Spiritual Christianity Versus Social Christianity
Spiritual Christians focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Social Christians focus on each other.
Spiritual Christians are the church. Social Christians go to church.
Spiritual Christianity is about living righteously, doing the right thing. Social Christianity is about living religiously, attending the right church.
Spiritual Christians seek the approval of God. Social Christians seek the approval of each other.
Spiritual Christians seek time with God. Social Christians seek time with other social Christians.
Spiritual Christianity is about loving everyone, especially the least of humanity. Social Christianity is about loving everyone, especially other social Christians.
Spiritual Christianity is based on faith in God. Social Christianity is based on faith in other social Christians.
Spiritual Christianity is directed by God. Social Christianity is directed by human beings.
Spiritual Christianity is true Christianity, the purpose for which Christ died and was raised. Social Christianity is a poor and misguided imitation of the real thing.
Pursuing spiritual Christianity will make you a new person in the midst of people you already know (i.e., your family, friends, and coworkers). Pursuing social Christianity will leave you as the same old person in the midst of a different group of people (i.e., your new church).
There is a world of difference between spiritual Christianity and social Christianity. Choose the real thing.
For more context, see this overview.
See also: Everyone Is Going to Heaven
Wow! Nice post. I really appreciate the distinguishing between social and spiritual christians, there is most definitely a line there. Very thought provoking!
I love your site! You might like mine too, here’s my latest post: http://wp.me/pq3cW-gG
Comment if you can!
God Bless,
Jordan
I am not a Christian, I’m not religious at all actually, but I liked your post. I find myself being disappointed with people often who claim to be Christian because they do not seem to live as they preach or care about other people very much. I guess that’s part of the reason I “lost” my faith. It’s good to know there are people who understand what christianity is supposed to be about.
Moriah,
Perhaps You did not lose your faith, but just misplaced it. Religion is man based, spirit is of G-D.
Being “disappointed with people” is not a valid reason to “lose your faith!” No offense, but someone who loves his Lord, has relationship with Him and what other humans do is, just what they do. Humans are by their very nature, untrustworthy. God is very trustworthy. I encourage you to love the Lord Jesus and put your trust in Him only.
Peace and blessings to you.
Whoops! You mis-read, or it was shown to you out of context? – I was responding to something that Moriah Bethany said on March 18, 2010 when I put in that comment –
i.e. moriahbethany said, on March 18, 2010 at 11:27 am I am not a Christian, I’m not religious at all actually, but I liked your post. I find myself being disappointed with people often who claim to be Christian because they do not seem to live as they preach or care about other people very much. I guess that’s part of the reason I “lost” my faith. It’s good to know there are people who understand what christianity is supposed to be about
Thanks for clarifying that, Janice. I should have caught it but did not have the context when I read your comment. I have removed my response, which I now realize doesn’t apply.
Having said that, however, I would urge you to think about the original post and my message. It is the Lord who heals us so that we can love all people as He does. Encouraging people to go to church often just encourages them to put their trust in people which is what led to their disappointment in the first place.
We should not put our trust in people but rather put our trust in the Lord and love people.
And encouraging people to go to church can place them in an environment where they learn how to love. After all, that is the central failing of mankind.
Reading the Bible is always edifying (along with the occassional blog), yet God also uses men, who share the same purpose of “loving one another,” to challenge, encourage, and “sharpen.”
That may be a fair definition of “church,” but labels sometimes (oftentimes) get in the way.
Brother Ben, I can agree with you that failing to love is the central failing of mankind. However, we don’t need to become churchgoers to find someone to love.
What will really help us to love others more is to stay conscious of Jesus who lived His life in love for others. Living life in service to Him leads us to love others as we should.
Furthermore, if we define “church” as everyone we see, then we don’t have to “go anywhere” to find people to love.
Great post!
Wow, I was just blog surfing and I stumbled upon your blog. Very profound. In a similar vein, I’ve been going through a social justice series at my church and I find it so interesting how there is always that dichotomy between liberal and conservative Christians and how one group focuses too little on the Gospel and the other focuses too little on social justice. I wonder why it’s so hard to find that middle ground.
Groups such as liiberal and conservative Christians are subsets of social Christians. People in them only find common ground when they make devotion to the Lord more important than devotion to their group identities and political persuasions.
I just happened to have found this site. Your ariticles really interests me. Thank God. But do you think social Christianity is only a Sunday concept? And there is no real love.
Sunday is the common gathering time for social Christians. There can be love there, but not substantially different from what you could find in a family, office, or other social gathering. Social Christians seek each other and the approval that comes from the group. This is why its motivations and behaviors are not substantially different from that of most social groups.
