Super-Spiritual
There’s this term that I’ve come across from time to time, which is “super-spiro.” It’s the short version of “super-spiritual.”
Whenever I hear it, I’m always a little curious about what exactly it means. I have a general idea; a bit too heavy on the spiritual side of things, a bit too focused on God-stuff maybe. The thing is though, whenever I hear it, it’s always in the sense of it being something to avoid, that it’s not a good way to be.
If the idea is that our faith should be outworked practically, or that Christians need to be engaged with the people and issues in the world around us, I agree; but if it means that it is somehow uncool to be full on about Jesus, in focus and in conversation, then I don’t agree.
I hope it’s OK to be really honest about something here, something that I found quite disheartening actually when I first became a Christian (and have since as well). It’s that, when I became a Christian, I was so thankful for how God had changed my life, so in awe of what I was experiencing with Him. Knowing Him to me, is unparalleled. I was (and am) in love with Jesus. Being in love with Him meant that I wanted to talk about Him, for out of the overflow of [the] heart, [the] mouth speaks Luke 6:45.
I craved times with other Christians anticipating talks that were full of God. What He has been saying to each of us, amazing experiences we’d had with Him, “divine encounters” that we saw His hand on and the way He had answered prayer recently. It’s great to chat about other things too, but I wouldn’t have minded if it was only God. Not that I’m trying to be over the top, or “super spiritual,” it just seemed the natural outworking of being in relationship with Him.
But this wasn’t (and isn’t) oftentimes the case in my experience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really great catching up with people and just relaxing with friends, but sometimes I didn’t understand why it was pretty much the same as time with friends who don’t know God.
It’s true that we each have different temperaments, that some people may be more reserved about their spiritual experiences, and in some instances it might not be appropriate to be talking about God, but what I’m getting at here is the implication that being “super-spiro” and all about Jesus, particularly with other Christians, is not the preferred way to be.
To be honest, I wonder whether as the Church we are “super-spiro” enough. Maybe when we wrap ourselves in Jesus, so that His love is shown powerfully in our actions and His glory is spoken about in our conversation, this will be something that helps convince an unconvinced world.
I’d love to know your thoughts …
I think that a lot of Christians are reserved because they don’t really know God. They know about Him, but they have not encountered Him in a way that lights up their world. So when someone is excited about knowing Him, they feel uncomfortabe because they don’t know Him that way. And until one realizes that God makes us uncomfortable all the time, most christians biggest goal is to not make anyone uncomfortable so they think the super-spiro people are out of line. That would be my guess.
Thanks so much for your thoughts Tawny. Yeah, that’s a great point, not talking about God out of a desire not to make others feel uncomfortable. I can understand that. I think you’re so right though, talking about Jesus can be uncomfortable a lot of the time. God bless
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my hesitancy with people who “only want to talk about God” is that they don’t seem real to me. they refuse to acknowledge or talk about normal real-life stuff, whether it’s the problems they’re facing or just what’s going on at work.
i love Jesus; i’ve dedicated my life to serving Him. but if i have a hard time being around people who can only relate on spiritual things and nothing else, then i can’t imagine how difficult it would be for someone who isn’t saved.
Hi alece, so true what you say about people who aren’t Christians having a hard time relating to conversations only about God stuff.
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And yes, so true about it being important to be real. To be able to talk about the things actually happening in our lives.
I guess you’ve touched on the question I have though, does that enthusiasm for Jesus, where you want to talk about Him all the time, make us unreal or not easy to relate to? Maybe it’s just that He’s made us all unique in the way we relate to Him. Thanks for your thoughts
This is a very interesting topic to me, I think as we mature in Him and try to be more sensitive to the person we are talking to, we can tell if we are making them uncomfortable. I have people in my life that we mostly talk about God and then others that we rarely talk about Him. God is in all of those relationships and I enjoy all of them. I am not saying I will never talk about God when it makes the other person uncomfortable but I want them to enjoy their time with me and not come away feeling bad about it. If I feel like God wants me to say something about Him, I hope that I always would….
Don’t know if I am making any sense?
