What kind of men and women does the church need today? Those of position, power, and wealth? Those who can keep others spellbound by their oratorical skills? Those with theological and pastoral skills of the highest type? E. M. Bounds goes to the very root of the question: “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men [and women] whom the Holy Spirit can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not fl ow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.”1
Spirituality—steeped in prayer and study of God’s Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, committed to serve God unreservedly, and manifested in a spirit of servanthood—is what the church needs today. The task of the kingdom cannot be advanced without such spirituality. The world may look to academic and educational qualifications of a person. Even the church may at times put in leadership those with M.B.A.s and Ph.D.s. While academic achievements are important, by themselves they are not sufficient. In the church, spiritual discernment of leaders is critical.
Meaning of spirituality
Spirituality in a secular sense is “a longing for something beyond the merely material.”2 But in the Christian context, spirituality is “the whole of the lives of those who have responded to God’s gracious call to live in fellowship with him.”3 Spirituality refers to “the whole life of a person.”4 When it refers to the whole life, it means that it is “not just of a supposedly ‘spiritual’ part”5 of a person’s life. Rather, the totality of the person comes under the demands of spirituality; no part of the human being can escape its scrutiny. Spirituality is thus not merely the doing but the being. In fact, the doing is simply the result of the being.
Further, spirituality is not a human condition per se, but a response to God’s grace. As such, a spiritual person in their salvation experience clings to righteousness by faith, not by works. Spirituality founded on anything but a continuous response to God’s grace is no spirituality at all. In fact, it is a manifestation of the first sin—pride in one’s capacity to be one’s own god. That’s what turned Lucifer into Satan. Pride leads one to think that one’s own way is sufficient to find salvation. Pride leads one to affirm that one is more spiritual than others. Pride leads one to measure other people on the basis of one’s own spirituality. And when others don’t measure up to our spiritual standards, we tend to criticize and demean them.
Richard J. Foster has rightly pointed out that “when we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God’s work and not ours, we can put to rest our passion to set others straight.”6 Spirituality that is more concerned with correcting others than with looking inward is no different from that of the “righteousness” and “spirituality” of the scribes and the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20).
The biblical picture of a spiritual person is one who is “led by the Spirit of God” (Rom. 8:14) and “live[s] by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). That is to say, true spirituality is not the fruit of human effort or the works of our willpower, but the accomplishment of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to cooperate with the Spirit and place ourselves under the control of the Spirit who alone can transform us to be truly spiritual persons.
The implications for us
The problem with many of us is that we approach and perceive spirituality in a different way. To some extent we have been influenced by the culture and trends of the world, which emphasize public success, social recognition in the workplace, and the image one projects in relationships.
But spirituality is not focused so much on public success as in private and inner development.
Private devotion is something intensely personal— consuming our souls in moments of devotion when one meets one’s Creator and is confronted by His demands. It does not focus on success; it focuses on faithfulness. It does not seek to be served but seeks to serve. It works not on building an empire for oneself, but on building an extension for the kingdom of God. The “other” is the key of operation in true spirituality. With that key, truly spiritual people approach their devotion, Bible study, prayer, and service. With that key in place, the applause of our superiors or colleagues is not preeminent, but the approval of God is.
Being a spiritual person is an inside out affair, not an outside-in affair. Stephen Covey puts it appropriately: “Many people with secondary greatness—that is, social recognition for their talents— lack primary greatness or goodness in their character.”7 Look at actors and actresses. Many are successful in their careers in public but are often failures in their private relationships, such as marriage. This is also true for individuals in many other professions.
Private success is an inside-out paradigm. Covey says, “The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precedes making and keeping promises to others.”8 Ellen G. White made a similar comment when she emphasized that “the greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those that are gained by talent or education, by wealth or the favor of men. They are those victories that are gained in the audience chamber with God, when earnest, agonizing faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of power.”9 This inside-out paradigm is at the core of our need of spirituality.
Why we need spirituality
First, as David McKay observes, “The greatest battles of life are fought daily in the silent chambers of the soul.”10This means that we need to war with ourselves privately through examining ourselves and our motives before the all-knowing God, and then public successes will follow. We need private and internal victories before dreaming to have public and external victories. Private success precedes public success. By private success and victories, I refer to private devotion and spiritual discipline as means of growing spiritually. We need to examine our inner motives, settle our inward conflicts, and address our sinful tendencies and weaknesses.
Second, we need to be spiritual because this is the will of God for us. “What kind of people ought you to be?” asks Peter. “You ought to live holy and godly lives” (2 Pet. 3:11, NIV). Again, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Pet. 1:15, NIV). Third, as Morris Venden says, “Christianity is not based on behavior. It is based on relationship.”11 “Christianity is not a set of rules or a creed to live by. It is involvement with a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ.”12 Eternal life, according to John 17:3, is knowing God and His Son. This kind of knowing is not obtaining a theoretical knowledge but maintaining a relational depth. We cannot have this personal relationship unless we spend quiet moments of study, meditation, and prayer. We cannot be content in knowing our Bible only; more importantly, we must know the Person of the Bible—Jesus our Savior. Hence the resolve of Paul: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2, NIV).
Knowing Jesus personally, living in a close relationship with Him constantly, and serving Him with utmost devotion is the basis of true spirituality. That is the greatest need of the church today.
1 Edward M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, n.d.), 5, 7.
2 David J. Atkinson, ed., New Dictionary of Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995), 807.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid., 808.
5 Ibid., 808.
6 Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987), 9.
7 Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic (London: Simon & Schuster, 1989), 22.
8 Ibid., 43. “ ‘Inside-out’ means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self—with your paradigms, your character, and your motives.”
9 Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1958), 203.
10 Quoted in Covey, 294.
11 Morris Venden, Morning Manna: How to Begin Each Day With God (Boise, ID: Pacifi c Press Pub. Assn., 1987), 9.
12 Ibid.
