. And I can resist, let me tell you.
I figure we have to reflect Him and His ways and wishes in the way we think and speak and act, and others will see that “light” and be drawn to it. It is the spirit of Him in us shining outward. When they can come and ask questions or want to learn because they are ready, it is because God has already made them fertile soil and has led them to whomever can help plant a seed.
Just like it was our time when we sought Him out, so it will be their time…when they are ready, not when we are ready for them to be ready.”
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“I really do not agree with your statement that “Whenever you think someone else should be “more spiritual”, you are the one who is not spiritual and not accepting and loving others as they are.”
I pass on the need to become more spiritual to persons who by their attitude and statements, appear to lack or actually admit that they do not really believe or give thought to the fact that there is someone or something that is actually working or can work for the good in their lives.
These persons are those whom I am aware are having problems at that time.
I do not tell them they must go to church or pray or anything of the sort. However I relate to them my own experience and suggest that becoming more spiritual worked for me,(or a prayer or a church or whatever) and I think maybe they could consider giving it a try also. I do not indicate that I think they lack spirituality even though I sense it. I get put off by those who argue religion, or who cry down those who have no form of religion.
However I do not resent or get mad with those who suggest other beliefs, religions etc to me . I thank them and say maybe I will try what you say someday. I have actually become more spiritual over the years by practicing or reading etc. as a result of suggestions from others. At those times when I got those suggestions I thought that I was at the pinnacle of my spirituality.
Since then I realise that each day I could grow in spirituality.”
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“Your latest message on wanting others to be more spiritual resonates deeply and is the exact same conversation I had with my husband a few years ago.
As I was doing many things to be more connected with my spirituality…I’d often come home saying…You should be…Why can’t you be more… I wish you could be more… It got to the point, my husband just burst out with so much intensity and anger: “Why don’t you just live your spirituality instead of always looking at me to…”
At that moment, it was like a jack hammer knocking me out right in the middle of my forehead… he was so right…so so right… how could I have not seen this, known this before. “BE the change you want to see in the world” from Gandhi, has been my leitmotiv for so long.
But this comment from my husband finally hit home, got the message through and woke me up. It changed everything for me…for us! We never spoke of this ever again but I remember from that day on, I started seeing him as truly spiritual and enlightened in his own way…living his spirituality otherwise, very differently than mine, but none the less spiritual.”
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I want to thank everyone who submitted an email, including those whose comments do not appear here. I learned and benefited from each one of them.
Hopefully the comments that I did publish have served you in some way.
– Jeff Keller
© 2009