Asceticism does not mean spirituality. Col 2 tells us that exaggerated show of godliness, self-abasement and neglecting of the body has no impact on one’s standing with God.
External sanctimony and air of ‘spirituality’ was one of the many gripes our Lord had with the Pharisees during His walk on Earth. Ironically, the reverse was one of theirs with Him!
Jesus didn’t ‘dignify’ Himself the way they did. He milled around with the common folks, ate publicly, and was so regular that at the time of His arrest the soldiers needed an insider to spot Him out from among His disciples.
We doctrinally affirm that Christ was FULLY man, yet we sometimes shy away from the implications of that truth. The man Jesus was as just a man as we are (or else the point of the Incarnation is defeated). He didn’t speak in tongues to re-energise His body when He got tired; no, He slept, and probably snored too. He wasn’t pretending to be asleep during the storm in Mar 4:35-41, he was physically – deeply – asleep. He Himself admits that He was notorious for his “eating and drinking” (Mat 11:1). And if He ate, that means He also had to go see ‘john’, (the euphemism, not the Apostle)!
Why then do we as ministers publicly pride ourselves in not eating and sleeping? While our tight schedules may impose such extremes on us (it happened to Jesus, too), it doesn’t mean we should then wield it as a badge of honour. There’re no rewards for the abuse of the body on Judgment Day.
Historically, extreme asceticism does not lead to spiritualty but actually to SPIRITISM – an undue emphasises and fascination with spirits and communications with the spirit world. The scriptures never sanctioned us to directly seek to communicate with spirits – whether angles or demons; biblical spiritualty is expressed in our obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit as outlined in His Word, and commutating with Him in prayer, (Rom 8:14).
AMEN.
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN