September 4, 2006 8:26 AM
Talking about New Age beliefs
Dear Barbara,I know that you're crazy busy with your writing (good luck, I look forward to reading your most recent books!), but I wanted to know your opinion on a piece I saw on the Today show this morning on NBC. There's a man from Puerto Rico, claiming to be Jesus, who is more or less the leader of a cult called "Growing in Grace." From the piece and the interview with this man, the basics of his teachings seem to be that Satan is "a hollywood character" and does not exist, prayer is a waste of time, there is no such thing as sin, only love, and (of course) tithing. Oh, yes, and all other religious leaders are liars (his words, not mine).
As a Christian, how do we deal with people and situations like this? I wanted to cry when I saw this journalism piece on television, looking at people worshiping this man as Christ and believing that his throwing out or keeping Bible teachings at will could be truth. I worry especially at the idea that all other religions are full of lies--is there anything I can do? I know I can try to live as an example of Christ, but it hardly seems enough when there is such opposition to Christ's teachings as this.
I'm curious as to your opinion, and the opinion of your other readers on this situation. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
EmilyP.S. I just finished reading the Mommy Manual (I'm expecting my first in December) and am so grateful for your writing. It inspired me to re-examine some of the ideas with which I was raised, and brought up a lot of great discussion topics with my husband. Thank you.
Dear Emily -
Having been involved in New Age religion for seven years, I understand how frustrating it must be to see people seeking the truth who are being misled.
What can a Christian do?
1) Pray
2) Trust God - he is bigger than the circumstances. After all, Tripp and I were saved out of our New Age beliefs (story here). I once met a woman who'd grown up in a strongly atheistic intellectual family whose husband became a Christian watching TV evangelism shows. Though she had become a spiritual seeker, she despised him for his beliefs, thinking that Christianity was beneath contempt. Then one night while he was in the living room watching Christian TV, she was in the bedroom reading Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb when she was struck by how preposterous MacLaine's ideas were. Suddenly she believed in Jesus and made a commitment then and there. By the time I met her, she and her husband (both in their 50s or 60s when they became Christians) were becoming mature Christians.
3) Become knowledgeable about New Age beliefs to discuss the difference with seekers. Here is an article I wrote on this subject some time ago (the following version was written for teens:
NOT OF THIS TREE
Your best friend slides into the booth beside you, orders a latte and fumbles in her backpack for a book she’s dying to show you. Cool cover – a lotus flower on a neon orange background, A Teenager’s Guide across the top. Below, the title: Just Say Om: Your Life’s Journey.
“You know, like Ommmmm. That’s how I start my meditation every morning. This book has really changed my life,” she says.
The next weekend you find yourself at the Cineplex with friends – seeing some lame movie about a sad lady who finds her husband reincarnated in a young stud’s body.
Your drama teacher recommends “visualization” to help you get into character and your boss at the bike shop spent all summer talking about self-actualization.
What in the world is going on? Things keep taking you by surprise, like taking a bite of something that leaves a funny taste in your mouth.
It’s the New Age, and its ideas are poison. That’s why no matter how trivial or out-to-lunch some New Age practices appear, you need to take the underlying ideas seriously. Not just for self-protection, but because the more you understand the differences between New Age religion and Christianity, the better able you’ll be to eliminate confusion in people who are earnestly seeking the truth.
What exactly is the New Age? Impossible to narrow down, the New Age is actually a vast smorgasbord of beliefs and practices. Each New Ager fills his tray with whatever assortment fits his appetite. All is liberally seasoned with self-centeredness.
Although there are many branches of New Age thought – ranging from meditation to firewalking – they stem from an ancient stock. The roots of the New Age tree spread around the globe to India. One might think that the human condition of a country dominated by Hinduism would speak louder than words about the truth of the religion. But New Agers seem blind to the contradiction.
Instead the typical new Ager believes:
God is in everything (pantheism)
All things are one (monism)
Man is God
Mind creates reality
One’s own experience validates the truth
New Agers do not believe in evil. Therefore, they do not accept man’s problem as separation by his sin from God. Instead, they believe that each of us has forgotten his own divinity. Therefore, the New Age solution is to seek “higher consciousness” through meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, diet, crystals, channeling. Spirit guides, and more. Each of these diverse practices has the same purpose: to awaken the god in man.