By contrast, the truth is that Jesus is with us seven days a week and calls us to love people to the degree that He did. Spiritual Christians seek God and the approval that comes from Him. Do this and your motivations and behavior will change markedly.
There are many well-intentioned people who are caught in social Christianity only because they have not been presented a better way. Once they understand that they can follow Jesus without following the church, they will be free.
Obviously being a social Christian without being a spiritual Christian is little more than playing pretend with you life.
But, as Christians we should also be social. Other believers can play a key role in encouraging us. And it looks like you are doing a degree of that with your blog.
I am glad you see the superior value in being a spiritual Christian. What you still need to recognize is that it is mutually exclusive with being a social Christian (re-read the list of comparisons in the post to see what I mean). That is, it’s like serving two masters – and the reality is that you can’t serve both. You will either serve one or the other: in this case, God or people.
I agree with you point that we should be social, which is another way of saying that we should keep the Lord’s commandment to love one another. For how can we say we love God who is invisible if we don’t love people who are visible (1 John 4:20). My point is that you do not have to go to church to find people to love; there are plenty already around you.
And, yes, your comments encouraged me. Thank you.
Yep, you definitely summed my thoughts up when you said that we should love one another.
Looking back, what you call “Social Christianity” I have been calling “Secular Christianity.” Secular Christianity, to me, is a religion where we worship our people (living and dead) and our past. It is very anthropocentric, and closely tied to Patriotism.
Actually, as the world is become more globalized, “Secular” Christianity is taking on a more jingoistic tone. That is why conservative politicians will often compete to see who believes the Earth has been around briefest, and why many mainline Christian denominations are failing to reach immigrant/migrant populations (like Hispanics or college students).
Sorry, to go off a bit on your blog.
The apostle Paul called this problem “walking in the flesh.” We become earthly-minded, focused entirely on what we can see with our physical eyes. We dwell the identities we create for ourselves and live in the fear of man. The solution Paul prescribes is that we “walk in the spirit.” This means focusing on the world we cannot see, fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). We die to our earthly identities and live according to who we are in His sight. This is faith, and it is the only way to please God (Hebrews 11:1, 6; Romans 8:5-8).
Hi there,
interesting site!
I am new to the blog scene but have also just started a christ centered blog.
Please check it out at http://www.livingchristculture.com
Very, very true. I just recently commented on another blog on this very topic.
This is where the difference between a religion (social Christianity) and faith (spiritual Chrisianity) comes in. Jesus and the apostles rebuked the Pharisees for their religion. The Pharisees would pray loudly at the street corner, and neglect their appearance when they fasted so people would see how “holy” they were. Paul called the high priest a “whitewashed wall” for his hypocrisy. The secular world sees right through the Pharisaism of social Christianity, and they assume that this is what true Christianity is. Social Christians (religious people, Pharisees) are a great cancer in Christianity.
Spiritual Christians adhere to faith. They don’t care who sees them but God. They are sincerely trying to better themselves and the world around them. These are what Jesus called “the light of the world”. These are the people who are humble, who pray in an inner room, who seek not the admiration of men — these are the true church.
Excellent post. I agree with every word.
http://www.traditionortruth.wordpress.com
Great!
Thank you for the great comparison. God Bless!
I have been thinking about this issue for 20 years now and have come to some conclusions about why there is this polarity. 1). There are two different origins for believers in Jesus: those who have had a born again experience and those who have attended church all their life. For the first group, the change is dramatic and they can compare what they were to what the Holy Spirit is making them to be. The second group continue in the church mode and report periods when they fell away from church attendance and then came back. You cannot say they have not been saved, nor can you say they are not listening to God. I see people in all sorts of denominations, who attend church, who communicate with God. This leads to 2). The attitude of American churches. What I am about to say I have seen in different denominations, conservative and liberal, and I think it is a result of humans forming a social group. I have seen the same thing in square dance clubs, model railroad clubs, etc. It starts off with group identity and rules. After all, you can’t have a group if the group is not defined. Adopting the identity means not adopting other ideas and practices. This then becomes the “us” and “them” situation and of course “we” are better than “them.” Further, it develops into the concept that you can’t do or be a Christian unless you go to church, because that is what we do and what they do, so you have to do it also. The biggest insult religious Christianity pulls is the villianization of the “lone Christian.” They claim you can’t be a lone Christian that you have to go to church. This is not a Biblical statement and is a fabrication of the church. To be a follower of Jesus, you need to repent and continually seek God’s guidance. Now, these people are showing their spiritual infancy as they need help to pay attention to God. This is not a bad thing, that they need church, it’s just that they don’t know what they’re talking about when judge those of us who don’t. Another insult is those who want to minister to the “unchurched.” They think they are going to convince us that we need the crutch in order to be whole? I am not against church or church people, its just that they get very little guidance on how to become more secure in their relationship with God. Not that the Holy Spirit is not working in their lives, just that sermons are usually so lame, they have people who don’t have any training attempting to teach the Bible and everyone is so concerned about the picnic or some event they have planned. A lot of churches don’t even talk about the Bible, God, or understand and promote the concept of faith. I once heard a Pentecostal pastor say that the Holy Spirit only deals with church people! God is the sovreign of creation and deals with everyone as he sees fit, the church building is not a limitation. Church sees itself as important and wants the congregation to serve it. I get the feeling that if I go to church I am expected to obligate myself in some way.
