Do not confuse hyper-spirituality with new paradigm thinking. Likewise, do not think, because some folks are “traditional” in their values, that they are simply old paradigm. Though many do not operate with an ultra-spiritual mentality, it cannot be assumed that they are without the Spirit of God. And because some may evidence the gifts of the Spirit, it does not necessarily follow that they are beacons and pillars of honor, integrity, honesty, and transparency.

God may be extreme (by definition), but God is not the god of the extremes. Extreme spirituality divides everything into two distinct categories: Secular and Sacred. Because of its extreme bent, the super-spiritual mindset must construct superficial walls between what it assumes to be God’s realm and that which is the realm of “the world.” By this, the super-apostle (as Paul calls those in Corinth) does not invite, but only insists that those not like them must convert from “the world” to “Christianity.” This thinking is necessarily old paradigm and is, highly hypocritically. “’The world’ is vilifying God because of you.”

While it is true that many traditions replace and otherwise kill the work of the Spirit in the church, it is not true that this is axiomatic. Though traditions can inhibit us from doing the things that God is doing, they cannot in any way inhibit God from doing the things that God is doing. It is not rational to say that “tradition is keeping God from doing His thing with us.” Again, tradition may be a type of religion with which you have replaced God, but it has not actually replaced God, logically speaking, but only in your delusional mind. Yet, “tradition” is that on which the Church is built. Do you read and study your Bible? That is tradition. Do you meet with others at some point to discuss and/or worship God? That is tradition. The theological things we believe about God are, for the most part (and in most cases) traditional. Now, not all of the things we traditionally believe are necessarily true, but they are still traditional none-the-less. Belief in God, itself, is traditional.

I, personally, have found the most “spiritual” people to be the most aggravating. I have also found it a rule (there are exceptions, which make it a rule) that the most spiritual are the most hypocritical. New paradigm thinking demands that we, first, take off our masks and be honest with ourselves. God offers a safe place for us, individually and collectively, to do so. But ignoring this place, we over-compensate for our own inadequacies by flaunty a false-sense of spiritual supremacy. “We may speak in the tongues of angels,” as Paul says, “But without love we are just noisy.” Perhaps we hide within our traditions to discuss the fact that we are spiritually shallow.

New paradigm thinking demands that God is more interested in you being transparently honest, with honor and integrity, than He is with your counterfeit perfection (comparing yourself only to others). The new paradigm mandates that God sees no separation between sacred and secular, but is always in mission to all humanity (inclusive of all and exclusive of none), whether included or excluded from the organized church. The new paradigm states that the move of God “now” (new) is a continuation of the move of God “then” (old). The new paradigm is traditional in its biblical authority, its ancient church tradition – by which it spread exponentially – and it is spiritual in that it is a product of the mind of God, powered by the Spirit of God, and lives in the life of God through the Resurrected Christ.