Carnal vs. Spiritual

But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. . . Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. . . And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat. . . for you are yet carnal; for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?
(1 Corinthians 2:9-3:3)

I want to share some thoughts on the subject of carnality versus spirituality. It's a life or death issue for any gathering of God's people and I believe we must be clear on both the terms and the implications. First, as we noticed in the Corinthian passage, Paul divides humanity into three primary categories:

The natural man: The unregenerate person. He is an unbeliever in open rebellion against God. He may be atheist or religionist; he may even think he's a Christian, but his heart belongs to no one but himself.

The carnal man: This person is a Christian; he is saved and belongs to the family of God, but like the prodigal son, he operates on the same basic principles as the natural man; he has not surrendered his heart to Christ. He is living for himself, not for the glory of God. He may be religious or he may have chosen immorality and fled as far from the Church as possible (in this writing I will be focusing exclusively on the religious side of the carnal mind).

The spiritual man: He is also a Christian, but with all his human frailties and weakness he wants what God wants, even if that contradicts his own interests and expectations. He is a man of faith, living to discover and fulfill the will of God.

All churches have a blend of all three types. We have those among us who think they are saved but aren't, as well as those who know they aren't Christians and may or may not decide to become Christians. Their reservation is partly based on what they have observed in those of us who claim to be Christians and partly based on their own uncertainty of what is really true.

I want to focus in this writing on the distinction between the carnal and the spiritual minds. What are they like? Can we have an idea about which category we fit into? And if we believe we may be carnal, how do we become spiritual?

And by the way, spiritual people often believe themselves to be carnal, and carnal people almost always believe themselves to be spiritual: also, carnal Christians may occasionally act in spiritual ways, and spiritual people will definitely have carnal seasons of life. There is no one so spiritual that he has attained perfection.

So what are the characteristics of carnality and spirituality?

The first characteristic of carnality Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 3 is his statement in verse 2, that the carnal Christian is unable to know the things of the Spirit of God. Carnal people may have amassed a great deal of knowledge, but knowledge is not the same thing as spiritual truth. In 1 Corinthians 1:8 Paul writes, We know that we all have knowledge, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. . . and in chapter 13:2 he writes, Though I understand all mysteries and have all knowledge . . . if I have not love, I am nothing.

It is not possible to know the things of God without knowing the Word of God, but it is very possible to know the information recorded in the Bible without knowing the spiritual realities behind that information. The Pharisees knew the Bible extremely well; they also murdered the One of Whom the Bible spoke.

The spiritual man discerns all things (1 Corinthians 2:15). He knows there's a lot more to the Bible than interesting concepts and principles. He wants to hear from God, even if that hearing shatters his own pre-conceptions and expectations. He is open in the true sense of the word. The carnal man glories in his knowledge, in his grasp of the principles and doctrines of Scripture and in what he believes is his understanding of the deep things of God; but he barely knows God at all, and he does not know the Bible in a spiritual way.

To the carnal man, the Bible is a manual of how to live; it is filled with wonderful and complex systems of theology and information which, if learned and applied, will enable him to live the Christian life and glorify God. Although his obedience is often selective, he generally wants to implement what he learns. His goal in life is to understand as much as he can and obey to the best of his ability.

The spiritual man sees the Bible in a totally different light. He sees the scriptures as a means to an end rather than an end in themselves. To Him the Bible is the revelation of God. The spiritual man studies to know God, not just to know the Bible. Even though he knows his obedience will be far from perfect, he never loses hope because he believes in and counts on the grace of God to work in his life. He believes that what God has begun in him, God will finish, and he desires to cooperate fully with what God is doing however mysterious and often confusing or painful that may be to him.

In 2 Corinthians 10:12 Paul writes;

We dare not make ourselves of the number with some who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

The carnal Christian spends a great deal of time comparing himself with other Christians and them with him, and he always comes out in the top 10 percent. In his mind the principle of the "remnant" definitely applies to him. The spiritual man leaves all judgments to God. He knows he's in the remnant but he has no intention of flaunting it; he is there purely by the grace of God and has no delusions of where he would be if not for that grace.

