Ogyacious Christians!

One of the most popular words in the christianese lingo is ‘spiritual’. Its usage is especially common among Charismatic Christians who employ this term to depict one who exhibits certain quaint characteristics deemed to be quintessentially Christian. It would be fair to say the term is also used to denote a standard (which presumably for the Christian is Jesus Christ) or a scale of measuring one’s growth and level of maturity.

Usually, one relies on certain outward characteristics to determine if another is a spiritual Christian. Some of these features include adopting certain intonations and voice inflections (preferably a deep baritone) during and especially at corporate prayer sessions with a peculiar way of pronouncing words (usually very loudly) in a manner very reminiscent of attempting to speak with a severe chili-peppery burning sensation in the mouth, the resultant effect being that, certain words like ‘spirit’ are pronounced “shpirit” (emphasis on the SH) and ‘Jesus’ pronounced “Jai-sus”. I dare say that it has even become an unwritten yet enshrined criteria for a prospective prayer head/leader to posses such words abundantly in their repertoire of christianese diction if they are to be successful in certain charismatic circles as prayer heads.

Another of these quaint features of a ‘spiritual’ Christian is their odd fashion sense – or lack thereof. Hardly would one find a typically ‘spiritual’ Christian brother dressed down. They are usually spotted in oversized long sleeved shirts over black trousers regardless of the occasion with their favorite shirt colour being light (or is it faded?) blue. And for the sisters, rarely would one see them wearing makeup. They usually settle for drab coloured tops over maxi skirts. Simply put ‘spiritual’ Christians are typically unfashionable and often purposely so. I must state though that this trend is fast changing. Nowadays, many pastors wear fancy suits and other expensive designer attires.

However caricatural my depiction of a ‘spiritual’ Christian may be, that is the notion one gets especially when such are referred to in the local parlance by the term “ogyacious”. It leaves me wondering, who is a ‘spiritual’ Christian anyway? Indeed, what does it even mean to be spiritual?

Is one spiritual because one attends church meetings every Sunday? Does habitual praying and bible study make one spiritual? Or does rote recital of memory verses and in-depth bible knowledge make one spiritual? Whichever it may be, one can be certain that being spiritual isn’t synonymous with being religious thus the term isn’t exclusive to Christianity. Freethinkers and New Agers also employ the term thus it is not uncommon to hear Yoga and Transcendental Meditation practitioner describe themselves as ‘spiritual’ because they claim through these activities, they get in touch with their inner and higher non-physical self or some other non-material being.

In the context of Christianity, however, the word can be found in many places in the bible including 1 Corinthians 3:1 where “spiritual” is used in the sense of one who is mature in the Lord, as opposed to one who acts less responsibly i.e. a “babe”. The same sense of maturity is employed in Galatians 6:1 where the spiritually matured brethren are admonished to gently restore an offending brother.

From the above, it can be concluded that a spiritual Christian is one who by dint of obedience to God’s word has developed and reached a high level of maturity. Let us cast off any affected notion of who a spiritual Christian is because it only breeds hypocrisy and sin.

SDG!