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Why Do I need to Change My Approach to Religion?

Many people grew up in a culture that was heavily influenced by the outer approach to religion. For such people it can be difficult, even frightening, to consider giving up this approach to religion. Why would you have to give up the outer approach?

By Kim Michaels

The obvious reason is that the outer approach is no longer working for you personally. It can no longer answer your questions, and it cannot heal your inner conflicts about spirituality. Giving up this approach frees your mind to look for a better approach. However, what if there is a universal reason to give up the outer approach?

Human, know thy times
If you step back from your personal situation, you might discover that you are not the only one who is disappointed with outer religion. In fact, one might consider that it is a sign of our time that more and more people lose faith in a traditional approach to religion. Why is this so?

Many people believe there are certain cycles of change that are occurring in the religious life of this planet. Is it possible that we are witnessing a planetary shift that causes so many people to lose faith in the outer approach to religion? To illustrate this point, consider the analogy of a steam locomotive.

Imagine that you suddenly find yourself in the engine room of an old steam locomotive. Unbeknownst to you, someone has stoked the fire burning under the kettle. As the pressure in the kettle rises, the locomotive begins to move forward. You panic and pull on the brake as hard as you can. The locomotive stops, but the pressure keeps rising. Unless you do something to change the situation, the kettle will explode!

Let us imagine that a new type of spiritual energy is being released from the spiritual realm. (For more about the spiritual realm, see the section about the Universal Path) It causes the pressure to rise in the engine that drives spiritual change on Earth. The rising pressure creates the need for religious organizations to change. However, people who take the outer approach to religion are afraid of this change. Consequently, they pull on the brake and seek to prevent the locomotive from moving forward.

From an outer perspective, they might seem to be successful, but from an inner perspective, the pressure will simply continue to rise until the kettle explodes. Is this why so many traditional religions are losing members or going through outer challenges? One example of this process might be the exposure of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. Is this simply a sign that the old order is beginning to break down under the mounting pressure of spiritual change?

To change or suffer
If spiritual change really is occurring, how can you best deal with the situation? Imagine what might happen if you take the outer approach and go into complete denial of any need to change your approach to religion. Obviously, the pressure will keep building and if the kettle explodes, you might find yourself in a full-blows spiritual crisis.

An increasing number of people experience that a certain outer event triggers a breakdown that sends them into a personal crises of faith. This might be a personal event, such as the loss of a loved one, but it can also be an impersonal event.

For example, many Catholics have become so disappointed by the Church's handling of the sexual abuse by priests that they have lost faith in the Church and feel like they have nothing left. Other people have lost faith in traditional Christianity, because Christian churches have refused any serious attempts to reconcile the Christian faith with the discoveries of science.

Blowing off steam
Is there a better approach? Let us return to the steam engine. We have seen that complete denial, meaning trying to prevent the train from moving forward, is not a good option. It will inevitably lead to an explosion. Another option is to look for the safety valve and let off some steam. Many religious people take this approach, which we might call the path of least resistance.

Such people might make minimal concessions to the changing times, but they are not seriously reconsidering their religious beliefs. Most importantly, they are not even considering changing their basic approach to spirituality. Such people are not committed to change; they are simply trying to prevent the kettle from blowing up.

The problem with this approach is that as long as the pressure keeps building, you will have to constantly let off steam. Some religious people are consumed by the need to defend their religious beliefs against change. For example, many Christians are consumed by defending certain Christian doctrines even though science clearly demonstrates that these doctrines cannot give us a complete understanding of how life was created.

Will trying to stave off change without reconsidering your basic approach to religion really get you where you want to go? Will it help you find peace of mind, or will it simply delay the inevitable crisis.

Putting spiritual steam to good use
What if there was a more productive approach? After all, steam has the potential to be converted into work that can make the entire train move forward and reach a new destination, perhaps a better destination.

By looking at history, it is not difficult to see that human beings are creatures of habit and often resist change. For example, one of the major problems encountered by Jesus was that so many orthodox Jews, especially those in leadership positions, resisted his message that a new spiritual approach was needed.

Is it possible that God wants to see change in the spiritual life of this planet? Is it possible that spiritual energy is being released to assist us in embracing this change and making the most of it? What if we released the brake and allowed the locomotive to move forward? Is it possible that it might take us to a better destination?

Obviously, you don't need to throw caution to the wind and allow your spiritual locomotive to run amok. Instead, it is far better to take a balanced approach and move forward safely. However, to remain balanced on your personal path, you need to adopt the inner approach to spirituality.

All or nothing
When you take the outer approach to religion, you accept a religious doctrine as complete and infallible. Therefore, you inevitably end up taking an all-or-nothing approach to your current beliefs. They must be completely right, so if one aspect is proven wrong, your faith is destroyed. That is why so many religious people resist any kind of change.

When you take the inner approach, you realize that your current beliefs are not complete and infallible. They simply represent the highest understanding that you have been able to grasp up to this point in time. In fact, you expect that as your understanding grows, you will naturally gain a deeper understanding of the spiritual side of life.

The main benefit of the inner approach to spirituality is that it removes the sense that your faith is threatened. Thereby, you can overcome the fear that your faith could be lost. Letting go of a particular religious belief is not a matter of losing your faith and being thrown into a personal crisis. Instead, your life is a continual journey towards a deeper understanding. You never lose a belief; you simply replace it with a better and more complete understanding.

Holding on to the outer approach forces you into the extremes, where you must hold on to existing beliefs out of fear of losing everything. Adopting the inner approach makes it possible to experience a balanced and gradual growth in your understanding of the spiritual side of life.

When you take the inner approach, you don't throw away or question all of your existing beliefs. Instead, you gradually open your mind to a new understanding of some aspect of the spiritual side of life. You use your existing beliefs as a foundation for your journey. You never lose your bearings and feel like you are in a free fall. Your existing beliefs are a safety net instead of a dead weight that prevents you from climbing the ladder of spiritual understanding.

By adopting the inner approach to spirituality, you don't run the risk of having your kettle blow up. You don't have to spend all of your time letting off steam while getting nowhere. Instead, you can move forward in a balanced and controlled manner that allows your spiritual growth to stay on track.

To learn more about how you can know truth inside yourself, read How to know truth.

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Copyright © 2008 by Kim Michaels