Should I do what I feel the Spirit is saying to me?

Last updated on: December 19, 2015 at 5:53 pm by Gerald McDermott

Should I do what I feel the Spirit is saying to me? 2015-12-19T17:53:10-04:00 Gerald McDermott

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Most evangelicals have been told that simply following tradition in spirituality is wrong, and that far better is to listen in my heart to what I think the Spirit is telling me. Thus it is better to go by one’s “inner peace” than by traditional liturgy. Spontaneous prayer is always better than liturgical prayer, either on Sundays or in the Daily Office.

But there are several problems here: Jeremiah tells us that our hearts are deceitful (Jer. 17.9), and we know that we are sinners. Can we truly rely on ourselves to know God’s way?

Orthodox Jews have wrestled with this problem, and have come to a different conclusion: that the Tradition is the amalgamated wisdom of many holy ones who have gone before us. It may even have been formed by the Holy Spirit.

Here are the reflections of a Hasidic rabbi in Israel today:

[The halakhic] obligation to do specific things at specific times stands in opposition to [a person’s] attunement with and attention to his own inner voice. Our own eyes see—and not just in connection with religious life—that when one prefers his own personal truth, he does not behave according to the dictates and accepted norms of society at large. For example, one who desires to be “more authentic” may be less polite, as the rules of etiquette are seen as external social constructions that dull one’s inner life. Similarly, this type of individual will approach halakhah . . . as a system that holds him back from his own truth, and not only that, but he will sometimes perceive it as a lie: from a halakhic point of view, he must pray at specifically ordained times, but in his heart of hearts he knows that right now his prayers will not be fully sincere, rather [he will just be] going through the motions. . . .

[T]his question has yet another dimension, which we may be able to sharpen our understanding [by exploring]: the chasm between objective and subjective experience. Should an individual seek out the Truth through his own subjective experience, or should he rather find it in the absolute objective realm of reality? . . .

The problem . . . is that our inner lives . . . are prone to ups and downs, steps forward and back. Because of the dullness of our internal lives, they are susceptible to all kinds of outside influences, and thus there is a subsequent lack of authenticity. This is the reason the Shulḥan Arukh [the standard code of Jewish law], not internal spirituality, is the basis for our religious obligations; it is the absolute cornerstone of our lives.

For more, read here.

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