Genuine
spirituality
for God, and for others. The world is waiting for you!’
2) The learnt truths: all true Christian spirituality has the grace of God as its foundation, the death and
resurrection of Christ as its centre and the on-going relationship with the Holy Spirit as its dynamic; a
true Trinitarian basis. The fi rst eight chapters of Romans set out the secrets of true spirituality.
3) The practised discipline: again, the Scriptures and prayer play their part. As a child of missionaries,
Bible stories were my daily diet, coupled with family prayers, the reading of books, prayer meetings,
the services and fellowship of the church and the missionary imperative. Indeed, as, in evangelism, we
reach out as ‘a royal priesthood’ to ‘declare the praises’ of God to others (1 Peter 2:9), we are thus doing
the priestly job; we are doing spirituality!
4) The endured hardships: it is everywhere in the New Testament! Paul and Barnabas emphasised
that ‘through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22). The fi rst reason why
Christians suffer is that we are following One whose footsteps took him to a cross. The second is that
God has chosen suffering as a way to spiritual progress (Romans 5:3-5). Alternative ‘spiritualities’ tend
to focus upon ourselves, rather than upon the God-centeredness that we were created for. It is the same
with certain disciplines that can create a self-obsessed illusion of mystical ‘holiness’, without dealing
with our sinful characters. Paul points to certain rituals and mystical experiences that, for all their
impressiveness, caused people to ‘lose connection with Christ the Head’ (Colossians 2:19). Morally, in
our characters, are we becoming more like Jesus Christ? That is the crunch issue of true spirituality.
Richard Bewes OBE
29
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