For the carnal man, his own preferences, tastes, culture and traditions are far more important to him than relationships. If others in the body of Christ agree with him, they are his friends; if they disagree, they are to be opposed. Carnality prohibits him from seeing beyond his own limited perception of what is right and wrong, true and false, good and bad. He is not interested in seeing the big picture, because his picture is sufficient. He knows what music should be played on Sunday morning and what music should not be played; he knows the proper style of Bible teaching and the improper style. His expectations, based on his preferences, interests and his traditional idols, are the correct way, the only right way, and the way he believes things should be applied to everyone, without exception. He is too preoccupied with evaluating how those around him are measuring up to his standards to see the real needs and hurts he could be meeting. He is missing the glory of God because his eyes are turned inward, not upward. Paul is a blessed example of upward vision:

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12

The spiritual man knows that his perception of God is limited; he knows he has a long way to go and would never presume to have arrived. He has no intention of imposing his preferences on others; he is interested in seeing others become increasingly free in Christ, not increasingly conformed to his own ideas of what should be. He realizes the value and wonder of diversity in all of God's creation, especially in the body of Christ. He recognizes the differences in gifts, in talents, in styles, in preferences and sees them as wonderful examples of the creativity of God Himself. He glories in uniqueness and diversity, and hates sameness and conformity.

The carnal man will never see the universal body of Christ; he has no real conception of flexibility, diversity, or even true compassion. When Paul says he is willing to become all things to all men that he may win the more, the carnal man reads this through his own self-oriented grid and re-defines "becoming all things" as "others becoming what he wants and expects them to be".

The spiritual man allows God to be God. If God wants to use a donkey to confront a prophet, the spiritual man will receive that. If God wants to use an uneducated farmer named Amos to confront a nation, he will receive that. If God wants to use a Carpenter to save the world, he will receive that.

The carnal man cannot receive the things of God, because they are spiritually discerned, so when that which is of the Spirit is presented to him, he reacts against it and finds a multitude of excuses in the weaknesses of the messenger to reject the message, just as the Corinthians did with Paul. As a matter of fact, the carnal man usually can't hear the message at all; he's too preoccupied with picking apart the failings of the messenger.

The spiritual man, on the other hand, is fully aware of the "eartheness" of the vessels God uses and knows that God will not stop using them simply because they do not meet up to the expectations of the critical mentality of the carnal Christian.

The carnal man would never admit it, but he is motivated primarily by pride. This is why he will not allow others to be themselves, to be who they are in Christ. He must insure that they are what he wants them to be.

The spiritual man wants others to grow, not to conform; he wants them to flourish in their relationship with God, not to become a carbon copy of anyone but Christ. James says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). There is no spiritual revelation given to the carnal mind. He would not receive it if it were offered. To him the preaching of the cross is foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:23).

Please take a moment and read through 1 Corinthians 1:25-28, 2:1-5. If the carnal man is presented with books, tapes, or face-to-face teaching of real spiritual truth, he will become increasingly agitated and will label that ministry as "unprofessional, amateurish, foolish, superficial. . ."

The spiritual man is very aware that he has nothing at all to contribute to the ministry of the Word; that all ministry, if it is truly spiritual, will be by the Holy Spirit and will be in spite of the vessel used. The spiritual man actually expects God to use the base, weak and uneducated things of this world to confound the wise. The spiritual man never depends on the eloquence or "excellency of speech" he is hearing to determine its spiritual validity; instead he prayerfully focuses on the message itself and asks God to reveal what He wants to reveal.

For the carnal man, his life is a life of criticism and of doing all he can to insure that his wants, expectations and preferences are met, no matter who gets hurt along the way.

For the spiritual man, "to live is Christ". It is the interests of Christ and the blessing of His people that matter most, not himself. He will do whatever is needed, even unto death, to defend the rights of Christ in His assembly.

The carnal man says, "Follow my principles" "Be like me" "Do what I want you to do".

The spiritual man says, "Follow Christ" "Be like Him" "Do what He wants you to do."

Please read through 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8. Paul did not live this way in the presence of others to impress them; but so they would trust him, listen to him, and receive what he had received from God. Carnal men want personal proselytes and the admiration of their fellows; the spiritual man wants to see an increase in the followers of Christ. The admiration or opposition of others is irrelevant. He knows that when we all stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we will stand there alone; no one we have impressed or angered will be standing with us to plead our case or to accuse us.

The carnal man is, in a sense, dependent on the approval of others because deep inside he senses the disapproval of God. The spiritual man lives only for the approval of God, and though he will always take the response of others seriously because he knows that God's word to him may come through any source, other's opinions are never the final criteria for the direction of his life. For whether he lives or dies, it will always be "as unto the Lord".

Though I realize that every church will have elements of carnal and spiritual within it, just as you and I, individually, will have seasons of both in our own lives, it is my prayer that our personal goal is a determined pursuit of spirituality, that we are able increasingly to recognize carnality when we see it and avoid it at all costs. A little leaven leavens the whole lump; there is so much at stake in this life, we cannot afford to allow the leaven, the fatal misconception, of carnality to leaven our lives individually or to spiritually dismantle us corporately.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)