Author: Jan Markell, Olive Tree Ministries,
Inc.
Publication: Eastern Regional Watch
Date:
URL: http://www.erwm.com/JanMarkell13.htm
What do you say when a good friend who loves
God, reads her Bible, and talks and walks her faith becomes a devotee of "Christian
yoga"? You might brace yourself and prepare yourself, because "Christian
yoga" is coming to a church near you. And to those who understand yoga's
Hindu roots and to all former New Agers, it will never be compatible with
Evangelical Christianity.
The May 20 edition of "Christianity Today"
on line featured an interview with a woman who says she is an Evangelical
and proud of it, however, she is a devotee of yoga. She says she breathes
in Christ and out stress. Holy Spirit in, fear out. God the Father in, carbon
dioxide out. She is so thankful someone pried open her Evangelical mind to
the wonders of yoga. She states, "Give me five minutes of yoga and my
mind immediately goes to the metaphor of God's Spirit being omnipresent and
as necessary as air." She insists the Hindu gods will never make it to
her yoga mat. She would be in the chorus singing that yoga doesn't belong
to Hinduism but to "world spirituality." Frankly, that doesn't sound
any better.
A popular video called, "Outstretched
in Worship" has fueled the yoga popularity among Christians, be they
Mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, or Catholics. Just don't throw the baby
out with the bath water as proponents insist there are so many "benefits"
of yoga. And now that it is "sanctified", let's have a brand of
"Christian yoga."
Daniel Akin, dean of the school of theology
at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Christians who are drawn
to the physical benefits of yoga should avoid its spiritual and psychological
underpinnings. "Yoga is rooted in Eastern mysticism and it is incompatible
with Christianity," he says.
Laurette Willis, a yoga veteran of 22 years
and an Evangelical Christian, said the experience left her vulnerable to "psychic
influences" she believes were demonic. "It opened the door to twenty
years of involvement in the New Age movement." Willis says that many
yoga postures are based on ancient Hindu worship of the sun and moon as deities,
and rejects the notion that they can be redeemed by putting a Christian spin
on them. Willis concludes that yoga's emphasis on cultivating divine energy
within oneself conflicts with Christianity's goal of finding salvation in
Christ. Yoga means joining together. It's the joining of the individual spirit
with the universal spirit. Christians should be seeing red flags rather than
exploring a trendy new "experience."
The day has come when we need a "spiritual
Better Business Bureau" to deal with fads, dangerous trends, and mysticism
now entering the church. And while many are aware of the dangers, too often
today church leaders are warmly receiving deceiving spirits. No matter what
the supposed "health benefits" of yoga may be, it is not worth the
risk to one's spiritual health.
So what do you say to that friend who has
embraced "Christian yoga?" You need to tell them that to believe
that yoga complements all faiths and is harmless is to believe a lie and it
is actually hazardous to your health. Hindu gods are responsible for enormous
damage on a scale too vast to measure.
With the death of discernment so prevalent
in the 21st Century church, itcould be welcomed into your church-and in the
front door, not the back door.Remember that chasing after the "doctrine
of demons" is one of the greatest"end-time" signs and the seduction
of the East over the West is fueling it all.
www.olivetreeviews.org
