Have a look at the list of practices at the end of the article. How many of them have you read about? How many have you seen in friend’s houses? How many of them have you used or practiced yourself or are used in your church?

In my 35 years of searching for the truth I have been involved in many of these practices, in some more than in other. And to be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was ‘just’ searching for THE Truth and for Wisdom. I didn’t know that all these practices were attributed to New Age, that it was all a sneaky way to keep us away from the One True God. I wasn’t on purpose doing the wrong things, I just didn’t know better!

It was only after I had started to read the Bible that I realized that I was trying to acquire wisdom in ways that were not from God. That I was misled by the devil, just as Eve was misled in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3: 4-6). After all those years of looking for the Truth, I had finally found the Truth in the Word of God.

I will expand on a few practices that are very common in our society and are even practiced in churches! Just to give you an idea of the background and the goals of each practice.

Crystals and essential oils

You now could say: is it wrong to have a crystal in my house? Or when I use an essential oil? As for most things, the answer is: it depends. If you use a beautiful creation of God to decorate your house, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you use lavender oil because the smell is so nice or it brings back some beautiful memories of walking in lavender fields … no problem with that. God created everything so we could enjoy the greatness of His glory.

But … if you think crystals or oils or anything else have powers attached to it, then you’re on the wrong path. Don’t expect a stone or an oil to make you (feel) better or to change a situation in your life. Only your relationship with Jesus can do that. If you want to decorate your house with crystals, make sure that you buy them at a ‘neutral’ shop and that nobody has done spiritual work on them like enchantments or rituals.

Yoga, Meditation & Mindfulness

What are your thoughts on yoga and meditation? “Those are innocent practices, right? We offer them in our church and it is great! We call it ‘Holy Yoga’.”

Yes, we see yoga and meditation everywhere, for sure. But what do you know about the origins? Are these practices really innocent?

Yoga

Even if you don’t feel or experience it this way, yoga is a religious practice. It’s not just a physical exercise of stretching and relaxing. However, the philosophy behind yoga is much more than physically improving oneself. The practice derived from India, believed to be the path to spiritual growth and enlightenment.

The word yoga means “union,” and the goal is to unite one’s transitory (temporary) self with the infinite Brahman, the Hindu concept of “God.” This god is not a literal being, but is an impersonal spiritual substance that is one with nature and the cosmos. This view is called “pantheism,” the belief that everything is God and that reality consists only of the universe and nature. Because everything is God, the yoga philosophy makes no distinction between man and God.

It teaches one to focus on oneself instead of on the one true God. It encourages its participants to seek the answers to life’s difficult questions within their own consciousness instead of in the Word of God. It also leaves one open to deception from God’s enemy, who searches for victims whom he can turn away from God (1 Peter 5:8).

Would God be pleased with Christians doing yoga? Or might it be better to look for an alternative?

Meditation

Meditation is a technique for achieving inner peace, bliss and spiritual renewal, using different techniques like mantra’s or specific type of breathing to empty your mind. But, what happens after your mind is ‘emptied’? It’s like cleaning your house, removing all furniture and then leaving windows and doors wide open. Who will enter your home? Who or what will come into your mind to fill the empty space?

The Bible is clear about what to meditate on: not on a meaningless word or phrase, but on the Word of God. The person “who meditates on his law day and night” is blessed (Psalm 1:2). Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Peace is not found in the emptying of one’s mind but in the filling of one’s mind with the Word.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness also has its origins in Buddhism. It’s a term used to describe a meditative state in which people direct their attention inward to become more self-aware. Mindfulness is self-examination of one’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and emotions with no judgment of their being right or wrong. The goal of meditative mindfulness is to experience relaxation and reduced levels of stress by identify thoughts and feelings about a particular issue, to live in the moment, and to accept oneself completely.

Being aware of your own feelings and thoughts is in itself not a bad thing, but … what is the next step? Experiencing temporal relief, rest or peace? No, the next step should be to examine your thoughts and feelings in the light of Gods Word. And to take responsibility in obeying God’s Word, regarding your thoughts and feelings.

Grow in discernment

I want to encourage you to have a look at the list below. If you participate in one or more of these New Age practices, pray for wisdom and discernment. Ask God’s guidance and meditate on His Word. For the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, to discern truth from lies.

