Things Don’t Feel Spiritual All The Time
POSTED IN: Authenticity, Blog Posts, Makes You Think
My brother and sister-in-law are on a one-year missions trip in Bangkok, Thailand where they’ve lived for the last eight months. They’ve been answering some questions people have sent them on their blog recently. One of the questions dealt with some of their misconceptions about life overseas as a missionary and their response was rather profound:
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time…
How often do we have this hyped-up idea of what ministry is going to look like only to find out that a lot of the time it can feel, well, like a job.
Some people think Pastors receive their message each week by divine revelation when most of the time there’s hours spent staring at a blank screen trying to find the best words to say what’s on their heart.
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time.
The truth is that worship leaders often spend a lot more time writing arrangements and organizing band practices than they do in worship.
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time.
Missionaries don’t walk out their front door in the morning to find 20 people waiting there ready to accept Christ. Most of the time they’ll go weeks or even months with no visible fruits for their labor.
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time.
Filling out paperwork for your 501c3 and signing rental agreements is as much a part of planting a church as prayer services and Bible studies.
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time.
Youth Pastors sigh when their youth group can’t even remember what the message was about last week but they can quote the entire Napoleon Dynamite by heart.
Things don’t feel spiritual all the time.
It’s easy to romanticize our walk with Christ but even the best of us have days when we feel very unspiritual. It’s on those days and every other day in between that we need to remember that God is just as much at work in the “valley of normal” as he is on the “spiritual mountaintops.” It’s all part of the journey. And on our journey…
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February 2, 2010
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Thanks for that reminder, Brad. I needed to hear that. That’ll be my thought for the day.
“It’s easy to romanticize our walk with Christ but even the best of us have days when we feel very unspiritual. It’s on those days and every other day in between that we need to remember that God is just as much at work in the “valley of normal” as he is on the “spiritual mountaintops.” It’s all part of the journey. And on our journey…
…things just don’t feel spiritual all the time.”
That’s enough to chew on for a week at least…
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February 2, 2010
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for me… things don’t feel spiritual most of the time! i’m not kidding when i say my life is far more grit than glory. people have such a romanticized view of life in ministry. and while i certainly have those “spiritual” moments, most of the time i need to remind myself that it’s all Kingdom business—even when i’m “just” answering emails, collating curriculum, or running from one meeting to the next.
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February 5, 2010
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[...] all of the Christians out there that struggle with things not feeling spiritual all the time, this post by Brad Ruggles is right [...]
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February 5, 2010
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[...] Things Don't Feel Spiritual all the Time by Brad Ruggles Jeff M. Miller \ Consuming Worship web: blog \ twitter \ chat \ facebookAKPC_IDS += "1876,";Popularity: unranked [?]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Friday Feeds", url: "http://consumingworship.org/2010/02/05/friday-feeds-2/" }); Share and Enjoy: [...]
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February 6, 2010
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Thanks, Brad! I need to hear that. I’m in the things don’t feel spiritual most of the time boat. I love that my faith is founded in facts and not reliant on my feelings because I would be in a world of hurt.
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February 6, 2010
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Great reminder, especially in the light of earthquakes, etc.
Another thought is that we don’t have to act “spiritual” all the time. It’s OK to laugh too.
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February 18, 2010
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[...] appreciate Brad Ruggles’ post about things not feeling spiritual - great [...]
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April 10, 2011
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Thanks Brad, I’ll keep that as a thought for today or even as a walking mantra
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May 5, 2011
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July 13, 2011
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November 16, 2011
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Between me and my husband we’ve owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I’ve settled down to one line of players. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.