For sure, yeah, such great points. So true that God leads us in our friendships, and how important being tuned in to Him is, and as you say, being sensitive to the person and situation too.
I guess my heart with this was just that sense that it is somehow not as preferred to be really passionate about Jesus in terms of what we talk about for example, in particular with other Christians. As I mentioned before though, maybe it is to do with our unique personalities, ways of relating to God and expressing this
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If it is about our unique personalities, then you and I must have similar temperaments. I don’t talk about Jesus to make a point about Him, I talk about Him because He’s the love of my life. That might sound cheesy but it is the truth. When I’m sharing myself, my thoughts, my struggles, the real me with others He just tends to be HUGE part of my thoughts.
He is the reality of my life. Not to be overly dramatic, but if it were not for Him, I don’t know if I would still be alive. He is the one who took me from the pit of despair and raised me up to know He loves me, no matter how unlovely I am to others. He is truly my best friend, as much as people don’t like that term anymore, it’s the way it is for me. So…maybe I SHOULD tone it down, I’m just not sure how.
Hi Michelle, I love that heart, and no, don’t tone it down!
All that great stuff about how much God means to you, where’s He’s taken you from, it reminds me of where Jesus says, “And I, if I am lifted up … will draw all peoples to Myself” John 12:32. Like you, I adore Him, and I adore talking about Him.
Some great points have come up about being real, and being sensitive to others, so true, but for me, at the end of the day, He is my favourite conversation
I think what you might be getting at is the concept of balance. Out of balance = toxic faith and turns people off. Or, = wishy washy and what’s the point. I have been offended by both and I am sure offended both to others. Comes down to remembering our humanity and keeping connected to Him. It’s a journey isn’t it. Those that minister to me most are authentic, honest and real about it. I hope I do the same for others. Just wrote in my own way about this:
http://sharingnotes.blogspot.com/2008/07/im-stuck.html
Thanks for blessing me.
Roxx
Birgit, I have to admit because I have the sort of job where I am not allowed to talk openly about my faith, as it would be considered an absue of power, I’ve gone the other way in my personal life. ALL my close friends are just Jesus Freaks like me! But what we are is REAL. I’ll moan to my closest friend about a noisy neighbour or financial problems, or the way someone has treated me in Church, and she will listen to all the garbage, but then turn the conversation round to HOW GOD fits into all this. That is the beauty of haviing an intimate relationship with God- wanting Him in EVERY area of your life.. I totally relate to you about the enthusiasm of wanting to tell everyone you meet about Jesus. I’ve been there big time at Uni!! It takes wisdom, though , not just enthusiasm, to know the right time to say things to people. But if we are just recounting our lives to them, why shouldn’t we talk about Jesus?? People go on and on about football, tennis, the latest movie with passion and enthusiasm, it should be the most natural thing to talk about Jesus and how He impacts our lives, deals with the struggsle we face (we must remember not to leave those sturggles out as it gives a false rosy picture of what it is like to be a Christiann). So, from one Jesus Freal to the other, I say freak on girl!! We wil not deny Him.. and even if liek Peterwho cut off the ear of the soldier, we get it wrong, I think God mucg prefers the enthusiastic to the blase…
Hi Roxx, it’s so great to get lots of different thoughts on this topic. Love how you described the balance somewhere between being ‘wishy washy’ and ‘toxic.’ I’ll check out your thoughts on your blog too
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Hi Laura, I love what you said here and really relate. The whole thing of being authentic with friends about the day to day things while at the same time chatting about how God may fit in, or what He is saying etc. So great to hear your thoughts, God bless
When I’m with unbelievers the way I most (not always) share my faith is silently – by my actions and responses to the world around me. It speaks volumes. I love to talk to God and about God to anyone who wants to listen and when they don’t, that’s okay. I think that book UnChristian hits on some of your thoughts. We tend to come across as know it alls and super spiros as if we’re better because we have Him. We’re not better because we have Him, we’re better off. And when we’re better it’s only because He’s in us.
