Guideposts to Faith in a New Age
Acts 17:16-34
Video clip – vox pop of people talking about finding faith in other places
Those comments probably don’t surprise any of us – I am sure if we took a camera out on the streets of Kalamunda and interviewed people of all ages we would get some very similar responses. ‘I am doing my own thing…I’m not into church as we know it’
What do we do about that as Christians? Its not what we would hope our community would look like, but it’s a reality. It’s a spiritual supermarket and people are shopping maybe not for a religion – but certainly for a religious experience.
We said last week that on this journey many are choosing to bypass the established church. Why?…
Is our ‘product’ inferior?
Is it that we haven’t ‘marketed’ correctly?
Has it just run past its use by date. Is Christianity a safari suit religion in a cargo pants world?
What can we do?… What have we to offer?
Over the last two weeks we have been considering this phenomena known as the New Age Movement. We’ve looked at the central beliefs, some of the many and varied practices that occur and we have asked the question what can we as Christians learn from New Agers? If it really is the dominant form of spirituality in the 21st C then what is it that people are finding in it?
I won’t take time today to review where we have been but there will be a number of hard copy summaries of today and the last few weeks available in the foyer next Sunday if you would like them – if you are on email you will get one sent that way this afternoon.
So – Having looked at what we can learn from the new age last week – this week I want to look at what we have to offer people in the new age – what
Jesus centred, biblically based spirituality has that is missing from new age spirituality.
I do that because I think we need to ask the question – why would anyone pick us off the shelf of the religious supermarket when there are so many other choices. I mean really – when you can create your own personal religion with your own movable boundaries why would anyone tie themselves down to what has been described by Jesus himself as the ‘narrow way’?
Maybe you are asking that question yourself. Perhaps what I’m talking about today is why a person would want to be a Christian when there are so many other options. Even options that are apparently more attractive.
Many of us have grown up in the church and it would be easy for us to simply see it as our duty to defend what we know against those who would come against us. It’s quite possible that we might just dig in and fight, even if we aren’t too sure what it was we are fighting for. I hope we don’t go blindly into this.
I said last week that its not wrong to take a stand – its not wrong to have some not negotiables that you would put up a fight for. There is a place for confrontation but that it comes after there has been dialogue – and it comes in the context of a relationship.
So what I want to share today are some of the things that we might want to be pretty strong on – ideas that relate to New Agers and truths that they could maybe glean from us. I want to suggest 4 guideposts to life in a new age.. The first is this.
1. It does matter what you believe
Slide 1:1
It must do – our beliefs are the framework around which faith gets built.
A typical new agers philosophy is that you believe what’s right for you and I’ll believe what’s right for me and it will all work out in the end – because truth is relative – truth adapts to what you want it to be. We can all be right. Really?
Recently I was reading a book entitled "This I Believe" where over 100 well known Australians explore life’s big question"
Listen to 3 views that all share this common idea that you can believe whatever you like and it will all be ok in the end.
Greg Champion - apparently a well know musician and by his statements here obviously of new age persuasion. He says pg. 51
"I believe there are nature spirits in the garden and elsewhere.
I believe every creature, every ant, every animal is bonded to us.
I believe that plants respond to our energy.
That trees and mountains possess wisdom we can barely fathom
I believe that a man doesn’t have to do what a man doesn’t have to do.
I believe that when two men go up for the mark only one will find true happiness (that’s not deep - I just like it)
I believe that Tibetan Buddhists know nearly everything.
That all our worldly dealings are but an illusion preparing us for a greater peace.
I believe that its the God in me that helps me achieve good things
I believe if I had more brains I’d be brilliant
I believe there’s only one song and we’re all singing it.
Then Natalija Kristicevic a Croatian immigrant and uni student p. 208 who writes:
I believe in God and admire his mystery. I have great faith in my religion but I respect other beliefs. I believe that religion should never be forced upon an individual. I have confidence in each person deciding what is spiritually satisfying for them.
And then John Casmir pg. 51 of the Sydney Morning Herald who says ’More than anything, I believe there are no absolutes. Live learn, change your mind as often as you can.’
The core message of all three and much of that book is ‘Believe whatever you like’ – because New Agers would say ‘there are no absolutes – there is no form ground to stand on’.
But – it’s a fact that in the absence of absolutes we wander - dangerously - in and out of varying belief systems and we will probably feel like a rudderless boat in a stormy ocean. Its why so many in the new age ‘move on’ with regularity – because the thing they were into wasn’t really ‘it’ after all.
Reality is that we can’t all believe different stuff and simply agree to disagree because we’re ‘all right’. We aren’t – we can’t be – in fact most of the major world religions are mutually exclusive.