[Deuteronomy 18:10-12 is for instance an interesting part of scripture to read]

Affirmations

Angel Numbers / Angel Readings

Astral Projection & Out of body Experiences

Astrology & Horoscope

Automatic writing

Cards (Tarot, Oracle, Angels, etc)

Channeling & Channeled books

Crystals

Divination & Pendulums

Eastern Philosophies (incl. Feng Shui, I-Ching)

Energy healing (incl. Reiki, EFT/Tapping)

Enneagram

Essential oils & Sage for spiritual purposes

Hypnosis & guided meditation

Meditating (without God)

Mediumship, Past-life regression & Psychic Readings

Mindfulness

Sacred Geometry, Flower of Life & Mandala’s

Visualization (incl. Vision boards, Mood boards, Law of Attraction, Manifesting & The Secret (book))

Yoga (including Tantra, Chakra’s, Kundalini, Mudra’s & Sutra’s)

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As a result of that, we face a society where truth is perceived as subjective and relative and where there is no good or bad. Individuals aren’t guided anymore by faith and their relation with the one-and-only God, but by their own understanding of God and the world. A highly individual approach, in which everybody is figuring out their own goals in life and where everybody can create his or her own ‘religion’ and personal truth. Personal transformation, personal healing, personal development and sometimes ‘enlightenment’ are the most important goals in people’s lives. And the way to achieve all of this is a personal mix and match of all available religious, spiritual, secular, philosophical, theoretical and mystical concepts and practices.

Why is this important to the church?

You may think it’s not necessary and not really relevant for you or your church to know more about the New-Age and Post-Modern thinking. But, if you think like that, you really make a mistake. I’ll share with you the 2 most important reasons why you should invest time and energy in knowing more about it.

1. If you know what people believe, it’s easier to share the Gospel with them effectively
When I look around in Christian environments I sometimes see people comfortably tugged away in their Christian lifestyle. They have Christian friends, go to Christian schools and speak the same kind of language: ‘Christianese’. But if we have to go out into the world, to share the Good News and make disciples (Mat. 28:18-20), this means that you have to get into conversations with non-believers. But, how do you approach them? What is the best way to communicate to people with a totally different belief-system?

It’s all about relationships

As a human being we are created for relationships (Gen. 2:18). The most important relationship we have as Christians is our personal relationship with Jesus, but through that relationship we are to build relationships with the people around us: family, friends, colleagues, church-family and non-Christians. All these relationships are supposed to glorify God. Building relationships with non-believers is not just you talking about your belief-system and hoping people will be persuaded by it. Building relationships means that you have to invest in understanding others: to learn more about their believes, their hearts and their way of thinking. That way it will be easier to convey the message of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. New Age and Post-modernism creep into minds and churches 
The way people nowadays think about their lives is impacted by the New-Age and Post-Modern beliefs. You can read and hear these believes everywhere: in magazines, newspapers, TV-shows, bookstores, online, in schools and even churches! It is the way most people think and communicate nowadays. So if you don’t know what to look for, chances are that you will end up supporting some of the ideas in your own life and your own church. Discernment is key.

What is the most important thing to know?

Every person who is in New Age beliefs, has created his or her own truth from a lot of different concepts, worldviews and religions. And, from my personal perspective, a lot of people that hold New Age beliefs are seekers, searching for happiness, love, guidance, growth, meaning and wisdom. They genuinely have the desire to be decent human beings with loving relationships.

I had this same desire: I have been looking for over 35 years for THE Truth, for a trustworthy teacher and for wisdom. The problem was that I didn’t know where to look. I thought I knew enough about Christianity to NOT want to be in that old-fashioned religion. Nobody had taught me that the Bible was the true and historically accurate Word of God. That Jesus was THE Truth and the way and life. That He was the one and only trustworthy teacher and that real Wisdom could be found in a personal relationship of serving and obeying the Lord, by His grace alone.

So … if you happen to meet people that are non-believers, try to find out what they think, why they believe what they believe. If they are seekers for truth, like I was, it will give you great opportunities to get into a conversation and share the truth in a way they understand. Just like Paul did, with the philosophers on Mars Hill (Areopagus) in Athens (Acts 17).

In my next article I will write more about the worldview of New-Agers and post-modernists.

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