Too Spiritual?

[JesusCompatable]

I just want to ask every one, When dealing with christianity is there any such thing as Too Spiritual?

Recently when I was starting to try to make some headway in my walk with Christ, I get the distinct feeling that my friends think Im getting too spiritual. They are Christians too (from what they have told me). I go to their house for most of the time just to hang out, when I was trying to deal with sexual temptation, I asked a friend to remove some pictures from a screan saver that was more than revealing. The responce I Got was "Its my computer, its what I like". Whenever they talk about Christianity, they come off as "believe what you want to believe, just dont shove it down any one elses throat"

Another friend of mine who is also a christian, mentioned something of his mother "She is like super spiritual, going to church and all that"

What is it about a Spirit filled christian that some other christians seem to find threatening?

I would like to get to the place were I can praise or talk about God out loud and not feel guilty about it because people are on the same level as I am (though as of late I have backslidden some).

[Wileyzmuse]

JC I know what you mean!! Not that I am always oh-so-spiritual, but people really have a hard time when someone has a growth in their faith, imo. It can be threatening and challenges them to get with the program LOL....maybe just pride.

Keep it up!! It's probably convicting them!

YSIC,
Patricia

[onelamb]

It sounds like your friends are very carnal-you might try finding new friends, maybe in a Bible study or youth group of a great church or something. Do not let them deter you from getting closer to the Lord.

[cameron222]

Super spiritual....going to church and all that.......wow!! What a demented view they have.

I do not believe one can be too spiritual, but once can be arrogant and condescending....however, what you are describing is not that.

You seem to be in need of some new christian friends who believe the Bible and are in love with God.......then the screensavers on their computers would reflect that and they would not think going to church was "super spiritual."

You can never get too much of God........we all need a deeper relationship.

[Gail 55]

Wonder how they would feel if Jesus walked in and saw what they were looking at ???? recon how fast they would turn it off ???

[Shyguy]

Another friend of mine who is also a christian, mentioned something of his mother "She is like super spiritual, going to church and all that"

I too had a good laugh at this ...

This is something we are supposed to do! oh my :pound

There is no such thing as being to spiritual in fact we are to live our life in attempt to become like Christ! .. you cant get more spiritual than that. :D:

While perfection is our goal and one we will never reach until we are with him, as we are alive there is no end to our growing spirituality.

[Snowman]

You can change who your friends are, but you cannot change who the Lord is.

I suggest finding Christian friends who are truly interested in living in a way that pleases the Lord. You'll be blessed for it.

Darrin

[architectlink]

Their comments are a hint from the Holy Spirit that they are not born again Christians.

(PS If you are not a born again Christian, you are not saved).

You need a new group of friends, because these will cause you to backslide. You can come back to them later after you have found common ground with a strong group. Later you may find that you are not interested in their ways any more.

[antsinmypants]

There is only ONE way to be "too spiritual"- and that is when you're so busy doing nothing but praying or working in the feild and not caring for those in your family and immediate circle of friends- or out in the mission field itself..

You become "too busy in Heaven to be of any EARTHLY good".

You have to balance your worship and prayer and work with G-d, with your family life.

For if you care not for your family, you become worse than an infidel- as the Bible teaches

[Jael]

I was thinking along the same lines as Ants...there is no such thing as being "too spiritual" when we are talking about genuine spirituality...walking in the Spirit and endeavoring to live a life that is pleasing to God...

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Sometimes the term "too spiritual" is referring to an ostentatious false spirituality that is really rooted in self-righteousness and pride...I think the apostle Paul had this type of false spirituality in mind when he said:

Col 2:23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

But "going to church and all that" is hardly a symptom of false spirituality! My goodness, assembling together with the saints is the least we can do, it's just a beginning...bringing the flesh under subjection and growing in holiness takes time and effort...your friends would probably be flabbergasted by those concepts :eek. I agree with those who said, ask the Lord to send you friends who will support you in living for God.

[Sportster]

I remember reading a scripture that goes something like 'And don't become overly spiritual,for why shall ye be destroyed?' or something like that. I cannot for the life of me find it. Anyone got an idea or read it?
I believe it's important to lead a balanced life. If one area becomes too one sided,things get out of balance and you get into extremisms. As far as being 'overly spiritual' and 'going to church',what do they think being a Christian involves anyway? Church is fellowship WITH other believers. You need to talk to them. And it's good you hunger for fellowship with other true Christians. I'm one who doesn't want anyone left behind,so to just say 'ahhh leave em,find new friends' doesn't sit well with me. Witness to them,yes leave if you find they could care less,find new friends,but always pray for em! And don't shut the door completely! God may want you there to help them. Pray about it.