Slide 1:2 Our beliefs are our foundation for faith – the skeleton around which everything else takes shape. In Acts 17, Paul was articulating the possibility of a relationship with God, but a relationship based on some information – some actual truth – If the information is not true – if what he is saying about Jesus and the resurrection doesn’t hold up – then the relationship doesn’t exist. Simple as that! If we are staking our eternity on what we believe then it is important to know that we are on the right track. We can’t all be right.
Paul places a high priority on getting the beliefs right – laying the foundation well. Not being swept away by clever ideas and nice sounding theories, but being earthed in the truth.
Slide 1:3 In writing to Timothy he says, ‘The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons’.
Slide 1:4 He goes on…1 Tim 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. And then in v.16 he says Slide 1:5 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Watch your life and doctrine closely – don’t get led astray by every new idea – know the truth. And know why you believe what you believe. We don’t have time to explore that today – but if you are going to believe what the Bible says make sure you know why you.
So the first guidepost we have to offer the new age is simply that it does matter what you believe.
And I would add – its not intolerant to have strong beliefs – intolerance is when you refuse to allow another person to hold strong beliefs that are different from yours.
The second guidepost is this:
2. There is a God and I am not him
Slide 2:1
I can’t tell you how reassuring that is for me. That I as an ordinary broken person aren’t my only hope. I have quoted Fiona Horne a few times already and given her some pretty good press – let me throw in one more quote from her autobiography that shows some fragility in her own sense of divinity.
She says “For what its worth I am as screwed up as anyone else. I’m often plagued by self doubt and fears. I’m rarely satisfied with anything I do and sometimes I feel like the life I’ve built since Def FX broke up is a house of cards that could blow down at any minute.” She goes on to say ‘witchcraft helps but at the end of the day you’re on your own. You can only rely on yourself.’
That must be tough. When I am totally reliant on me then I need to come through at every moment – lets’ face it there are times when I don’t cope – there are times when if I’m God then I’m in big trouble.
This is a vital distinction we make as Christians. There is a God – but I’m not him – or her!.
We have looked at the new agers belief in monism – ‘all is one’ which leads to pantheism – ‘all is God’ and then to the conclusion that if all is one and all is God then I am actually God.
New agers see ‘God’ as the impersonal force or energy that exists in us and all thru the universe and believe that we simply need to get in touch with that energy and discover the god within.
However – The scriptures teach that God is a separate being who exists independent of anything or anyone else – who has always existed and who is all powerful. We heard it from Paul today Slide 3:1{24} "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. Paul says he, is the creator
{25} And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Paul says he is a supreme all powerful being who has no need of anything from us. He is sufficient in himself. I wonder what kind of Gods we are when we need to eat, sleep and go to the toilet, when we get sick and die, when we can’t forgive, when we abuse each other.
Slide 3:2 Paul goes on {26} From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Paul says he is in control of this universe. He is over all.
So he sets God apart from us but then he goes on to say that he is also a personal God who wants to know his creation. Verse 27 says
Slide 3:3 27} God did all this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. {28} ’For in him we live and move and have our being.’
Paul says God is near – he is there for those who seek him. He wants us to seek him.
But Paul very clearly draws a definite distinction between a transcendent God who comes close to have a relationship and us as finite created beings. And the picture of the God Paul is describing is of a being way beyond what we could ever be. If he exists then he is a God who really is worthy of our worship.
So the second guidepost we have to offer is that there is an all powerful, personal God but I am not him. So relax!
3. There are many ways to Jesus, but he is the only way to God
Slide 4:1
Sabina was an art student who had been raised a Catholic. While at college she decided to explore magic and witchcraft and got involved with a form of mysticism known as Kabala. From there she moved into a hippie community, which embraced those things and many more.
She travelled through various other hippie communities, got fairly involved in the drug culture and had various different spiritual experiences. After a few years she finished up on Papa Stour a small island community near Shetland in Scotland.
She says “I was into ‘Gurdgeff’ at the time. It followed a system very similar to transcendental meditation and we were hoping to find our permanent eye and discover who we really were. (notice she is still seeking) I was meditating in my little hut trying to find my permanent eye and I had my eyes closed. (I wasn’t on drugs at the time) And suddenly Jesus appeared to me. His presence filled the hut and he said ‘I am the way the truth and the life’. It completely changed my perception. I asked my neighbour who was a lapsed Catholic to call the catholic priest. He was a dear old man but was not interested in Jesus. Then I asked the local church of Scotland minister to help me but he told me he was an existentialist. I couldn’t find anyone who could tell me about Jesus.”
Three months later (tragically) Sabina finally met a minister who could point her to a relationship with God through Jesus.
Its not the way most of us would have come to a relationship with God – but it was the way God used to reach her. And its actually not that unique. The literature of missionaries to Muslim communities has a number of similar stories where the ‘prophet’ Jesus appears in a dream and reveals that he is the only way to God. People have converted from Islam because of these kinds of experiences.
