Author John Ortberg, in his book titled The Life You’ve Always Wanted, draws an interesting contrast between two individuals.  One was miserable and cranky, seemingly at odds with life.  He was distant and unable to enjoy those closest to him.  Each year, his soul got a little smaller.  Nothing ever changed in Hank’s life.  Mabel, on the other hand, was an extraordinary woman in her eighties.  If someone had reason to be disenchanted with life – she was a prime candidate.  For 25 years she lived in a sterile understaffed convalescent home.  Although she lived in her own little world, confined to a wheelchair and bed, she was different.  Although she was blind, deaf and had facial deformities due to the cancer eating the side of her face – Mabel was a joy to be around.  Those willing to see past her appearance, would encounter a warm, loving, gentle, and giving person.  The difference…?  Mabel had a vibrant relationship with the living Christ.  To Mabel, Jesus was her life and it showed.  She didn’t complain and blame her unusual circumstances.  She was content and made the most of the life she had.

Hank is an example of stagnant religious activity, an example of spirituality gone wrong.  Without the life and reality of Christ, religious activity is empty and has no ability to transform a person.  Spirituality gone wrong is the result of religious activity without the life of God and what it produces is often very ugly and hurtful.  It is judgmental, critical, unforgiving, and hard.  It is repulsive.  It is the antithesis of what Jesus desires to produce in His followers.  This is why Jesus so strongly opposed the religious leaders of His day.  Their religious activity was void of the reality of God and because of that – they were not a true reflection of what it meant to know God.  To know God was to know and practice love.  To know God was to know and practice mercy and justice.  To know God was to be humble and giving – a servant.  And yet this is not what He found among many of the religious leaders.

As you think about your rhythms (religious activity), what are they producing?  Are they producing a true reflection of what it means to know God?  Are you becoming more loving and kind?  More forgiving?  Or are they producing spirituality gone wrong?  One is repulsive and destructive.  The other is contagious.  Which one is your spirituality producing?