[onelamb]

Never heard that scripture Sportster-we are to be on fire for the Lord-not lukewarm-that I do know a scripture about.

[Jael]

Originally posted by Sportster
I remember reading a scripture that goes something like 'And don't become overly spiritual,for why shall ye be destroyed?' or something like that. I cannot for the life of me find it. Anyone got an idea or read it?

Yes, it's actually in the Bible...

Ecc 7:16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

One commentator says:

"Be not righteous over much," may be taken as Solomon's words, forbidding a self-made righteousness of outward performances, which would wrest salvation from God, instead of receiving it as the gift of His grace. It is a fanatical, pharisaical righteousness, separated from God; for the "fear of God" is in antithesis to it ( Ecc 7:18 5:3, 7 Mat 6:1-7 9:14 23:23, 24 Rom 10:3 1Ti 4:3 ).

This interpretation fits in with Paul's warning about dependence on false religious practices:

Col 2:23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

[toadblossom]

I tend to agree with Sportster. Don't completely shut the door on this relationship with your friends. Your life and the way you will live it before the Lord will be an example to them. Perhaps as they see spiritual growth in you, they will begin to examine their own lives and see any lack.

You do, however, need the fellowship of other Spirit filled Christians. Find a church that is alive and become an active part of it as the Lord leads you. Don't ever be shy or hesitant about talking about the Lord or praising Him. It's what we are supposed to do! Non-believers are not always going to be appreciative ~ but you go right on ahead knowing that you are pleasing God.

You know, about that screen saver... there is a passage in the Bible, (this is from memory) about not doing something if it's going to harm the walk of a weaker brother or sister. I think it's talking about food sacrificed to idols, but the same would apply to this situation. A sensitive Christian would be careful not to display anything that would cause you to stumble. Especially if you had already mentioned it to him/her.

Just a thought.

Toad.

[chris_h]

1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

"So, Chris, how does that help me in evangelism," you may ask? Well, here's how:
You start off in the normal, friendly, natural realm.
Then you swing it over to the spiritual side, using Christian movies, music ("I Can Only Imagine" has been playing on secular radio a lot lately"), or even better, a tract.
Third, you bring conviction using the Law of God.
And finally, once they realize their personal need for a Savior, then you can bring them to the Cross of Grace.

http://www.livingwaters.com/BiblicalEvangelismBooklet.pdf

[JesusCompatable]

Yea this is far from doing what some televangelist do getting all excited over nothing and hoping around and hollering.

Im talking about what I would consider the next step in my faith. IE one day I was talking to my friend, when I started talking about his faith (I do sometimes think that his may be a little 'lacking' in areas) He stated that 'we just dont think we should shove it down peoples throat" To wich I responded "If a man was driving toward a cliff, would you stand by and wave, or try to get him to stop because hes oviously headed to his doom?" and after A while I explained to him that Without Jesus, no one can be saved and will go to hell. It just amazed me that he could think of it as 'shoving it down someones throat' rather than the message of salvation. Im no evangalist, and I dont witness to often but try to change that when I can.

Things like reading the Bible, Going to Church and Giving God glory were aproprate seem to be things that make some people nervous.

This post was realy more of a rant than anything, it just bugged me that someone could say in one breath that they are Christian, and that another Christian is 'Too Spirtual'.

I fear that this sort of Luke warmness is what Jesus is talking about, not being convicted of your faith enoph to chase after its Laufty Goals.

[chris_h]

JC, you are 10,000,000% right on!

You borrowed that analogy from Ray Comfort and/or Kirk Cameron, didn't you? You had to have. I've been studying them, and you have too. It shows.:P:

Which is a very good thing.

[discovergrace]

this is interesting fo rme. i have a friend who is a christian...not too sure how devoted she is quite right now but i won't get into that.
she has a friend who is in a bad marriage with a son who is down right angry and hurting. (the step dad treats him like dirt), anyways, she keeps telling me that this gal needs her love, acceptance and friendship, that her slavation will come in time.
i say "HUH!??? she could die tomorrow and not know jesus! her salvation should be a priority! i know my friend swears around her too...says she is being "real".:spit
i can't understand why on earth any christian wouldn't want to lead a person to Jesus. sigh...maybe i am right off base, i dunno.:twitch

[chris_h]

discovergrace, you are not at the very least off base. In fact, you are completely right on!