You are not far from the kingdom of God! Keep on your path of integrity and keep seeking Him.
I encourage you to find a church that fits your needs, even if it means getting a group of your friends together to meet occasionally. Jesus instructed us to “not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” To me, that means not give up on church. It’s not my favorite thing to do either, sometimes I take the year off!, but, eventually I know I need to get back to it – otherwise, how is God going to “rub off MY rough edges by using others?” Everyone is at a different place in their walk with God, we are all imperfect and do rub each other the wrong way, but we need each other to finish the race we started.
God’s peace and blessings to you!
I appreciate the good will in your comments, but it is as if you haven’t read anything of what I have written above. I didn’t give up on church. I sought the kingdom of God and through that seeking learned that the kingdom of God has replaced the church. I no longer seek church for the same reason I don’t seek to go to Jerusalem and find the temple where I can sacrifice a lamb – something greater than the temple and the church is here today. It’s the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Yes, there was a time that the Bible instructed believers to not forsake the assembling of themselves together, just as there was a time when the Bible instructed Jews to come to Jerusalem to worship. The time for those injunctions is past because Jesus now fills the heavens and earth…and they are His temple. He does not need a temple “made with human hands.”
Seek Jesus and His kingdom. Church is only a distraction to that effort.
Your post struck a cord with me. As of here lately there seems to be an ongoing debate with those I know on the right religion and using the Bible to benefit what it is the particular person is trying to relay.
One sentence in your post “Spiritual Christianity is about loving everyone, especially the least of humanity,” really stood out to me for the fact that I am constantly telling those around me that loving everyone is important.
In my eyes and I may very well be wrong: I see the Bible as teaching love, kindness, forgiveness, hope, and many other things. I do not see the Bible as teaching me that it is okay to be judgemental and hateful towards others. Thank you for your post.
I intend to read more of what you have written so I can possibly get another point of view! Thank you for sharing!
Indeed, the Bible is all about “teaching love, kindness, forgiveness, hope” and all things pertaining to godliness. It does this through teaching about the person of Jesus Christ, who transcends political persuasions and religious affiliations.
Great!!!!!
Interesting post, Mike. I can say I agree with some of it. My wife is a Social Christian. I’m not sure too many Christians today would agree that I fit the appelation of Christian at all.
You’re moving in the right direction, Don!
It matters not what we call each other. It only matters what kind of person He sees when He looks at us. And human sociological labels like “Christian,” “Muslim,” “Jew,” “atheist,” “agnostic,” and on have no meaning to Him.
Jesus was pretty clear about being non institutional and non traditional.
He could have taken over the world and was tempted to do so. But didn’t.
He chose to accomplish his goal of becoming THE sacrifice for our sin.
Jesus rules!
The distinction between the glory of men and the glory of God is indeed of monumental importance. And, you’re right: Jesus does demonstrate the right choice. Far better to be despised by men and esteemed by God than the other way around. Jesus was despised greatly by men but esteemed greatly by God. He is thus our example for how to live in this world.
Great post. I couldn’t agree more with what you have written.
Mike,
Just wanted to let you know I followed your link and replied to your question as well – http://goo.gl/4CfeC
I will check out your blog as well since I’m here
[...] http://blogforthelordjesus.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/spiritual-christianity-versus-social-christianit… [...]
I really like this! Please visit my blog and let me know what you think
[...] This is child’s play because there is so much wrong with Christianity today. See Spiritual Christianity Versus Social Christianity and True Christianity for [...]
[...] What then is Christianity? It’s not churchgoing; it’s Jesus Christ. See Spiritual Christianity Versus Social Christianity. [...]