Islington Baptist Church May 20, 2001
Series: Why follow Jesus and not any other religion, philosophy, or way
Key texts for this week: I Corinthians 6:12-13; 10:23; II Corinthians 6:14-18,
Ephesians 4:15-5-20, I Timothy 4:16, Romans 6:11-23, Galatians 1, Revelations 2:12-16
Base text: Ephesians 6:11
As the followers of Jesus Christ we must make sure we don’t mix any other faith practices with the Christian faith
For the past 4 weeks we have been considering the following question: Why follow Jesus and not any other religion, system, philosophy, or way?
It’s a question the Bible calls us to be prepared to answer at any time; for as I Peter 3:15 says “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”
In short, a person ought to follow Jesus because
1. He’s the only way to the Father
2. His sinless and perfect life qualifies him to declare the way to the Father. In addition to this, his sinless and perfect life alone qualifies him to offer atonement for sin.
3. He offers a better way of salvation
4. He is the true God, He is Lord
These are the reasons we have considered in our studies but there are other reasons too:
1. His historical resurrection from the dead sets him apart and provides a solid reason for following him. (which we examined on Easter Sunday)
2. His miracles are superior
3. A superior Holy book—the Bible
The bottom line is: There is no one like Jesus. He is the incomparable Jesus. Every examination proves him to be the true God and only Savior. He must be followed and all others rejected.
Today I want to close out our series by emphasizing this point: As the followers of Jesus Christ we must ensure that we take care not to mix any other faith practices with the Christian faith.
This is a very important point because we have for the last month been considering why a person ought to follow Jesus and not any other religion, philosophy, or way. It has been conclusively shown that Jesus is the one to be followed.
Having established all this What sense would it make for us as Christians to commit to following Jesus and then mix into our faith, practices and beliefs that derive from the false religions and ways that we have considered? This is called syncretism. Syncretism is all about a mixing of other faith and philosophy practices and beliefs into the Christian faith.
The early church struggled with this as Galatians 1 and Rev. 2:12-16 indicates
I. We must strive to keep our faith and practice pure and undefiled by the evil practices and philosophies of the other religions and ways that surround us. Many scriptures address this…
In Ephesians 4-5 we are exhorted to: not give the Devil a foothold in our lives, put off our old self with is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, live as children of light and to find our what pleases God. We are to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.
In I Timothy 4:16 we are told to watch our life and doctrine closely
In II Corinthians 6:17 we are told to touch no unclean thing
These are but a few verses and passages that have this application in mind: We must keep our faith and practice pure and undefiled.
II. With this base in mind the question you are asking is this: What practices that belong to other faiths or philosophies do you have in mind that I must keep away from?
What defiling practices must I avoid?
1. Halloween/ The Witches New Year:
2. Any thing to do with “forces or energies”: Pokemon, Digimon, Therapeutic touch, Star Wars, etc
3. Horoscopes, Astrology, Tarot Cards, Palm readings, Harry Potter, etc
-what’s your sign is not a question any Christian should ever ask of someone
4. Yoga and Tai Chi
III. Now the question is: Why? Why have I singled these out as things which defile us and make us guilty of mixing other faith practices and beliefs with the Christian faith?
1. Halloween is a no brainer as is Harry Potter, Horoscopes, Ouji boards, Seances, Channelling, Tea readings, any T.V shows that feature witchcraft or the occult.
The Bible repeatedly condemns witchcraft and the like. Consider these words from Deuteronomy 18:9-13 “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or scorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritists, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”
We become spiritually defiled when you involve yourself in these things because the scriptures expressly forbid the like.
2. Pokemon, Digimon, Therapeutic touch, Star wars
These 4 all feature at their hearts: Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist philosophy. Any time there is any talk of a force or an energy that resides in someone, or how you are a god or a goddess, or of rebirth or reincarnation: you are dealing with one of those religions.
Lately I have found myself quite repulsed every time I see this razor advertisement for women on the T.V. There’s a whole bunch of ladies in swim suits on some beach showing off their legs and their in the background there is this commentary that drones on about pampering the goddess in you. This is blatant Hindu religion
One of the things that I am discovering is this: When we allow are minds to be saturated with garbage: a.k.a the philosophy and teachings of other religions, we risk defilement.
In preparing for this series I have read some of the works of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. I have studied some of their philosophies and read up on their practices. All this knowledge in my head makes me feel dirty. Rolling around in my head are all these teachings and you know what: I realize that I need to spend time filling my mind with good stuff: God’s word. I’m finding that my time spent researching other religions needs to be continually tempered with big doses of God’s word or in other words: Truth.
