It is not surprising that you have spiritual interest. God, who is the only uncreated being and Maker of all, created us in His own image, to reflect His glory, to serve Him in accomplishing His purposes in the world, and to worship Him with honor and praise. We have by design a spiritual interest and a need to worship someone greater than ourselves. Some so-called atheists deny these facts, but it is our human nature to seek out spiritual answers.
Unfortunately, mere acknowledgment of God is not enough to be right with our Creator. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” The Christian worldview can accommodate the reality of various spiritual entities, such as angels and demons, among other varieties of the unseen realm. What demons lack, as may you, is the saving grace and new birth through bending the knee to Christ Jesus. It is this acknowledgement of Christ as King (aka Lord) in His life, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension that binds us in right relationship to God the Father, a relationship that was severed through the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve.
That is what “religion” means – a binding. The Christian religion is the only way by which we may be bound back to the God who loves us, never to be cast out. Many of us were taught in the church that “it’s not a religion – it’s a relationship.” This sentiment is unhelpful. It’s trying to avoid the allergic reaction people have to the word “religion.” But all people at all times are very religious; they place their faith in something, be it in service of demon-gods, or in things like science. Every other religion is an attempt to work for status. Unlike other religions, Christianity is not a striving to earn favor with God, because the person and work of Jesus is sufficient favor to pay for every sin.
What people usually mean by “spiritual but not religious” is that they want to grope around in the darkness and come up with their own (faulty) takes about God and other spiritual beings which He created, chasing feelings and seeking knowledge and power without submitting to the One True God who made them. They want what He can give them from His table, but they don’t want to live with Him or His Bride, the church. This is the height of ingratitude.
Regarding one of the major religious disputes of His day, Jesus taught, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) In this, Jesus does not abolish religion, but purifies it. He says that the kind of spirituality and religion that God accepts has nothing to do with the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, but acknowledges the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the three Persons of the Trinity.
G.K. Chesterton famously said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” I suspect this is true of many of the “spiritual but not religious” crowd.
We invite you to bring your questions. This is a big one many people want to throw out there. God seems harsh at times. He is alleged to be bloodthirsty. He is not very egalitarian. He selects some people for blessings and salvation but not others. How can this God be good?
But baked into the question of whether God is good is a fatal flaw: By what standard do you stand in judgment of God? In other words, what is “good?” What is “evil?”How could you possibly make that assessment unless you yourself were God? We don’t get to stand in judgment of God, saying, “Well, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done things that way.” No. God is our Judge. It’s part of what makes Him God. When anyone says something is good or bad, wrong or right, they are assuming that there is an ultimate standard by which we can judge things.
God Himself is that standard, and He has provided ample documentation of His character all throughout Scripture if we will read it. In particular, God gave us the standard of His Law, which can be summarized in the Ten Commandments.
1 John 1:5 reminds us that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” On every page, our Triune God is shown to be only good. He is not like us however – He is perfectly holy (set apart) and sovereign. His love and justice work together, not fighting for balance.
As one of the most-beloved verses in the New Testament puts it, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
If by “hypocrites,” you mean that we are humans who often fail to live up to the ideals that we proclaim, yes, the church is full of hypocrites. The world is also full of hypocrites, except these people have far lower standards they set for themselves than the Law-Word of God. This is not an excuse for hypocrisy; we want to live consistently and purely with our Christian profession. To do otherwise is to violate the third commandment to not take the name of the Lord (upon oneself) in vain.
It is a trite saying that “Christians aren’t perfect people; just forgiven people.” This may be trite, but it is true. We don’t achieve perfect sanctification (holiness) in this life. We are still prone to all kinds of sinful predilections after we are born again. This is frustrating, but we are not allowed to use the fleshly proclivities to wander from the perfect way of Christ as a license for sin, knowing that we are forgiven.
Christians screw up. The difference is, Christians should know how to make it right when we do. We are to confess our sin. We are to repent to God and to the party we may have harmed. We are to ask for forgiveness. We are to extend the same forgiveness. When possible, we are to seek reconciliation. When necessary, we are to make restitution. This is the way.
Sounds like something that Satan, the Adversary, would say, if he wanted to lead you off track.
There are many paths that play upon our spiritually-hungry human nature.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 16:25)
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
The message of the Gospel is wonderfully wide to include people from every tribe, nation, and tongue, young and old, male and female, rich and poor. But entry into the Kingdom of God is exclusive: only through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is one saved from sin, death, hell, and the power of Satan.
This is my Father’s world, and so everything that is not God is something that He created. Moreover, everything that happens, happens under the sovereign oversight of the Almighty God.
Christian theology has categories for miraculous occurrences (though rare, which is what makes them miracles) as well as unseen entities we might call “supernatural” though they must be part of the created order.
Both inside and outside of the church, you are going to find skeptics of your story. It is possible you have interpreted details incorrectly. But try us. I’m inclined to believe you. The Bible is sufficient as a rule for life and has plenty to say about way more than we might think. It is the very word of God, so we can go to it seeking sure answers to everything. And while the Bible doesn’t literally cover the entirety of all human knowledge, it provides the God-given framework to approach the world He made. We can seek answers to the stranger, fringe things once we are anchored in the main and plain things.