The Faces of Spiritual Worldliness

1. Hidden Agenda- Spiritual Worldliness comes in the form of a hidden agenda because it has a comfortable zone where the true motive of the person is secretly clothed by what he outwardly does. It hides behind the seemingly positive program of action. Pope Francis says that this form of agenda hides behind the “appearance of piety and even love of the Church.” It is self-referential by doing the programs of the Church but ultimately seeking his own glory. He commented: “Spiritual worldliness, which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the Church, consists in seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being. It is what the Lord reprimanded the Pharisees for: “How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (Jn 5:44). It is a subtle way of seeking one’s “own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:21)” (EG 93).

2. Ambidextrous- Spiritual Worldliness refers to a person who is double-dealing. He projects a program of life or face to others but projects differently in some occasions. It is pretentious and deceptive. When a person becomes arty, he becomes duplicitous. He may appear sincere but he is not. In Evangelii Gaudium 93, Pope Francis describes spiritual worldliness as having a multifaceted appearance. He said: “it takes on many forms, depending on the kinds of persons and groups into which it seeps. Since it is based on carefully cultivated appearances, it is not always linked to outward sin; from without, everything appears as it should be. But if it were to seep into the Church, “it would be infinitely more disastrous than any other worldliness which is simply moral” (EG 93).

3. Gnostic Mindset- Spiritual Worldliness appears under the guise of service to others but it has tentacles of drawing things out towards the self. It has a plan of action that fulfills the agenda of the Church and the plan of God but simultaneously it creates a protracted action that ultimately ends with the self. Pope Francis describes Gnostic tendencies as referring to an attitude of “a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings” (EG 94). A priest or a lay leader may pursue his subjective thoughts and they may appear to be good and people listen because by virtue of his or her leadership he or she has to be trusted and followed. But looking carefully at this attitude, it would point to some self-referential direction. 

4. Over self-confidence- This form of Spiritual Worldliness is described by Pope Francis as “the self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past” (EG 94). This happens to individuals or groups or even a nation where true Christian faith is no longer the motive of service. A self-serving motivation is not Christian. Pope Francis describes this as an adulterated form of Christianity. He said it is “a supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying. In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others” (EG 94).

5. Social Prestige- another form of spiritual worldliness is when the Church is now engaged in so many activities which are no longer evangelizing. The trajectory of evangelization is not anymore emphasized as they should be. Pope Francis commented: “This insidious worldliness is evident in a number of attitudes which appear opposed, yet all have the same pretence of “taking over the space of the Church” (EG 95). Even within the Church he said that “In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete needs of the present time” (EG 95). What happens is that, we become engrossed in many concerned activities without taking into account the most important thing to the Church today which is evangelization. Pope Francis said that “this spiritual worldliness lurks behind a fascination with social and political gain, or pride in their ability to manage practical affairs, or an obsession with programmes of self-help and self-realization. It can also translate into a concern to be seen, into a social life full of appearances, meetings, dinners and receptions” (EG 95).

6. Business Mentality- Another form of Spiritual Worldliness is to run the Church as if it has to be ultimately like a corporate identity or institution. The Church is God’s people and it has to be governed by a pastor and not a manager. Though the Church needs management and to be well taken cared of by some corporate guidelines, it does not mean that it has to be overwhelmed by worldly strategies and affairs but pursue always its program of evangelization which the world could not provide. If the Church rely on business form of strategy overwhelmingly, it will lose it primary purpose of building the Kingdom of God on earth. If we are not careful with this, Pope Francis says that “it can also lead to a business mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose principal beneficiary is not God’s people but the Church as an institution. The mark of Christ, incarnate, crucified and risen, is not present; closed and elite groups are formed, and no effort is made to go forth and seek out those who are distant or the immense multitudes who thirst for Christ. Evangelical fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence” (EG 95).

7. Ineffective Leadership- Spiritual Worldliness manifests in our forms of leadership which in one way or another are no longer effective. Some would hold on to a leadership of an office as if it has been endowed to them perpetually. Perhaps reshuffling of offices and functions may be one of the areas where we mobilize ourselves and grow in God’s grace rather than be caught up with the enticements of worldly authority and power. The capacity to serve will be lessened if build our own kingdoms in the parishes or in the pastoral work rather than God’s kingdom. Pope Francis commented that, having like a business mentality to run the evangelizing program of the Church “feeds the vainglory of those who are content to have a modicum of power and would rather be the general of a defeated army than a mere private in a unit which continues to fight. How often we dream up vast apostolic projects, meticulously planned, just like defeated generals! (EG 96). What happens is that we become too focused on our personal achievements and prestige without anymore focusing our pastoral relationship with the people. The people need a shepherd patterned from the heart of Christ not patterned from one’s own desires and framework of action. When our pastoral works are caught up with the sense of comfort and convenience, the Pope continued to say: “this is to deny our history as a Church, which is glorious precisely because it is a history of sacrifice, of hopes and daily struggles, of lives spent in service and fidelity to work, tiring as it may be, for all work is “the sweat of our brow”. Instead, we waste time talking about “what needs to be done” – in Spanish we call this the sin of “habriaqueísmo” – like spiritual masters and pastoral experts who give instructions from on high. We indulge in endless fantasies and we lose contact with the real lives and difficulties of our people” (EG 96). The Pope exhorts us “not to be robbed of the Gospel” because spiritual worldliness is a form of “corruption.” (cf. EG 97)

8. Disjointed Mission- Spiritual Worldliness includes a mission that is actually not linked with the real supposed recipients of the Church’s love and compassion. Because of the self-centeredness of pastoral workers and even pastors, mission would not achieve its purpose. Pope Francis described these people saying: “Those who have fallen into this worldliness look on from above and afar, they reject the prophecy of their brothers and sisters, they discredit those who raise questions, they constantly point out the mistakes of others and they are obsessed by appearances. Their hearts are open only to the limited horizon of their own immanence and interests, and as a consequence they neither learn from their sins nor are they genuinely open to forgiveness” (EG 97).