Charles Spurgeon said that "No pursuit of mortal men is to be compared with that of soul-winning."

I would be concerned about your friend, if she is not concerned about her friend's salvation.

[JesusCompatable]

Originally posted by chris_h
JC, you are 10,000,000% right on!

You borrowed that analogy from Ray Comfort and/or Kirk Cameron, didn't you? You had to have. I've been studying them, and you have too. It shows.:P:

Which is a very good thing.

actualy I might have heard it on the radio, The majority of what I listen to is a christian station in town here that plays all kinds of good shows. For some reason I like listening to that more than music at times.

[msjagcat777]

I have a friend who claims she is Christian and loves Jesus.
She gets onto me all the time and calls me different things like: superChristian, too-religious, too right-winged, part of the Jerry Falwell camp, closed-minded religious bigot, etc., etc....

She is a democrat. (don't flame me...I know many democrats are saved too). But....she is a liberal democrat and so therefore has very liberal views. She believes abortion should be between a woman and her God. She thinks the government should keep their hands off a woman's body. She says if abortion is banned, many women will go back to the coat hanger days.

She tells me all the time there is nothing wrong with watching certain shows..IE...Charmed
She thinks I am nuts because I think Halloween is evil, some kid shows, some kid games, and some kid's books are evil.

So JC...I have friends like you. It saddens me that they proclaim Christianity and says they love Jesus...but like my friend mentioned above...she gets very upset about Christians witnessing. She says that is pushing our views on people that don't want to hear it. She says that sex, religion and politics are very personal to people and shouldn't be discussed.

I tell her that the Bible says we should witness to others. I tell her that if I witness to someone and they act interested I keep on talking about Jesus and his salvation. But...if that person gets offended and tells me to stop talking about that, I do stop talking and don't bring it up verbally again unless they ask me too.
I start praying for the ones that don't want to hear it.

If I were to have gone to your friend's house and saw a sexually stimulated picture of a woman or man, I would have asked if they could please turn the monitor off too.
I struggle almost everyday with lust. My flesh tells me ALL the time that I am not getting any younger and that I am missing out on the pleasures of this life. My spirit is always telling me not to go there.

I would sure pray for your carnal Christian friends. I pray for mine too. If your friend keeps that screensaver up on his PC, I wouldn't go to his house anymore until he agrees to turn it off or remove it for you.

I can't imagine having a screensaver like that in a 'Christian's' home. Nobody can tell me that dirty thoughts don't go through his mind.:twitch What is he thinking? Geesh!:doh

[msjagcat777]

:bump

{{Nooooo...I don't want to be the thread killer}}:eek :eek :eek

:laugh

[chris_h]

Originally posted by msjagcat777
I have a friend who claims she is Christian and loves Jesus.
She gets onto me all the time and calls me different things like: superChristian, too-religious, too right-winged, part of the Jerry Falwell camp, closed-minded religious bigot, etc., etc....

She is a democrat. (don't flame me...I know many democrats are saved too). But....she is a liberal democrat and so therefore has very liberal views. She believes abortion should be between a woman and her God. She thinks the government should keep their hands off a woman's body. She says if abortion is banned, many women will go back to the coat hanger days.

She tells me all the time there is nothing wrong with watching certain shows..IE...Charmed
She thinks I am nuts because I think Halloween is evil, some kid shows, some kid games, and some kid's books are evil.

So JC...I have friends like you. It saddens me that they proclaim Christianity and says they love Jesus...but like my friend mentioned above...she gets very upset about Christians witnessing. She says that is pushing our views on people that don't want to hear it. She says that sex, religion and politics are very personal to people and shouldn't be discussed.

I tell her that the Bible says we should witness to others. I tell her that if I witness to someone and they act interested I keep on talking about Jesus and his salvation. But...if that person gets offended and tells me to stop talking about that, I do stop talking and don't bring it up verbally again unless they ask me too.
I start praying for the ones that don't want to hear it.

If I were to have gone to your friend's house and saw a sexually stimulated picture of a woman or man, I would have asked if they could please turn the monitor off too.
I struggle almost everyday with lust. My flesh tells me ALL the time that I am not getting any younger and that I am missing out on the pleasures of this life. My spirit is always telling me not to go there.

I would sure pray for your carnal Christian friends. I pray for mine too. If your friend keeps that screensaver up on his PC, I wouldn't go to his house anymore until he agrees to turn it off or remove it for you.

I can't imagine having a screensaver like that in a 'Christian's' home. Nobody can tell me that dirty thoughts don't go through his mind.:twitch What is he thinking? Geesh!:doh
Sounds lilke my mom, only my mom's a conservative. But she believes in abortion b/c if she could have another baby, she would die.

[chris_h]

Originally posted by JesusCompatable
actualy I might have heard it on the radio, The majority of what I listen to is a christian station in town here that plays all kinds of good shows. For some reason I like listening to that more than music at times.
Well then, they must have gotten it from Kirk and Ray!

[discovergrace]

I woke up this morning singing this :

GLORY TO HIS NAME!
GLORY TO HIS NAME!
THERE TO MY HEART
WAS THE BLOOD APPLIED!
GLORY TO HIS NAME!!!

UMMMMM....does that make me too spiritual!?
lol...sorry, woke up with a joy in my heart...been a while!
Happy labor day to you all...do you celebrate L.day in th U.S??

I was thinking that this walk has very little to do with being spiritual does it? I know of a few people who are pretty spiritual looking...but they have also shown me their other side.
I have seen people girate and shimmy and shake...and some beleive them to be super spiritual. I don't.
It's all about the heart, isn't it?
When I woke up this a.m with that song coming from my lips, I thought "WOW! thanks God!"
I will be humming and singing that song most of the day today...
I just thought of something...do I have the words mixed up? I dunno and really...the song is for my soul today!!
Gotta just love God!
Pam:wave

[Jael]

I was thinking that this walk has very little to do with being spiritual does it? I know of a few people who are pretty spiritual looking...but they have also shown me their other side.

Actually, I think pleasing God has a lot to do with being spiritual...if we are talking about true spirituality and not self-righteousness or religiosity:

Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.

Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

1Cr 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

[JesusCompatable]

Yea, thats exactly what Im talking about. I think that true spirtuality means "I must decreas, He must INCREASE". Little of our relationship with God has to do with becoming Pious or 'tacky' with our spirituality, but rather a Humbling and the (what I like to call) Attitude of Servitude.

[Child-Of-God]

I also have been looking for christian freinds who want to follow the lord with all their heart but i cant find any.

[michelle95]

Talk about spiritual....your friends wouldn't have liked us very much in Montgomery!!! :pound :D:

[D'Light]

So many people out there that claim to be Christian, are just fine with saying for ex: Oh! What church do you go to?

But start having any in depth talk, like mention Jesus, our Lord, or Holy Spirit and they look at you, like what planet are you from!

I have been a Christian for many years, but have not been filled with the H.S. like I am now, and I would not want to give that up for the world. -D

:dancing :dancing :dancing

[katt]

we are babes in Christ and we can only understand the basics of the word..which Paul calls the milk..

such as.. for by grace are we saved..etc..


The birth of christ..

In the beginning God created..

and so on..

we come to Christ as we are..we don't get cleaned up to take a bath and we don't stop being who we are before we are saved..

if we are an angry petty jerk before we get saved we are still that same petty person afterwards..

But we are not to stay that way..this is why The New Testament tells us how to live our christians lives..

We are to read our bibles, pray, fast, surround ourselves w/mature born again spiritual Christians..this is why we go to church three times a week..

If an angry petty man got saved in 1950..and it is now the year 2003..and he is still that same angry man he was in 1950..is he still having a temper tantrum because someone cut him off and took his parking place..etc?..then there is one of two reasons why..he either was never saved to begin with..or he never grew in his salvation..

Just as there are 40 year old unchristian babies..so there exists 40 year old christian babies..

This is why we need disipleship..I worry about the evangelistic crusades..they go into a city hold a weeks worth of meetings..millions walk to the alter and get saved..and go home...with no follow up from the evangelists..

how many of those saved folks grow in thier faith?..w/no discipleship there can be no growth..Jesus discipled the twelve for three and a half years..and after his ressurection he continued discipling them until his assention into heaven..

Peter is the best example of a baby christian maturing through disicpleship in the bible..he was an angry coward..but on the day of penticost he was the boldest of them all..

He also learned to control his temper..

you can tell the difference between a baby christian and a mature christian just by conversing w/them..

can you speak of End time Bible Prophecy with them?..

can you bring up the possibility that dinosaurs not only were on the ark but are mentioned in the book of Job and possibly still exist?

What about the Giants in Genesis and the men of old Moses mentions..are they open to the idea that the story of The Titans just may have a grain of truth and are even referred to in the NT as the Angels God has in chains?..

Can you explore all these wonderful subjects w/these folks?..

If so your speaking to a mature Christian who can handle the meat of the word..enjoy it..it's a rarety!!!!...