Jesus himself claiming to be the way to God – claiming to be the only way. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you discover Jesus – but it matters that you do find him because he is the only way you will truly know God
And as many of you know, its this teaching that is most likely to bring us into conflict with people. The concept of exclusive truth – of there being only one way.
And there is no easy way to say this one. To a mindset that refuses to even acknowledge the possibility of there being only one path to God we may come across as seeming arrogant – because somehow we have ‘found it’ and all the Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims in the world have ‘missed it’. Even a genuinely humble person can be seen as arrogant when they take this line.
The danger in this anti-exclusive truth culture I believe, is that we will shy away from the strength of our convictions to avoid offence. And we can’t do that – if we go limp on Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead as the only way then we have nothing left to offer. We become universalists – all roads lead to God – and Christianity becomes an impotent religious system.
Slide5:1 Paul said in Romans ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe’. But that gospel calls us to Jesus as the only way. Lets not be ashamed to speak of Jesus as the way in a culture that accepts many ways.
It was Jesus himself who said – just like he did to Sabina, Slide5:2 ‘I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except thru me’. That’s a black and white statement. And that was the message that the apostles took with them everywhere they went. It was the message they were prepared to die for.
In Acts 4 when Peter and John had been arrested they said exactly that Slide5:3 (Acts 4:12 NIV) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There was no ambiguity in their message.
Paul took that message with him all round on his travels – Jesus Christ is the only way people can connect with God. Without him we are hopeless. He would have been sharing those ideas at the Areopagus – hence the variety of responses – some dismissed him as a fool – some will still do that to us. Some wanted to hear more – Paul had kept the channels of communication open. And a few believed – including a woman called Damaris who was one of the Areopagus.
So the third guidepost we can offer to the new age is that there are many ways to discover Jesus – but he is the only way to God. In a pluralistic world let’s not be embarrassed to hold that idea strongly.
4. Its not all about me
Slide 6:1
If I could offer one specific criticism of the new age movement it would be its focus on self – its obsession with self development – self fulfilment – the new age is very much self focussed. Its all about me.
That type of mindset is in stark contrast to a truly Christian view where Jesus speaks of finding our life when we lose it – of life to the full coming through self denial – of taking up our cross and of putting others first – seeing others as more important than ourselves.
Perhaps that’s one reason why new agers find Christianity unattractive – because it seems to offer nothing to us. And I say seems because the truth is that Jesus is right – it is when a person loses their life they find it.
I want to read a few lines from an article I sent around by email last week. Chris Seay a young US pastor writes, The New Age movement has met the growing spiritual hunger. But this new spirituality does not have real staying power; it falls short. New Age philosophy is heading in the same direction as transcendental meditation and harmonic convergence. It misses the most attractive feature of Eastern philosophy, the value of community.
This neo-mysticism fully embraces the fatal flaw of the Western world: unbridled individualism! The autonomous individual reigns. He chooses theologies and frameworks that suit his tastes, stirring together an eclectic, personalized spiritual potpourri. But this approach is fatally flawed.
As we re-enter an Eastern worldview, the Bible calls us out of individualism to be a chosen people, a family that functions together as a body. The church must pray for eyes to see ourselves as the whole body and escape the self-centered, needs-based Christianity that asks questions like "Am I being fed?" or "Are my spiritual needs being met?" Let us ask instead, "Are we loving God and our neighbor?"
Chris Seay is saying that biblical community is one of the most attractive features of the Christian faith – a place where others really do matter – where self is not the centre. If we are not attractive then perhaps its because this element is still there in us when it shouldn’t be..
Its not the way Jesus would have it. When he told the story of the good Samaritan his point was that the path to wholeness is discovered in servanthood and self giving and not in self obsession.
I wonder how many of us have become so individualistic that we have castrated one of the most powerful aspects of our faith – that of living in an other centred community where service of others supersedes my own desires.
In Athens Paul was distressed because he saw idols everywhere. Perhaps if he came to the 21st C west he would still see idols, but not of gold or silver – rather they would be the idols of self fulfilment and self discovery that have taken us captive.
I have a feeling that if New Agers can see a genuine faith that is focused on loving God and loving one another in an authentic self giving way then maybe they will be impressed. Maybe they will be drawn to Jesus if they see his love in us.
Conclusion
Let me finish by very quickly highlighting how we can engage with the new age. How we can connect them with Christ. Here are some practical ideas for those who like a bit of ‘how to’ – here are some suggestions.
1. Understand the culture
Slide 7:1
In Acts 17 we see that Paul understood their god, how they viewed the world and their own relationship to it. He says ‘I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship’. He took time to genuinely understand their faith. And so must we.