While these practices may seem too far out to pose much of a threat to those abiding in the truth, Christians need to be on guard. In recent years, New Age influence has crept into our culture in schools, corporations, and doctors’ offices. Since Star Wars, movies have become dominated by New Age spirituality.
A true understanding of New Age practices makes one thing clear: Eastern practices cannot be blended into Christianity to produce something better. Many New Agers are Universalists, believing that all paths lead to God. They fault Christians for being intolerant and narrow-minded. But God’s word anticipates this: “Enter the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13 NIV)
The good news is that, in a way, the New Ager’s broad acceptance holds the key to getting him back on the straight and narrow. Most New Agers hold Jesus in high regard, believing him to be a great spiritual teacher, or guru. Many study the words he spoke, although they put a different “spin” on them.
How can we reach those under such subtle deception? The answer is Jesus Himself. Since Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” He himself can be the common ground on which the new Ager and the Christian can meet, though one stands in darkness and one in light.
Here is a five-step approach to discussing Jesus with new Agers:
1) Who do you believe Jesus is?
2) Who did Jesus say He is?
The Son of God (John 11:4)
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
3) What did Jesus say about other spiritual paths?
“No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
4) Jesus was either who he said He was or He was a fraud. Given His claims, we can’t logically believe he was only a great teacher, for He would have been teaching falsehood rather than truth. (This is an argument by C. S. Lewis)
5) Jesus only is “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
New Agers are in a lot of confusion. That’s because they haven’t found the truth, but only what fits into the spiritual perspective they have constructed. As in the Garden of Eden, the lie has never changed.
But neither has the Truth. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results from sharing with new Agers. In many cases where they finally came to Christ, God had been planting seeds and watering for a long time. Remember, God loves New Age seekers too!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barbara Curtis, a New Age seeker for seven years before learning the truth about Jesus, knows firsthand that God is bigger than the bogeyman – or any guru either.
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Comments
Lee Strobel has 2 books, The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith that are excellent reading for the beginning apologist. This is a very logical, easy to read "proof of Christ", which is good background for anyone speaking to people who believe Jesus existed, but not that He is God.
Also, C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters is a very readable view on the Devil and how he works against us.
Hank Haanegraf also has a good book, Christianity in Crisis, that details New Age beliefs sneaking into churches, especially Word of Faith/Health and Wealth Churches.
I'm an incurable bookworm, and thought those of your readers who would like more info would get a good start here!
Posted by: Lisa S. | September 4, 2006 11:36 AM
This was a great read, Barbara. It's a very important subject too. So much of the new-age stuff creeps in because a lack of biblical knowledge within the Christian community. I continue to pray for the body of Christ to be filled with a hunger for His word.
Posted by: Lauren | September 4, 2006 12:37 PM
Thanks for writing this post. I live in an area where the new age beliefs are very much part of the culture. In fact, there is a TM (Transcendental Meditation) center just a few miles from our home and they have claimed this area as "The Spiritual Center of America". There are some very lovely people that I have met that live in the boundaries of this center. I appreciate your thoughts on how to speak to others about our relationship with Jesus. Thank you :)
Posted by: christy | September 4, 2006 12:54 PM
Barbara - thanks very much for this post. My husband and I are hoping to have a natural birth for our first baby next month, and we've been frustrated that the more we learn about preparing for a natural birth, the more we run into New Age practices and ideas. It seems like so many midwives and doulas and birth instructors embrace especially the "mind creates reality" idea. We're constantly encouraged to practice "visualizations" for relaxation, etc. Most of it sounds so silly and hokey, but I know that the roots behind these ideas are truly not of God. Do you have any advice for how we can handle this? We have decided that we're going to pick favorite passages from books and from the Bible for my husband to read to me when I'm in labor, because it does help me relax to listen to him reading or speaking, but we want to avoid the New Age visualization exercises we've been given. What are your thoughts on this whole "mind over body" approach to birth?
Posted by: miller_schloss | September 5, 2006 2:11 PM
