Chapter 10


LEVELS IN RELIGIOUS APPROACH TO GOD

By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze


The Levels
         The levels in religious approach to God are following (starting with the highest level):
1. Spiritual Approach
2. Mental Approach
3. Physical Approach
     i. Procedural Approach
     ii. Ritualistic Approach

         The real problem with the world and the religious is that people are ignorant of spiritual levels.
         Therefore, instead of passing through a level to a higher level, they remain at their current level. They boast about it. For example, a number will paste up a sticker which say, “I was born such a church member. I will remain such a member, and I shall die a such a member."
         They not only over stay at a level, they choose never to leave that stage in spiritual development. They think their current level is the best and final stage. It is the very few ones that venture higher and wider.
         Every child of God should become as wise as a bee, and as rich as honey. The bee travels to different places, both far and near, to collect nectar from flowering plants. Then it uses the different nectars to produce the sweetest honey. You must become as explorative as the bee, and as rich as the honey! The wise man is so open-minded that he learns from every good source.
         Churches at the ritualistic level make use of so many rituals. One example is paganism which uses so many kinds of sacrifice as rituals. Another good example is prayer houses, who use pigeon, ram, candles, stream bath, as rituals. Rituals are only good when they are divinely approved or directed. The Catholics use a lot of statues and sacramentals.
         Churches at the procedural level tend to use one form of worship, maintained from day to day. Most of the churches today are procedural. They repeat the same procedure or sequence in worship.
         At the mental level, people are actively engaged in mental works like office work, designing, calculation, planning, management, administration, etc for religious purposes.
         At the spiritual level, rituals and procedures are not compulsory. That is why Jesus had so many disputes with the Israelites, who insisted on rituals, procedures and letters of the law.