Mysticism:  Old But Being Revived
Philip Watkinson

The resurgence of mysticism and contemplative spirituality has taken the church by storm through such diverse sources as the Spiritual Formation movement, the Purpose-Driven movement, Richard Foster’s Renovaré, the Emergent Church, Youth Specialties, the “Be Still” DVD, and a long list of colleges and organizations. It proposes to infuse new spiritual life into a dead Laodicean church by implementing any number of mystical rituals such as labyrinths, contemplative prayer, lectio divina, breath prayer, “Christian yoga”, taize, etc.[1]

Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel (Costa Mesa, CA.), issued a warning to CC pastors worldwide during a recent pastor’s conference, challenging them to stand firm against this growing trend of mysticism within their ranks:

Last week at Calvary Chapel's annual pastor's conference, founder and Senior Pastor Chuck Smith announced that Calvary Chapel[2] was rejecting various movements and practices that have been taking place within the Christian church at large as well as in some Calvary Chapel churches. According to a number of pastors who spoke with Lighthouse Trails this week, Smith asked that those Calvary Chapel pastors who were going in the direction of the emerging church would no longer call themselves Calvary Chapel churches.

This week a notice[3] was placed on the Calvary Chapel Distribution website[4] recalling Chuck Smith Sr's book, When Storms Come (which had been tampered with). The notice also stated: "The teaching and positions of Rick Warren have come into conflict with us at Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck has directed us to discontinue this product effective immediately."

Both Purpose Driven and the emerging church promote contemplative spirituality, which is a belief system that is contrary to biblical Christianity. Popular authors such as Richard Foster, Brian McLaren, Rick Warren, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning and many others teach contemplative spirituality (also known as spiritual formation)[5]

The timing of this development is most significant given the fact that Chuck Smith Jr., son of Chuck Smith Sr., is a leading figure in the Emerging Church movement. According to a quote from a book written by Chuck Smith Jr. titled There is a Season (foreword by Brian McLaren and endorsed by Leonard Sweet) the Emerging Church is moving away from the propositional objective revelation of the Word of God, and has adopted a post-modernist experiential view of divine truth. Chuck Smith Jr. suggests, “What would happen if we allowed people to ‘feel’ what we cannot explain, to know with the heart and not with the brain? We would open the door of faith to a wider audience than if we continued to insist on a rational belief in the facts as the only legitimate starting point of the Christian faith.”[6]

A prayer station created for use during the Emerging Church service at Capo Beach Calvary illustrates what Chuck Smith Jr. means by allowing his congregation to “feel” and “know with the heart and not with the brain.”  This prayer station was on display during the month of April, 2005. Further, the prayer station complete with candles, incense and icons featured an instruction sheet to assist church attendees in how to pray with an icon. The instructions stated:

Praying With Icons

• Draw in a slow deep breath. As you do pray, Holy Spirit surround me,
   fill me, breathe life into me.
• Empty your mind of all anxiety.
• Empty your heart full of desire except for God.
• Focus on one icon and imagine what that person might say to you about God, yourself, and others
• Read the icons as if the person who painted it wanted to send a
  message to you. Notice the details.
• The icon is there to remind you of God: to make you conscious of His
  presence, all around you.
• Pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  (option) Cross yourself as you say these words. [7]

The apostle Paul warned us early on that such a seductive spirit would deceive the church during the final days leading up to the second coming of our Lord: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1Ti 4:1)[8]  Few of us would have suspected the form that that seduction would eventually take, even within the Restoration Movement itself.

One doesn't need to search very far to find that these mystical techniques are being implemented in our brotherhood. In an article published recently in the Christian Standard (12/18/2005), Naomi Kouns[9] attempts to justify her dabbling in the occult as follows:

"So I have begun to create a small prayer place in my backyard. I rejoice as I anticipate worshiping God in the stillness of his outdoor setting. At each prayer stop I’ve created the likeness of sheep.

(I identify with sheep; they do the same thoughtless things over and over. That’s me. Sometimes I learn from my mistakes and sometimes I only learn to make the same mistake again and again. It’s painful.)

The first prayer stop looks at the Lord as my shepherd. I rejoice that I can claim Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Lord of all created beings as my shepherd. I belong to him because he chose to create me.

