Religious & Spiritual Autobiography

Jake Bishop
04 September 2013
Religious/Spiritual Autobiography I guess growing up for me religion was never forced on me, but still encouraged. My parents urged for us to trek to service on Sunday morning regardless of anyone’s schedule that day. I once even had to miss an 8th grade basketball tournament in order to attend Sunday school. Growing up I never was a very big “church-goer”, but I felt like I had a good relationship with God, which is kind of redundant because of the whole lesson we’re currently discussing. I always felt that I could be spiritual with having an institution to initiate the fellowship with God. I guess I kind of thought that as long as I maintained an emotional relationship with God, and talked with Him on occasions where I wasn’t asking for anything, I felt like I could then be considered an “upstanding Christian”. I know now that this is very unlikely, and that this was not the most efficient way to maintain a fellowship with God. Church is more than institutions in which you are suppose to be exposed to the gospel; it is an opportunity for people to connect and harness one another’s love for their religion and their everlasting love for God. I never looked at my church this way, and often on Sunday’s, found myself repeatedly looking at the clock to see when 10:30 rolled around and we could go to brunch. I regret this past sentiment and outlook on religion and to this day wish I would have taken more advantage of the resources made available to me in my first encounters with church life. Even now I try to maintain a relationship with God, and look to Him when I am in a time of duress or feel like I need guidance. On occasion I feel guilty when doing this because I feel like I am only talking to God because I am in need. This is a great example of one believing they are spiritual without being religious. If our only purpose to having a fellowship with God is to ask for his guidance and favor in a time of need, then we are straying as far from the purpose of religion as possible. I hope this class will give me a better understanding of how I can expand my relationship with God, whether it is through obtaining knowledge in the course or having an unexplained epiphany or connection that exposes me to my ideal path. I feel recently, since my transfer to a public school and declining exposure to religion, I have strayed from a strong fellowship with God, and even though I identify as a Christian and have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I occasionally feel as if I don’t deserve the responsibility and privileges obtained when having a fellowship with God.