What Is Spiritual?

Have you ever played ?Killer??

This is a wonderful game for large groups. Everyone sits in a circle, and a deck of cards is passed. Each person draws a card, keeping it hidden from the others. The person who draws the ace of spades is the ?killer? and his or her task is simple: ?Kill? as many people as possible without being caught. To do this, he or she must wink at the intended ?victim?, who waits a few seconds, then ?dies? ? and the more dramatically, the better. Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to identify the ?killer? without making eye contact and possibly becoming the next ?victim?. Anyone still ?alive? can accuse anyone else of being the ?killer?, and if they?re right, the ?killer? is captured and a new round begins. If, however, the accuser is wrong, then he or she also ?dies?. It?s a simple game, but hilarious, especially if the ?killer? is subtle and the circle has dwindled to a handful of increasingly paranoid players.

In 1989 or 90, my wife and I hosted our first party in our new home. We had a ?mixed? guest list of Christians and non-Christians, college students and graduates, singles and couples. We played ?Killer? and everyone enjoyed it immensely ? until someone decided ?Killer? wasn?t ?spiritual? enough, and suggested that we play ?Blessing? instead. The premise was precisely the same, except instead of being ?killed?, the recipients of the winks were ?blessed?, and instead of ?dying?, they would shout ?Hallelujah!? and collapse in some kind of ?fit? of religious ?ecstasy?. The idea seemed reasonable to some, but the actual result was dismal. Instead of being ?spiritualized?, the game became a mockery of the work of the Holy Spirit. Many felt offended, and I shudder to think of what the non-Christians in the group must have thought!

This event came back recently when someone referred to something as being ?spiritual?. It was quite insignificant; I don?t even remember what was referred to. But it jolted my memory and set me to wondering if there really is a difference between ?spiritual? and ?unspiritual?, or if we?re just being sloppy in our use of these terms.

My first urge was to say that everything can be considered ?spiritual?, and I think there?s some support for that. We are created by God to be spiritual beings; these bodies we?re stuck in are only temporary. Therefore, anything that in any way concerns us can be thought of as ?spiritual?, as it affects, for good or ill, that part of us which is eternal. Thus, going to the movies can be considered ?spiritual?; conversing with a friend can be considered ?spiritual?; even taking a shower can be considered ?spiritual?. Like wise, in a negative way, reading a pornographic magazine, getting drunk, or committing a murder can be considered ?spiritual?. These things and a million others that we do all affect our spirits and those of the people around us in some way; hence, they are ?spiritual?. It is, consequently, unnecessary to ?spiritualize? any activity; it remains simply to enjoy it as it is.

As I say, I think that argument has its merits. But I think it?s only partially correct, and could even be seriously misleading. For one thing, it completely ignores the fact that scripture itself makes a distinction between ?spiritual? and ?unspiritual?. And for another, it plays a little too loosely with the meaning of the word ?spiritual?.

What do we mean by ?spiritual?? The principle meaning is, obviously, ?of or pertaining to the spirit?. But I think we tend to use the word in a vaguer sense to mean anything that can?t be felt with our hands, or anything that affects our emotions. Thus, we speak of a beautiful sunset as a ?profoundly spiritual experience?. Indeed, it could be a ?spiritual? experience if it makes us think of God?s beauty, or His work in our world and our lives, or in some other way directs us to consider our relationship with Him. But most of the time, when we refer to a ?profoundly spiritual experience?, we mean that it stirred some strong emotion in us ? a love of the beauty expressed in that sunset, perhaps, or an overwhelming sense of the vastness of the universe, or even (by extension of the emotion from one object to another) a deep love for the person watching the sunset with us. This experience, while powerful, is not necessarily spiritual. Again, it could become spiritual, depending on where we go with it, but by itself it?s emotional.

This is not an easy concept to grasp, and is closely tied to the way we?re created. Many theologians and philosophers have taught that humans have three basic parts ? the physical, the emotional (or psychological), and the spiritual. (The latter two divisions are sometimes called ?spirit? and ?soul?, respectively, which only serves to confuse things even further.) Each of these separate divisions can be affected individually, but more often, what touches one part touches at least one other. Emotions and spirit ? or soul ? cannot be seen or touched. (No, you can?t see an emotion ? what you?re seeing is the result of that emotion.) As humans, we tend to be vague about things we can?t see or touch, so while we?re all experts on the physical, we?re rather fuzzy about the rest. Consequently, we tend to confuse the issue when we talk about ?spiritual?, dragging in the emotional side of it as well.

Another way we confuse the issue is by tacking God or some Christian value onto what we?re doing or saying, and thinking that we?ve thereby made it ?spiritual? ? that is, more acceptable to God. This can result in something extremely silly such as playing ?Blessing? instead of ?Killer?. Or it can become jarringly out of place. Some Christian friends of ours in college threw a party to which I invited my unsaved brother. Someone, midway through the evening, decided to give the party a ?spiritual? twist by showing slides of missionary work. It could have been an interesting, even inspiring, presentation, except that those invited weren?t expecting it at all. It was rather like being invited to a wedding and having it suddenly turn into a barn dance. I?d hoped to show my brother that Christians knew how to have a good time without succumbing to the traditional party mentality; instead, he saw that when a person becomes a Christian, the ?good time? portion of his brain somehow becomes short-circuited!

I could come up with other examples of unnecessarily ?spiritualized? moments, and I?m sure you could, too. Just think about any time that ?Christian? activities seemed, somehow, out of place. But I think you get the idea. It?s not necessary to validate our lives by falsely ?spiritualizing? them; just enjoy what God has given you. Don?t slip into sin, by any means, but don?t impose something on the moment that wasn?t there to begin with. If you intended all along to include a prayer meeting in the middle of your birthday party, and everyone was aware of your plans, then fine ? enjoy your prayer meeting. But don?t think you have to do something ?spiritual? to keep from feeling guilty about having a good time! It really doesn?t work.