I spend time reviewing Psalm 23. I strive to experience him with all my senses. I try to understand again that he chose to create me and wants to work through me. Maybe not in spite of my weaknesses, but through my weaknesses.

I stop mentally rehearsing my failures and give thanks that I learn over and over I’m not perfect. I thank God for the outstanding people he brings to my mind and praise him for ways their lives glorify him.

At another prayer stop, I realize sheep don’t want for clear water or green grass or restful sleep with a good shepherd. For this day, I will not want more social time with friends, more recreational time with family, more fellowship time in church activities, more fulfilling time in ministry, more clarity in words. I give up my regrets about my lack of accomplishments. I choose only to want Jesus. I decide to seek the will of God.

And then I feel the comfort of Jesus when I grow anxious about a friend very ill with cancer, and another friend ill with the stress of a disintegrating relationship. The impulse rises within me to be proactive, to do something. How can I help my friend with cancer? How can I help my friend with the sick heart? It’s hard to admit that I can’t.

And I cry out, ‘Help us as we go through the valley of the shadow of death.’ I pray to the One who loves them with a love so much stronger than mine.

‘You prepare a table before me’ makes me think of the many people in this world who eat differently than I do. Sometimes that difference is interesting and sometimes it is challenging.

I enjoyed eating camel stew in Turkana but didn’t do as well with the small, perfectly shaped octopus served to me in Asia. The borders of the globe have diminished so that now everyone is my neighbor.

‘God help me love and understand and get to know peoples in Iraq and Mexico and Russia and Africa—throughout the entire created world, as you love them. Make me your servant in showing them your love.’

When I come to the prayer place where I’ve scratched, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me and I shall live in the dwelling place of the Lord forever,’ I am smiling. The dwelling place of the Lord is with those who give him glory and honor and praise."[10]

The editors of the Christian Standard published only positive reviews of Kouns’ article, and no disclaimers or critical feedback. In the December 18^th, 2005 issue of the Standard, an anonymous author states:

RESPONSE TO DECEMBER 18 ISSUE
Hospital Is Creating Labyrinth
(posted 12-29-05)

To Naomi Kouns, regarding “A Labyrinth Leading to God” in the December 18 CHRISTIAN STANDARD: What a great article you had in the Christian Standard. I’m working with the administrator of a small Catholic hospital; he has recently dedicated space on our campus for a labyrinth to use as a reflection tool for patients, families, staff and community.

We’re currently working with an architect who is creating the setting—something that will take time to “mellow” of course, when using plants.

We’re anticipating an opportunity for awareness—perhaps even a “user’s guide” in which we help those less familiar to see the value of taking the time to walk and reflect.

My thanks to you for creating this thought-provoking piece—particularly at this special time of year.
—Name withheld upon request

According to Naomi Kouns, the “most common explanation” for the origin of the labyrinth “goes like this: In medieval times people of noble and privileged birth made routine pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship and pray. As an alternative, people of less wealth but no less devotion to God created complex paths to replicate the journey. This provided an opportunity to take a focused journey, walking and meditating on God’s glory and grace, praising him and praying.”

Over time the prayer labyrinth became more elaborate and detailed, with some glorious examples in the major cathedrals of Europe. A prayer labyrinth is not a maze with the intent to confuse the walker. It is a disciplined pathway with the intent to point the walker to Creator God. Churches in the United States have begun to build prayer labyrinths in courtyards and indoors.[11]

Is this true to fact? Researcher Steve Muse, in his informative article A Walk to Life or a Walk to Death? quotes Peter Corbett from his essay titled Pathfinders, Walking Medieval Labyrinths in a Modern World as follows:

…labyrinths predate Christianity by over a millennium. The most famous labyrinth from ancient times was the Cretan one, the supposed lair of the mythological Minotaur, which Theseus slew with the aid of Ariadne and her spool of thread. Turf labyrinths still exist in England, Germany and Scandinavia, and are thought to be linked with local feminine deities and fertility rituals. The adoption of labyrinths into the Christian Church is not very well documented, but they were used traditionally as a site of pilgrimage. Early Christians took a vow to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem at some point in their lives. During the Middle Ages, as the Crusades made travel to Palestine unsafe, other means were needed to honor that sacred commitment. Labyrinths were adopted by the Roman Church to offer the congregation a way of fulfilling their sacred vows. Christians made their pilgrimages to the cathedral cities of Chartres, Rheims or Amiens, completing their physical and spiritual journeys in the cathedral labyrinths.

