Spiritual Thrill Seeking

Living your adventurous life everyday is hard. If you're anything like me, you want to keep things fresh and in the present so you don't lose the important in the mundane.  Since the focus of my year has been adventure, I've been seeking external experiences to go along with the internal adventure that's happening.  Some friends have questioned this trend because it has brought on some physical reminders of the health challenges I face.  They used the term "spiritual thrill seeking".  I have to admit that I smile a little as I picture myself doing Biblical Parkour.  I love that I have friends and family that don't shy away from keeping me accountable.  Criticism, constructive or otherwise, is a great opportunity to consider the issue before the Lord and determine if you're confident or convicted.  

For me, I haven't felt convicted, I've felt warned.  My quest for adventure is truly a manifestation of the adventure that is happening spiritually.  It is, however, important to consider: how do you know how far is too far?  Can seeking God turn into thrill seeking?  Is it possible to lose sight of God in the midst of an adventure with Him?  I think we all would have to admit that the answer is yes.  Anything, absolutely anything, can become an idol because an idol is anything that takes our focus off of God.    

I don't want you to get the mistaken impression that adventure means hiking up mountains, surfing on an extreme wave or slaloming down a double black diamond.  Thrill seeking is being eager to take part in exciting activities that involve physical risk.  So, lets tweak that definition to being eager to take part in exciting activities that involve spiritual risk.  Spiritual thrill seeking isn't an extreme sport but it is an extreme.

So let's look at some warning signs that your adventure has become more focused on your experience than it is on God.

Warning sign #1

Trying to recreate a spiritual experience based on someone else's experience.  

I have to admit that when I was *cough* slightly younger than I am now I wondered why the great spiritual experiences I was hearing other women have weren't happening to me.  Some had dreams, some spoke in tongues, some heard from the Lord, the list goes on.  I assumed I wasn't spiritual enough or wasn't mature enough.      Any time we shift our eyes away from the One we have a relationship with to someone else's relationship, we are entering dangerous waters.  We think if we can just do the right things, we'll have the spiritual experiences we've heard other people have.  Here is what is important to remember when you catch yourself doing that.  Your relationship with God isn't about producing the right experiences to show off to others.  Your relationship with God is, wait for it, your relationship with God.  

Warning sign #2

Trying to recreate the circumstances of a previous spiritual experience.

If you have had an undeniable encounter with God or a time of closeness that was a balm to your soul, it's hard to sit comfortably in those times when God is silent.  I know I have wondered in the past if those times of silence were a punishment, if I had fallen away from my Savior, and so I frantically try and go back to what "worked" before.  I utterly spent myself in volunteering, giving, trying to be more selfless, and found the silence more condemning than ever.  I have stopped trying to fix the silence.  Trying to recreate a spiritual experience never works because, surprisingly, God is not a pet we can train to do tricks on command.  I have learned over the years that the times of silence are just as necessary to my spiritual growth as those times when God feels so very present.  Those moments of silence teach us about our deep need for Him and force us to stretch farther and go deeper to seek Him and abide.

Warning sign #3

Trying to shape your spiritual experience

We often get an idea in our head about what a  "spiritual person" looks like.    I know for me it is an idealized picture of beauty, peace, cleanliness and solitude followed by smiling kindness, wisdom, intelligence and selflessness.  What does your ideal "spiritual person" look like?  Now ask yourself, are you chasing after an ideal or are you chasing after God?  

This picture I have in my head accuses me of how far I am falling short.  It pushes me to "accomplish" a spiritual life like I can achieve it with the right combination of to-do lists and discipline.  It drives me to seek out ways to fix what's wrong with me.  Here's the thing.  God is working on us at exactly the right pace, at exactly the right time, in exactly the right way.  He doesn't have a picture of an ideal spiritual person He's trying to accomplish. He has a picture of YOU perfected by Him.     


1 Corinthians 9:24-25 ESV

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Spiritual thrill seeking is dangerous because it shifts the focus of why.  Why are you in the race.  It changes what you see as the prize at the end.  Why you run the race will make all the difference in what you are pursuing and how you go about it.  Is it the acclaim?  The fame and notoriety?  Is it the reward?  Is it the emotional or physical high?  Or is it running full out to jump into the arms of a heavenly Father who is waiting with arms outstretched to hold us?  