Read up on what different groups believe – don’t assume you know – Chapter 9 of Fiona Horne’s autobiography is entitled ‘for the last time we do not worship Satan!’ What she is saying is that there has been a mistaken view that the wiccan religion worships Satan when the truth is that they are actually more about nature worship.
If we are going to relate to people then we need to understand and appreciate their world. Buy a book – there are still a few left out there!!! Get up to speed. Don’t assume anything – by taking time to understand the culture we do what Peter spoke of and treat people with respect as we give a reason for the hope within us.
2. Share Christ from a point in that culture.
Slide 7:2
Paul didn’t start his time in Athens by quoting John 3:16 or John 14:6. He began with their view of God, with their philosophers and poets. He began where they were at and moved from there to his point of view.
If you want a starting point then go see a movie with someone – see ‘the man who sued God’ and talk about it. Choose a song you heard on the radio or watch Rage – music is the language of culture – hear what its saying. Or read a novel and find a connection point there.
Maybe you could even go to a new age festival and see what happens there – in that environment there are going to be enormous opportunities for discussions about faith and spirituality.
Tonight we run the Philosophy Café – it’s an event we put on for the community – but it’s a place where we get to share ideas and dialogue with people. Originally we thought of calling it Areopagus – because it is a place where we get to share ideas in the ‘marketplace’. Stop in some time and listen – tune in to the frequency people are on and be part of the dialogue.
3. Go to where they are.
Slide 7:3
We see Paul going to their market place and to their meeting places – he might have felt a little ill at ease there but he was willing to do that to be with the people. You have heard me say many times – let’s not expect people to come to us – let’s follow Christ’s example, Paul’s example and go to them. Let’s us be prepared to experience some discomfort for them.
In his book Ross Clifford shares some of his own story of sharing Christ in the new age culture. He and Phillip Johnson managed to get a stand in the mind body spirit festival in Darling Harbour.
They went and set up various displays and interactive stalls that allowed people to discuss and experience Christian spirituality. He writes of the prayer chair, a crystal and colour display, foot washing using aromatic oils, free Margaret River rain water and a very interesting one – that of sharing the gospel thru the tarot cards.
I was unaware that there is much Christian symbolism in the tarot – there is creation, the fall, satan, heaven, hell – all there. So Ross uses their cards to tell Christ’s story. Pretty clever I reckon!
Let’s just remember that these deeply spiritual people are avoiding the church – so we will need to seek them out and get creative with how we help them open up to Jesus. Maybe we could do something at the Zig Zag festival that would share the gospel in a cringe free way. If you have an idea then let’s talk about it!
4. Speak their language
Slide 7:4
Language is our tool for communication. How do you connect with someone who doesn’t know your expressions? You learn theirs. Someone said to me this week that when speaking to people about sin it feels strange because its not part of their vocab – it means learning a new way to describe sin so that the meaning is retained but the person understands.
Phil Sparrow when he was here mentioned also being at a new age festival and promoting a book entitle ‘The Sacred Teachings of the ascended master Guru Jesus’ – it was the gospel of John – but the language was that of the culture he was trying to connect with
Ross Clifford calls the scriptures ‘the sacred writings’. It might sound strange, but don’t underestimate the power of language.
5. Present Christ.
Slide 7:5
I said earlier let’s not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to bring salvation to all who believe.
There will come a time to speak of Jesus, to speak of him as the way, to speak of laying down your life to follow him and we musn’t be in any way ashamed of that. The gospel has power. And as we said last week people like Jesus.
One writer suggests that in today’s new age culture we would do well to ensure that reconciliation is featured because people are open to being reconciled to God and to each other. It speaks of oneness with God and with our neighbour. It’s a new age starting point and it’s also the heart of the gospel.
Slide 8:1 - blank
Why have we spent three weeks here?
Because at the end of the day people need Jesus and we need to know how to communicate him in ways that will get a hearing.
Karen Hunt was a new ager who spent many years searching – exploring all sorts of religious practice. She says
“I’m now a Christian. I have been rescued from new age spirituality. It is a bondage. It is not the freedom it pretends to be. The fact that people are seeking should encourage us. They are spiritually awake. It is easier to reach them than it is to reach those caught up in materialism. They are searching.”
Maybe some of us need to re-catch a glimpse of what it is to be lost – to be searching – to be desperate. Because that’s where many are at.
They have tried so much and it hasn’t worked – where to now? Could Jesus be what they are seeking? How will they find him?
Can we as the church offer a genuine Jesus centred, biblically based spirituality that will cut the mustard in today’s world?
I believe that is our challenge. And I also believe the answer is yes – we can – and we must. Let’s take up the challenge to be salt and light to our new age friends who live in our communities and help them meet Jesus – the only way to God.
