Hiding in Spirituality

What does the phase "hiding in spirituality" mean?  Is there any difference between "hiding in spirituality" and being spiritual?  I think that the answers to these two questions would depend on who you ask.  Each person could and would answer based on their experiences and prejudices.

For me there is a difference between hiding and being.  I think that people who are "hiding in spirituality" do so out of fear.  They either put up a front believing that if the truth about them was known, then they would not be accepted.  Church leaders do this all the time, because if they admitted that they were not perfect then they would be kicked out of the church.  Churches have preached "Be you perfect" and then expected people to live that out in their own efforts.  The best that anyone can do along that way of thinking is to be a Pharisee.  We can discipline our actions to look perfect, but we can't discipline our hearts.  Our hearts can only change by Christ working within us.  It is His working to change our hearts that produces genuine change in our actions.

Others hide because they are scared of the "secular".  They are so scared of being drawn into something bad that they put up walls to stay behind so they will feel safe.  That is why most rules and traditions within the church are there.  It is staying within those rules, that creates a feeling of being safe.  A person who has grown up in an abusive home can find safety within the rules of not drinking.  The old rules against dancing, swimming together, dress, etc were put there to protect against marital breakups.  People who hide like this are like the people that put bars on their windows and doors to feel safe, not realizing that they placed themselves within a prison of their own making. Again, I think that people who do this are acting out a faith that is produced by their own works and not trusting God to change the hearts of people.

To be spiritual is the answer and separate from this problem.  I think that being spiritual is just being in a relationship with God.  This is a relationship that is a lot like the relationship that we have with our friends and loved ones, just more so.  This relationship does not hide you from reality, but makes it more real.  It allows you to give mercy and grace to others because of the mercy and grace given us.  We can love because we are loved.  This does not mean that we are perfect, but that we trust God to work in our hearts to change us and we can be honest with friends that will not think less of us for admitting our failures, but loving us all the more.