In David Wells' The Courage to Be Protestant, he makes the following apt analysis of post-modern spirituality on p.69: "In an eye-catching reversal [of the rationalism of the Enlightenment]..., by the 1990's, 78 percent of Americans were describing themselves as 'spiritual.' The problem with much of this spirituality... is that so many of these 'spiritual' people are stripped of any reference points outside of themselves, whether in the past, in the present, or in a God external to themselves. What is sacred is within and indistinguishable from the self. It arises within the self and is accessed from within the self and asks nothing the self is unwilling to give. This kind of spirituality really is a sanitized version of Hinduism, there for the taking in America by its affluent and self-indulgent. And it really does not change the fundamental inclination of Western postmodern societies to think that there is nothing that stands over against the self and calls it to account."
Of course, the Gospel stands in radical antithesis to this new/old idolatry. It declares that there is a God, our holy Creator, who will call us to account. It warns us that our self-made spiritualities, our self-righteousness, and our other sins (!) are just the varied forms of our rebellion against His rule. And it declares the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God sent by His Father, who invaded human history to save sinners such as us. Salvation is not about looking within, but looking outside ourselves in faith to Christ, whose Cross & righteousness alone reconcile us to God
I think some Christians make the mistake of presenting Christianity as a better "spirituality" than its competitors, by highlighting subjective religious experiences such as getting "born again," being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, enjoying subjective feelings of peace & joy, finding a sense of meaning, personal worth, living in "authentic community," etc. While some of these are consequences of believing the Gospel, they are not the Gospel. And if we present them as the Gospel, we have presented another gospel - and have potentially left people to perish in their idolatrous and self-centered "spirituality" now deceptively re-labeled as "Christian." The Gospel is the message of Christ crucified and risen for the salvation of sinners - not a "new & improved" spirituality product.
