We went to church on Sunday-
Nick asked concerning my last post for a follow-up that suggested practical ways of siding with the oppressed. This post is the beginning of an answer. I think that on one level we all know practical ways of siding with the oppressed, but on another level we have little theological framework for doing so. I hope this post can begin to lay a foundation, even if not any walls or roof. I apologize for its length.

We went to church on Sunday. It was refreshing – a strong focus on the spirit, something most all churches I attend are missing. Most churches are physical places that focus on the spiritual. They attempt to carve open small spaces in the midst of the physical into which they might invite the spiritual. They are places where respectable people are comfortable in their physical bodies though realizing they need hints of the spiritual to gradually make them better people. The church we attended Sunday was a spiritual place uncomfortable with the physical. It was a gathering of socially awkward people, unsure of how to react to the presence of strangers. Some were misshapen, some spoke funnily. There was an abnormal percentage of towering, wide beings that never spoke, the kind that are teddy bears if you know them but slow-moving brick walls if you don’t.

Their singing worship did not simply invite the spiritual into the physical. Rather, they escaped the physical, fully rejoicing in the spirtual. They longed to be raptured. They reached high opening their arms to heaven, now unconcerned with what strangers might think. They reveled in a now safe place. And God was there – not visiting small spaces recently opened, but everywhere, inhabiting their corporate praise. The physical became uncomfortable, distraction abnormal.

There were only about 40 people, and it seemed half of them were involved in the service in some way. They never spoke in generalities. They spoke to each other, addressing people specifically throughout. Announcement time was not a time to zone out and make a grocery list or read the bulletin – there was no bulletin. Instead it was more like a large family gathering where someone yells to get everyone’s attention so that they can inform the group about the gathering’s schedule – ribbing and laughter included.

The sermon, unsurprisingly, was about the spirit man, and how it must reign over the physical man, and that our purpose as Christians was to have our spirit man rule more and more over the carnal man. Examples of life saving spiritual visions and insights were referenced – examples from the lives of the people in the church, not of anyone outside.

The message, the feeling, were similar to the church I grew up in, and there was comfort for me in the focus on the spiritual. The problem, however, was the same as the church I grew up in. The sermon had no mention of the world’s suffering, only their own suffering and how it could be avoided by listening to the spirit more carefully. In fact, I don’t remember any reference to anyone outside of the church. There was a considerable focus on giving, but only giving to the church was ever mentioned. The preacher said there was nothing wrong with making more money, because the more they made, the more they could bring into the church. All references to physicality were disparaging. The physical was the source of suffering. The preacher said our spirits came before our bodies and would exist after our bodies, the world here is merely a testing ground. She then likened our bodies to a car that we would one day open the door and step out of.

Why must a focus on the spiritual be accompanied by such myopia (narrow viewing)? Perhaps as a person focuses more and more on the spiritual, she becomes more and more uncomfortable with the physical. So as long as God is speaking to her spirit about something in her own life, she can hear it, but when God attempts to speak through her to address something in the physical, it gets all jumbled up and confused. Or perhaps it is simply human nature to be self-focused, so we practice listening to what will make us better individuals, but tend to focus less on what will help someone else.

I’m not sure; but it does seem obvious to me that people who focus strongly on the spiritual tend to create a dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual. The spiritual is only elevated at the expense of the physical. This view is, of course, traceable to scripture. Paul, especially, writes a great deal about the spiritual and the physical being at war with one another, and we have assumed that war involve good (spiritual) vs. evil (physical). So those who seek the spiritual do it by denying the physical, escaping from the physical, in essence continually hoping to be raptured out of the physical. The focus then becomes on how I personally can be more spiritual, closer to God, further away from the physical.

I believe, however, that we have misinterpreted these scriptures. The war is between good and evil, but good and evil are both physical and spiritual. Praying can be a good spiritual act that helps overcome an evil physical addiction. However, giving to the poor is a good physical act that helps to overcome evil spiritual problems, as is forgiveness and most of the fruits (physical things) of the spirit. The spiritual world is both good and evil. The physical world is both good and evil. If we seek only the spiritual (assuming it is only good), we are in danger of casting out demons in Jesus’ name, yet arriving in heaven and being told that he never knew us.

We seem to understand well that there are good spiritual acts that war against physically evil forces, but we need to learn that there are also good physical acts that war against spiritually evil forces.