Hi Hope, so good to hear how you share your faith both silently by your actions or with words in different situations. Love the way you put – “We’re not better because we have Him, we’re better off.” This is so true, I am so thankful. God bless, great to hear your thoughts
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I do see that the great pressure to be ‘relevant’ has led to a confusing message that says to people who do not have a relationship with the Lord, “Come join us because we are just like you.” In cases where there is no distinction between someone who supposedly loves the Lord and someone who doesn’t then I want to shake things up and jump into a talk about spiritual things.
Then on the other side I have seen people avoiding talking about their marriage that is in desperate need of repair and saying a bunch of popular catch phrases so as to keep things apparently God-centered but oh so superficial.
So what I would desire in speaking with anyone would be authenticity. An authenticity that allows for rich conversations about God yet weaves those truths into the wholeness of our human existence touching issues such as career, family, finances, talents and interests.
Beautifully put @ngie, I really agree with all you said here.
At the heart of it, I wondered why a term with a negative connotation is used for people who are full on about Jesus.
It’s so good to see the way it’s sparked different thoughts, like the importance of being real and also being sensitive with what we say, especially around unbelievers. So good!
Thank you for your balanced, wise words @ngie, God bless.
God revealed an interesting (yet personal) thing to me the other night. It was regarding the story of the Linen Belt (found in Jeremiah 13). Jeremiah was asked by God to buy a linen belt and tie it around his waist. He was then instructed to hide it in a crevice of a rock. God then told him to return a couple of days and it was completely ruined…completely useless. I have been so convicted about this because I desire to live my life consistently (with Christian and non Christians friends alike). I know that I cannot spiritually vomit over my non Christian friends but why do I hide it when it is the most important thing to me.
We as christians are called to be the linen belt in our day-to-day lives, but burying it will only make us useless. We can choose to live boldly as a saint through our actions, through the peace of knowing Christ suffers with us, and through the knowledge that God wants our loved ones to know his Son even more than we do.
x: Getting there?!
Wow Sands, what amazing insights. I’m really inspired by what you wrote, and look forward to looking up Jeremiah 13 to read this story.
The way you’ve applied this to living our faith ‘so that it shows’ kind of thing, is so good and so motivating. Like you, I’d really like to grow in this, that that love for Him would always be visible. Such a blessing hun, thank you.
If oly we have had a fraction of God’s desire to have relationship with us, for Him… If only we did listen to recognise His voice… If only we stopped and fall in love all over again.
Because then I believe we’ll let the Spirit take control, in a “Super-spiritual Natural” manner. Sounds contradicting? Jesus was the most natural wise, kind, firm man on Earth; He was filled with the Spirit. He did offend people, were judged because he loved God. Do we care enough for our Eternal Home to live for it?
There is a time to stay quiet (Est 2:10), and a time to speak up (Act 2:14) but what I love it is led by the Fruit of the Spirit – I pray that every Christian in this World will have a close friend to share that sweetness with. Blessings
This touches home for me because often I am called superspiritual. Lately, it has really bothered me and I started to examine myself to determine whether I am a turn off to people around me. It is not my intent to make people fill uncomfortable around me, but Christ lives in me, so out it comes. We were created in his own image, so if we read the bible they were turned off by Jesus’s words. He was not popular. We will suffere like Jesus suffered. I recently said it works for me to someone who called me superspiritual. What I meant by that is that this is the only way I know to be. I am so consumed with God because of where He has brought me from and out of that I am totally sold out to Him out of gratitude. Why read the word if you are not going to apply it to daily situations. If I am so superspiritual then why do strangers pour out their heart to me and my students at work. If I didn’t read my word I wouldn’t be able to give these people sound wisdom that applies to their daily walk. In this world in which God is so uncool, it lets me know that I am standing out and being different, not wishy washy, professing my faith and not denying the God I serve. I am sorry, but I choose not to look like this world and I hold the saying to heart, “What would Jesus do or say.” Sure I stumble and sin, but I owe it to the man who died such a horrific death for me to not live a shabby life. If I chose to change the way I am to fit the mindset of the liberal christian, I still would not measure up. I love you Jesus and I am sold out for you. So superspiritual I am until I go home to live with my savior.
Thank you Sold out! I can relate. You are such an encouragement to me today!