Pokemon and the like are not harmless toys and the television shows and movies that are like them are not harmless either. They are ultimately vehicles for the communication of false ideas and philosophies. Subjecting ourselves and allowing our children access to them, defiles us and the truth of Jesus Christ becomes compromised.
Note: Children are amazingly inquisitive and any talk of powers etc gets them going
3. Yoga and Tai Chi are practices that will defile you as a Christian
For Christians, Yoga and Tai Chi are 2 very misunderstood practices. For many it appears that all they are is stretching exercises. On the surface all they seem to offer great benefits: Health and happiness:
Christians who want to keep their faith pure need to avoid Yoga and Tai Chi because fundamentally they are religious practices.
Yoga
Right now Yoga is one of the fastest growing practices in North America
On the surface it seems perfect because it promises: exercise, health, inner peace, spiritual development. The practice of Yoga is dangerous to a persons faith. It is a religious and spiritual exercise that opens up Christians to demonic oppression.
The very term: Yoga means “union” and its all about union with the Divine (the Hindu god).
The ultimate goal of Hinduism is union with God and the realization that you and God are 1 and the same. The practice of Yoga is Hinduism’s prescribed method for reaching this ultimate goal. According to Hinduism: if you want to escape the cycle of reincarnation and come to that oneness with God faster: then practice Yoga
Another thing about Yoga is this: they will say its great for Christians. They will say: you Christian, practice yoga: it will help you communicate with God more effectively. It will help you to meditate better. You even can develop your own Christian mantras to use during your yogic meditation times.
Another thing to note: A standard greeting of yoga practitioners is this: “I bow to the Divine in you”
Bottom line: if you want to avoid shipwrecking your faith, opening yourself up to demonic oppression, defiling yourself, and offending Jesus Christ: don’t practice Yoga: it’s a Hindu religious practice
Tai Chi
In the same vein of Yoga, Tai Chi promises health and well being to those who practice it.
The evils of Tai Chi are not as apparent as the evils of Yoga. The reason I say this is because on the surface it appears that no religious instruction of any kind is going on. Tai Chi is strictly promoted as an almost perfect exercise. No official or even sanctioned religious education takes place.
Make no mistake though, Tai Chi is dangerous to your faith, it will defile you
1. It’s part of Taoist (pronounced Dowist) religious practice
2. The guiding philosophy and concepts of Tai Chi are directly contradictory to faith in Jesus Christ (yin yang which is a Taoist symbol, chi and the idea of energy that can be manipulated coursing through your body)
As just mentioned: no religious instruction takes place in Tai Chi classes, however, just like with Alice in Wonderland: once you start to crawl through the rabbit hole you begin to discover that you really are in a different world. Once you start to dig, that’s when you discover the spiritual landmines.
Last week I called the Canadian office of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. A very pleasant man answered all my questions and repeatedly asserted that there is nothing religious about Tai Chi. He encouraged me to go to their web site to learn more: and so I did.
I discovered that a certain Master Moy, who grew up in a Taoist monastery and was trained in all the ways of Taoism, came to Canada and decided to set up shop. On the surface his stated goal was to help people live healthier lives. Tai Chi was his answer.
Master Moy, who is now dead had more than yours and my physical health in mind.
Listen to these quotes “In addition to Taoist Tai Chi, Master Moy has made available other Taoist practices that improve health and offer deeper insight into the underlying ancient Taoist philosophy. These practices accelerate the positive changes that Taoist Tai Chi brings to the student.” ---VERY INTERESTING
“Taoist Tai Chi is the result of a life long pursuit of Master Moy Lin-Shin, to preserve, restore and pass on to future generations Taoist techniques of cultivating original nature and life. When Master Moy Lin-Shin came to Canada in 1970, he brought with him a treasure of the Taoist healing arts from China. His purpose, to which he dedicated his life, was to make these arts available to all. To transmit his knowledge to the greater number, Master Moy needed a “vehicle” that was accessible to people outside a monastic setting. He chose Tai Chi.”
Q WHO HERE KNOWS WHAT EVANGELISM IS?
Of course you do: one of this church’s stated goals is to tell other people about Jesus Christ. We try to accomplish this goal in all sorts of ways. Personal one on one contact. Corporate events such as car washes or BBQ’s, etc.