So what are you running toward?   

How do I respond to tragedy

If you spend any time on social media you are going to come up against some strong opinions, especially around times of tragedy.  In a fallen world, and with the increased access to news and opinions, we will be confronted constantly by tragedy. I've been thinking about that a lot over the last month.  We've had some national tragedies that have once again polarized public opinion.  I've talked about social media fighting before on my blog but the recent slew of tragedies have revealed a disturbing new trend that has had me doing some serious soul searching.  

From my little corner of the internet, the overwhelming sentiment I saw was (expletives deleted) to "take our thoughts and prayers and @#^$%# it".  Our nation is mad.  They're mad at us.  

Or at least that's how it looks.  The world is mad because things are getting worse, not better.  The world is mad because they believe the world should be getting better.  The world should be more enlightened, understanding and intelligent.  Sadly, the world is not following the Utopian path that Star Trek set out for us.  The more knowledge we gain, the less understanding we extend.  In the battle cry for tolerance, the world has become more intolerant than ever.  

But that's not what I wanted to talk about today.  The best thing about this adventure that God has me on right now is that it is full of a dialog of questions.  He's asking me questions and I'm asking Him questions.  Of the many questions He's asked me to explore about myself and the world, some of them have been hard.  As followers of Christ, we know that the world will continue to degrade until Christ returns to establish His eternal kingdom. For years I have viewed the worlds tragedies in light of the grim prophecies of scripture and the firm belief that a life without God is lived in bondage to sin. 

I somehow took that as permission to take a step back from the world, and it's tragedies, and offer a sympathetic grimace and nothing else. After all, we're called to be in the world and not of it.  I focused on the "not of it" part.  This world is not our home.  

But when God asks you a question...there is weight behind it. And the question God has been asking me is this.  How do I respond to tragedy?  I've been wrestling with this question because I suspect that I have neglected the first part of "in this world but not of it" ...we are "in the world".  This is still where we live for now even if it's not our home.  I've heard that phrase used but it had been a while since I had actually read the scripture it was paraphrased from.
  

John 17:14-16 New International Version (NIV)

14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

This is why study of God's word is important.  No matter how many times you've read the Bible in a year or how long you've been going to church, you should know what the Word of God says for yourself.  Not only are there rich treasures to be discovered but there are profound truths that can't help but affect how we live.  

Matthew 22:36-4 New International Version (NIV)

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So what does it all mean?  The world just wants something to be done.  So what can I do?   What should I do?  It all depends on what you think love is.

This is a heavy question and it is very easy to tell ourselves that nothing can be done, so why bother.  Don't do that.  Take a breath and think about this with me.  God only asks us to do nothing under one circumstance.  When we are being persecuted for His sake.  This has taken some serious time in prayer, some serious time in the Word and some very terrifying steps outside of my comfort zone.  We can and should do nothing when being persecuted because how we have lived out God's Word will speak for us. 1 Peter 2: 11-25 has a whole lot to say and I strongly urge you to look it up and read it for yourself but I'm going to pull out one verse.

1 Peter 2: 12

 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Did you catch that? Good lives...good deeds.  We aren't saved by works, it says so in Eph 2:9, but we are still called to bear fruit.  To be a witness.  To make disciples.  Our lives are supposed to be living testimony.

When I was young, and going to Christian camps, we were often asked; if Christians were ever being brought before the courts for being Christian's, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  That question hasn't rung in my soul for many years but it is now.  

Our place in this world is one of action.  Love, kindness and humility; be, go, do, make...our words are action words.  

James 1:22 NIV

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

I hope you will consider thinking through these questions with me.  What should you be "do"ing?  What does love look like?  What speaks louder, sharing your opinions on social media or putting love into action?  How does your life look to the outside world?  Does it look any different than the world?  Have you cloistered yourself away from the world?  Think it through, ask God and then wait to see what He says.  I'm not asking these questions to convict or accuse.  I'm asking them of you and of me as a litmus test.  As an opening for God to enter in and start a dialog.  To give us all a chance to do some spring cleaning in our hearts, minds and souls.  

 

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