Too Religious To Be Spiritually Mature

I have been reading and thinking a lot lately about the concept of spiritual maturity in preparation for co-authoring a book on the subject and its relationship to racial identity development. Based on information from a May 2009 Barna Group survey, spiritual maturity is a concept that even faith leaders struggle to define. For many who are religious --that is, grounded in a particular belief system with prescribed doctrines-- the definition is simple. If you are moving toward God (i.e. in the right direction), you are becoming spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity is framed from a right and wrong perspective. For Christians, (who have a lot to say on this topic), this means one has to be like Christ and respond as Christ would to life's situations. Other faith traditions share a perspective that spiritual maturity is goal-oriented behavior consistent with the tenets of the faith. This generally translates to a purpose-driven lifestyle and being socially responsible.

As a nation characterized by a high percentage of Americans who identify themselves as religious (76% Christians and 4% non-Christian religions), one might assume that we would witness less signs of spiritual immaturity than we are experiencing lately. I can't imagine Christ refusing a funeral for Senator Ted Kennedy or angrily protecting health care benefits for some, even if it means that thousands die because they have no coverage. I cannot reconcile how treating others who are gay or Muslim with disdain trumps treating people with compassion. I am confused by how denying people basic human rights such as marriage or the right to serve in the military as an openly gay person are consistent with valuing equality. I do not understand how Goldman Sachs CEO, Lloyd Blankfein is "doing God's work" by creating more wealth for the wealthy. What might seem like a simple complex has become really complex in lived reality.

Maybe we are just too religious and not spiritual enough. Intolerance and greed are, by any religious standards, signs of spiritual immaturity. As a nation characterized by faith and its accompanying values, being spiritually mature should support us to have transformative dialogues that would result in what we pledge-- one nation under God. I pray that my faith will support and not deter me from my journey toward spiritual maturity.

 

Follow Deborah Plummer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/diversitypro

Comments

[ChristinaPratt]

Agreed, and thank you for your blog.
blessings on your day
Christina

[CollinJE]

The problem with an idea like "spiritual maturity" is it is so unbelievably subjective that it is basically a concept that has no meaning. So like in your article any given person is trying to examine the level of this country's "spiritual maturity" is going to reach a different conclusion from a larger percentage of others.

The activities that you listed as signs of "spiritual immaturity", you only find them to be so because of your ability to apply your own objective human morality to judge them. There is no biblical basis for your judgments or any other basis in our major religious texts.

The whole concept losing all value when you try to apply it to people outside of yourself, it should be a personal goal only.

The entire movement from defining oneself as "spiritual" instead of "religious" is in my opinion a stepping stone on the path towards humanistic rationalism (in my case atheism). Not to say you can have a "spiritual" connection to this material world.

[dlplummer - Huffpost Blogger]

Very interesting comment...I agree there is a subjective aspect to the end game of spiritual maturity but believe there are some standards (if you will) for behaviors that as a people a critical mass will agree on. For some, the behaviors and beliefs are informed by their religion; for others it is their lived experience.

[noralou]

Organized religion is just an attempt to institutionalize spirituality. Instead, it kills it.

[MountPanic]

Spirituality is the goal. Spirituality is a personal relationship with God in whatever name or concept by which you recognize it.

Faith is there to fall back on when Spirituality is weak. Like a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time, but understand that you'll still be friends when you see each other again.

Religion is there when Faith is weak. You might not have the will to keep your own Faith strong, but you can rely on others to support you.

Unfortunately, a lot of people never make it past religion, and there are a lot of reasons for this. Religion, being a human creation to quantify the unquantifiable, is vulnerable to the imposition of others' wills. Especially by making the focus of religion the afterlife and how to get there, people have been blinded to God's love surrounding them now. They feel the ache of that lack, but not having the tools to understand it, turn it into a more fervent pursuit of the wolf-in-Go­d's-clothi­ng they've been handed by those seeking power and control.

[dlplummer - Huffpost Blogger]

I like your comment that religion is there when faith is weak. That has been my experience.

[Logion]

Blind faith impedes spiritual progress -- and, while we're on the subject, blind faith impedes just about any other kind of human progress, too.

[ChristinaPratt]

Thank you! Religious leaders and religious people are largely missing the point that it is our actions, not our beliefs that define our level of spiritual maturity—as it as always been. As a practitioner and scholar of shamanism it is clear that all of our ancestors understood this in the past, before the "revealed" religions of our time. If life experience and being a good person were enough them we would live in a culture of spiritual masters. Spiritual maturity requires learning to hear spirit directly and to hold up your end of a two-way conversation. It requires putting the guidance of spirit into action every day through compassion, honest expression, healthy emotional engagement of the heart, and sacrifice. As a practitioner and scholar of shamanism I offer/have offered a path to spiritual maturity for 20 years and it is a very, hard path for contemporary people in part because their religious upbringing has convinced them that they are separate from God, separate from the Essential Oneness of All Things. We are not separate unless we choose to be through our actions in the world.

[dlplummer - Huffpost Blogger]

I love how you have named the guidance of spirit into action...c­ompassion, honest expression, healthy emotional engagement of the heart and sacrifice. I do believe the major religions try to lead us to these actions but someone we get caught up in the "religion" part. Thank you for your comment.