Master Moy decided to do a little evangelism of his own: Evangelism, not in the name of Jesus, but in the name of Taoism. Tai Chi and its promise of health and happiness is the bait:
Just like you and I would invite someone to the church BBQ with the goal that they will want to learn more about Jesus. Master Moy invites you to take up Tai Chi with the hope that yin yang symbol that you see plastered up on the wall and the very name “Tai Chi” will get you to dig a little deeper.
The occult and Witchcraft, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. They all have their evangelism tools at their disposals.
Each of these religions and ways has great promises and gifts to offer:
-Halloween: you’ll get a big bag of candy.
-Harry Potter books essentially promise to make readers of your children (sarcastically: who can fault that)
-Yoga and Tai Chi: promise you better physical health
But what is the cost: Compromise, spiritual defilement, a faith and belief system that is no longer pure.
Remember what the scriptures say in Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.”
IV. WHAT ABOUT THE QUESTION OF SECULARIZATION
Some folks say “but that’s not what Yoga or Tai chi, or Halloween, or Harry Potter or Pokemon mean to me. I’m a mature Christian, I have liberty, all things are permissible for me (a mistake the I Corinthians made in ch. 6, 10), I have separated the religious components of those things from the practice aspects”
Others may be legitimately asking: is their a way to secularize these practices so that they become morally and spiritually neutral and acceptable.
Can a leopard change his spots? No
Likewise I don’t believe there is any way to make Halloween, Tai Chi, Yoga, Harry Potter spiritually neutral: by their own definitions they are not.
However, on the flip side:
If you want to get healthy: start eating right, start exercising, do some stretching
If you want some candy: go to the store and buy some.
If you want to have a costume party have one
If you want your child to be a better reader, read with him and make it fun
Yet note this: the minute you call your costume and candy party Halloween, the minute you start to call your stretching exercises Yoga, the minute you start your child into a book called Harry Potter, you have crossed the line because, Halloween is a religious practice, Yoga is a religious practice, Tai Chi with its yin and yang symbol and the concept of chi running through your body, is a religious practice, and Harry Potter is all about Wizards, witches, and witchcraft.
An illustration that I hope shows the impossibility of separating these things:
Suppose for a moment that one of you here decides to start an exercise class called “Stretching with Jesus” and that every move is a “stretching with Jesus move”. You also decide that the symbol of the cross and a fish will be your defining logos. In addition to this you decide that you are not going to say a whole lot, but if someone does grow curious regarding the few religious terms you use, the logo, the title of your class: then you’ll tell them.
Some questions:
If a person is learning “stretching with Jesus” moves. If a person is exposed to Christian symbols. If a person is exposed to Christian terminology; are they not in some way receiving religious instruction, are they not in some way being brought towards the Christian faith? Of course they are!
Is it possible for people to attend and not be affected? Some might say “Yes” but the real answer is no—for ones exposure to something can never be negated. You can’t not be changed by something you are exposed to. (I shouldn’t say never because theirs always the grace and forgiveness of God)
Also note this: It might be that 99/100 people come this fictional “stretching with Jesus” class but what about the 100th person who says: these exercises work, but more than that: I want to know more about this cross and this fish and who this Jesus is”
By way of contrast my point is this: The complete secularization of Yoga, Tai Chi, Harry Potter, Halloween are not possible. Bottom line: These practices on scriptural and logical grounds are not acceptable practices for Christians.
Now again, just because these practices are not acceptable it doesn’t mean that we’ve ruled out reading, stretching and health, meditation, candy, or costumes. What we have done though is rule out religious practices that defile us as Christians and corrupt the Christian faith.
CONCLUSION
As ones committed to Jesus Christ we have a responsibility to keep the Christian faith pure and undefiled. We need to watch our life and doctrine closely and ensure that we don’t involved ourselves in things that defile us.
As ones who have conclusively learned that following Jesus is the only option, we must guard against mixing other religious practices with the Christian faith.
As Christians we must be on guard against the schemes of the Devil: He’s gonna make big and tempting promises to us: He’s going to make defilement and sin seem to be innocent. Beware the cost of going down the Devil’s paths
Thoughtfulness and evaluation on our parts is essential: we must be able to recognize the philosophies of this age and refute them and show them for what they are. Evangelism is not a one way street.
Liberty is no license to sin. Not all things are permissible for us as Christians. What we ought to be about doing is concerning ourselves with this question “How can I please God and bring honor and glory to his name?”
