We’ve all seen the movies where the thirst-crazed man is running through the desert toward the next mirage he thinks he sees. The strange truth is we do the exact same thing when it comes to the spiritual realm. The “if only’s” of life drive us to maddening levels of searching. Religion offers us a continual list of activities to take part in to fill our spiritual void. Understanding this mirage of life is the first step to Crossruption. It’s time to determine where you are in the seemingly futile search for satisfaction.

Man finds himself in an ecosystem called sin. This is a state not defined by activities or actions but are only an expression of this sinful state. In this ecosystem, while there is most certainly evil, all actions are not evil. There is also goodness in man. This dichotomy takes us on a journey of seeking for spirituality, for fulfillment from this inner battle and emptiness.

We think the greatest achievements, inventions, and innovations will satisfy us. The subconscious thirst we have believes these successes will fill the void. In and of themselves, man’s intellectual and physical achievements are some of the greatest gifts we have. The problem comes when we begin to think those achievements will fulfill our inner craving. This is where we get into the mirage of life or the “If Only’s.”

We’ve all seen the movies where the dying man is lost in the desert and on the top of each sand dune he sees the oasis on the next hill. When he finally makes it to the next hill, only to see it is not there, he now sees it on the next hill. And on the madness goes. This also happens in our spiritual lives.

When we are in middle school, we think, “If only I was in high school.” When we are in high school, we think, “If only I was in college.” When we are in college, we think, “If only I had a girl (or boy)friend.” When we finally get the girl (or boy)friend, we think, “If only I had a great job.” When we get the job, we think, “If only I had a home.” The madness goes on and on. Every “if only” just leads to another mirage. The goal line of success keeps moving out of reach. Every achievement we think will fulfill, when we do achieve it, we realize there is still something missing. Like Mick Jagger sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction.”

The same mirage of life, the same “if only” gets duplicated in the spirituality of religion. Religions say, “Come to the church. Come to the temple. Come to the mosque. And if only you come consistently, read consistently, give consistently, do activity after activity that we schedule. If only you will take part in missions work. If only you will take part in charity work. If only you will do this work for the church, temple, or mosque.” We are simply attempting to manufacture the spiritual in the natural.

What we think the mind and body can accomplish can be only found in the supernatural. We go from church to church, denomination to denomination, religion to religion, old age to new age, from Western mysticism to Eastern mysticism. We try all kinds of spirituality to fulfill the emptiness that can only be filled in the spiritual dimension.

We are in this constant reinvention, a constant chase, running this futile race of trying to attain spiritual fulfillment through spirituality that we try to understand through only our minds and bodies.

So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:23-27 NIV)