This tendency toward regarding the interior/esoteric/"spiritual" as the more real, superior, or authentic over and against the exterior/exoteric/"material" is one of the massive problems with the modern, contemporary Church. It's not uniquely modern, this tendency has always been a problem going right back to Christian antiquity. It is precisely this which is the basis of Gnosticism, Docetism, and other early heretical movements.
This is why resurrection of the body was so offensive to the ancient Greeks,
"Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. ... For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, 'We will hear you again about this.'" - Acts 17:18, 31-32
For the Greeks, whose philosophers, such as Plato, regarded material existence largely inferior to "spiritual" existence the idea of bodily resurrection seemed positively abhorrent. It should not be surprising, then, that later we find certain heretics, such as the Docetists and Cerinthians arguing that Christ could not truly be human, and that He merely appeared to be human (Docetism) or was a spiritual agent who temporarily inhabited a mortal human (Cerinthianism). It's why various Gnostic sects viewed the creation of the material world as the act of a foolish demigod which resulted in the imprisonment of human souls into physical bodies of flesh, and that some even said that the serpent was a savior come to deliver men from the wicked creator deity and return them to the realm of pure spirit--and that Christ Himself came for this same reason, to enlighten men and make them spiritually knowledgeable of their true identity as caged sparks of the invisible divine.
We find it today, still, whenever there are those who argue against the resurrection of the body, who deny that Christ is truly human, rejecting that God works through external means--water, bread, wine, human ministers, preaching, etc and saying only the internal, invisible, "spiritual" thing matters.
Again, this is hardly new. In 1518, Dr. Martin Luther of Wittenberg University delivered 28 theses as part of his Disputation at Heidelberg. In which, recognizing the deep problem of the time--that men prefer works, wisdom, power, glory over grace, foolishness, weakness, and the cross--said:
"That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the »invisible« things of God as though they were clearly »perceptible in those things which have actually happened« (Rom. 1:20; cf. 1 Cor 1:21-25).
This is apparent in the example of those who were »theologians« and still were called »fools« by the Apostle in Rom. 1:22. Furthermore, the invisible things of God are virtue, godliness, wisdom, justice, goodness, and so forth. The recognition of all these things does not make one worthy or wise.
He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross.
The manifest and visible things of God are placed in opposition to the invisible, namely, his human nature, weakness, foolishness. The Apostle in 1 Cor. 1:25 calls them the weakness and folly of God. Because men misused the knowledge of God through works, God wished again to be recognized in suffering, and to condemn »wisdom concerning invisible things« by means of »wisdom concerning visible things«, so that those who did not honor God as manifested in his works should honor him as he is hidden in his suffering (absconditum in passionibus). As the Apostle says in 1 Cor. 1:21, »For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.« Now it is not sufficient for anyone, and it does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross. Thus God destroys the wisdom of the wise, as Isa. 45:15 says, »Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself.«
So, also, in John 14:8, where Philip spoke according to the theology of glory: »Show us the Father.« Christ forthwith set aside his flighty thought about seeing God elsewhere and led him to himself, saying, »Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father« (John 14:9). For this reason true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ, as it is also stated in John 10 (John 14:6) »No one comes to the Father, but by me.« »I am the door« (John 10:9), and so forth." Heidelberg Disputation, Theses 19-20
This is the root of the Opinio Legis, the Opinion of the Law, the idea that sinful men can be righteous by their own power. Such consider themselves wise because they speak of God's attributes, His invisibility, His wisdom, His power, etc; and they themselves seek their own wisdom, strength, and power. But the truth of the Gospel is not in God's glory, power, etc--it is in God's foolishness, weakness, it is God as He Himself shows Himself through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. It is why the Apostle is clear, God chose the foolish things to confound the wise, and He chose the weak things to dismantle the strong. But Jesus Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God, not as the world understands power and wisdom, but it is the wisdom and power of God that seems foolish, weak. It is the ugliness of the cross which is our redemption. The Lord Himself has said, "My strength is made evident in weakness."
And so men will always seek after their own signs, experiences, they will look after internal things, trying to search themselves for the right thoughts, the right feelings, they will seek themselves if they have said the right words, or performed the right works. But all these things are nothing. For man has nothing to offer, but is but a sinful beggar. And so we cannot depend upon ourselves, we cannot depend upon our experiences, our reason, our judgment, our feelings, our thoughts, our actions, or anything of ourselves. We must look utterly and completely outside of ourselves, to the objective, concrete, external things of God. That is why baptism is trustworthy, because God stakes His very word and honor upon it. That is why the Eucharist is trustworthy, because God stakes His very word and honor upon it. That is why when we come to the Table and receive these morsels of bread and wine, we can be confident that we eat not mere bread and wine, but the very and true flesh and blood of Christ our God and Savior; we can be confident that when we came to the water of Baptism--or when our parents or guardians presented us--that it was no mere water, no mere man doing a thing, no mere ceremony or ritual. We can be confident that here God the Almighty has sealed and made His claim upon our entire life.
To be able to say "I am baptized" is to speak words so utterly dreadful to the devil that it shakes the very foundations of hell. Death itself has been shackled and torn apart. Here is Christ, Christ crucified, buried, dead, and raised from the dead and we, with Him, in all that He has done. The one who is baptized has not merely had some nice ceremony performed. Such a person has been nailed to the cross with Jesus, buried in the grave with Jesus, and has received the very life of Jesus Christ. A dead man enters, and comes out alive.
That is what Baptism is.
-CryptoLutheran