Who is a Spiritual Person?

Here’s the problem. The Church has often given the impression that there is one cookie-cutter way to being a spiritual person, to being a Christian. There is not. If you take ten spiritually mature Christians and put them in a room they will not all resemble each other. Of course, they will share much in common in terms of their values and their relationships with Christ and others.

There are many paths or ways of following Jesus Christ; of being a spiritual person; of being a disciple; in short, of being a Christian. Here are some of them. 

The Serving Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are helping others. They are the sort of person who wants to help people in practical ways. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means doing good for others. These folks flourish more in doing for others than they do in Bible studies and conversation groups.  

The Relational Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually as they develop meaningful connections with other people. They are the sort of person who wants to spend time with others. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means being in community. Take this kind of person away from other Christians and their spiritual life will tank quickly.   

The Intellectual Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are able to engage their minds with the truths of the Christian faith.  They rightly recognize that being a Christian means learning new concepts and learning to worship God with our minds. These kinds of folks tend to suffer spiritually when in a church that doesn’t challenge their minds or take intellectual questions seriously.

The Contemplative Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are able to spend long periods of time in prayer and silence with God. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means developing a close relationship with God. Trying to force these types of people to be more activist and “busy” often kills their spiritual life.

The Artistic Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are creating or expressing something deep from their hearts. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means recognizing the beauty of art and that art should be used to honor God. Often people wired this way have no formal or official way of expressing their gifts in the Church, which damages their spiritual life.

Creation Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are outdoors. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means recognizing the goodness and beauty of creation.  These types of people tend to suffer spiritually when they are unable to get outside, whether their preference is the water, the woods, the mountains, or the prairie.

The Activist Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are putting everything on the line for a cause or work they believe to be important. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means being willing to sacrifice and to give our all for the causes of the Kingdom. Activists suffer when people try to “slow them down” and force them to adopt a more normal lifestyle.

The problem is that the Church has often given the impression that the “contemplative” path way is the only and best way to being a spiritual person. This is a sinful and heretical notion (and I do not use those words lightly) that has paralyzed generations of so-called ordinary Christians.  The best way to move forward in your Christian life is to embrace your primary pathway. Yes, you may be able to see yourself in more than one pathway, though for most of us one pathway dominants.

Let me say that there are certain practices and commitments that all Christians should be developing, regardless of their pathway (i.e. prayer, worship, giving, etc.). But persons of different pathways will engage in these practices differently. For example, someone with the serving pathway may have a very short time with God in the morning, a short bit of Scripture and a few short prayers, while the person with the contemplative pathway may start their day with an hour in silent prayer. One is not better than the other.

I think those of us who are teachers and leaders in the Church need to do a better job of letting people know what it means to be a spiritual person. The stereotype of what it means to be spiritual person is still out there and is still preventing many men and women from recognizing themselves as spiritual persons. This not only hurts them, but hurts the Church, because we need all the pathways in full operation to carry out the mission Jesus has given us.