The Soul of Seduction

"Once the heart has been trained to submit to a habit it is hard to change because the repitition of a ritual engenders a state of mind that brings a sense of peace, lifting it to the semblance of wonder."

In his book, Ravi Zacharias explains the misdirected search for wonder in religion. Ravi presents the contrast of sleep and the imitation of sleep by inducing unconsciousness with an anesthetic. Religion can be an anesthetic when we think that religion is the answer to our search for wonder. Just like an anesthetic that desensitizes our body and manufactures the brain condition that disconnects its ability to feel, religion desensitizes us and disconnects us from true spirituality.

Different religions enjoin different routines--prayers at given times; the direction one must face during prayer; a language through which God communicates that has been given as a private revelation to only a handful in this world (any attempt to translate that language results in losing the inspiration); certain festivals, feasts, and fasts that one must observe at the cost of placing one's life in jeopardy; converting to another religion brings risk of slaughter to one's family. Is it any wonder that any presentation of a counterperspective on God is seen as an attack upon one's culture?

What this all means is that spirituality for the sake of the spirit is not a sufficient reason for being spiritual. There are many traps in the world of religion.

A question was put to Jesus once when the disciples, who were hungry, took some consecrated bread and from the temple and ate it. It was a defining question and a tough decision in a culture where religion and ritual had become one. Had the disciples desecrated the temple and the bread by eating the bread? Jesus was put on the spot by the ecclesiastical powers who were horrified by what the disciples had done. "No," said Jesus. "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:6-8).

In that one statement Jesus put our relationship with God in a direct line with our relationship with Himself. You see, the Christian faith is reallz not one that calls us to a higher ethical life. It challenges us to remember that by our own efforts we cannot produce a truly spiritual life. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That, religion cannot do. Ceremony has the power to soothe and mollify the conscience, but ceremony no more changes reality than outward behaviour guarantees love. It is to this "greater than the temple" that we bring our temples--our bodies--and find that in the process of seeking physical, material, or even spiritual sensation is to seek a sensation without finding the source of wonder.


Resource: Recapture the Wonder by Ravi Zacharias