It’s fairly common these days to hear people say something like this: I’m spiritual but not religious.

For the most part they leave the word “spiritual” only vaguely defined.  They seem to mean something like they believe in a God of their own understanding, they are very sincere in their beliefs, and they consider such beliefs entirely private and largely subjective.

By contrast, when they say they are not religious, it’s fairly clear that they mean that are not associated with any organized religion.

(I am often tempted to say that I have nothing to do with organized religion:  I’m Episcopalian.  But thank goodness I have always resisted the temptation!)

Dig a bit deeper, and we’ll often find that our non-religious spiritual person has at the very least a mistrust of the Church and probably no small amount of contempt.  It is not uncommon to hear this: churches are full of hypocrites.

Disciples of Jesus Christ must always be ready to admit that we are works in progress.  The Holy Spirit is at work guiding our actions and restoring our hearts.  We don’t always get it right.  This is why those who suspect us of hypocrisy are actually doing us an unintended favor.  They invite us to examine the reasons for our spiritual practices and encourage us to go deeper.

This week I invite you to reflect upon Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18.  This passage implies that being genuinely religious is being spiritual, and being genuinely spiritual involves being religious. In Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, Jesus teaches us to get into the spirit of our religious practices.  Or to put it another way, Jesus teaches us to allow the Holy Spirit into those practices.