Even though the labyrinth is a Western concept, it shares some similarities with Asian monastic and spiritual practices. The patterns of the labyrinth are similar in design and conception to the mandalas of South Asian Buddhism, which are physical representations of the spiritual realm designed to aid in meditation. Labyrinths blend their visual symbolism with the process of walking, which is similar to the Japanese Zen practice of kinhin, literally "walking meditation," where all of the attention is focused on the process of each step, one foot in front of the other, and the breath is controlled and regulated. Both of these techniques are used in Buddhist meditation, which combines the elements of calming and insight into the single goal of samadhi, or "awareness." [12]

Steve Muse explains the Biblical reasons why we shouldn’t engage in such practices:

Most of the practicing New Age occult world has known and still does, that the introduction of the labyrinth prayer walk is a victory for their cause, bringing the unsuspecting Christians into agreement with the overall plan of the Aquarian Age, where those participating in this practice could be captured or ensnared into the ways of Satan. (‘The Labyrinth: The Occult Has Truly Gone Mainstream’ can be found at http://www.cephas-library.com/na/new_age_labyrinth.html )

After researching the many websites on today’s use of the labyrinth, most agree that the labyrinth is a tool or device created to bring one into a higher spiritual realm through the use of meditation whether your are a practicing Zen Buddhist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a New Age Occultist, a Satanist, an atheist or even  a “Christian.” My question now as it was at the beginning of this article is what is this labyrinth all about and how will it affect the believer in Christ?

If someone were to hand you an Ouija Board (The Ouija Board: Just a Game http://cana.userworld.com/cana_ouija.html) telling you that it had been thoroughly redeemed and that other Christians were successfully using this board to bring them to a greater experience of God, would you also begin to entertain the thought of using this well known Occult method to seek God? Would you then use this Occult device, knowing full well that this is a tool or rather a gateway and portal to bring you into communication with “higher” spiritual entities (demons and familiar spirits). The labyrinth is much the same as the Ouija Board in its intent and purpose, to open one up to the influences of the demons of darkness, to supposedly gain wisdom and knowledge of the mysteries of life. Then why even begin to experiment or experience the sacred walk of the labyrinth?

In Deuteronomy 12:1-14 and again in Exodus 34:10-17, God commands us clearly not to participate in anything that has ever been used in pagan ritual for worship or for any other use, for that matter. The labyrinth has been from the very beginning a demonic temple, a Kundalini energy source, a tool of divination, a gateway and a portal to communicating with other spirits and was incorporated into the Roman Catholic experience at a time when there was little understanding of the Bible and little or no discernment.

Throughout the ancient history of the labyrinth divination was used to find the proper location based on many Occultic spiritual factors. Dowsers (those who use divining rods) and geomancers (diviners) were used then (and are still used today) to locate the earth energy center point for many of these labyrinths and then the cathedrals were constructed around the labyrinth. If one will study the use of these spiritual gateways (the same function as the Ouija Board) throughout history, very little emphasis was given to its use within the church. As the church gained a better understanding of the word of God, the practice was discontinued. (Research in Geomancy, White Paper, 1990-1994, Jeremy Harte)

People are drawn to the labyrinth by the subtle seductions of the spirit world trying to convince us that anyone can get to know “God” through some kind of spiritual experience. If this were the case then we have all been duped as Christians. If I knew that I could have a “God” experience just by walking the labyrinth then all that God did through the sacrifice that Jesus gave on the cross is really unnecessary to bring us into relationship with the Father, I just have to have an “experience” and all will be well.

Many believe that the labyrinth is the beginning of a “spiritual journey” opening up relationships with the ancient masters who will in turn offer the knowledge and wisdom of the ages to all who will take the first step or “the initiation” to enlightenment. Most Christians know or should know that the ancient masters are really familiar spirits or seducing demons and the initiation is a bonding with the powers of hell itself. Is this really a walk to life or a deception that will lure us onto a path to death?

Carl Teichrib describes "the initiation" in his article 'Lucifer Rising: Occult Initiation,' "Within the world of the New Age and the occult, initiation is the principle key used in advancing the student of mysticism along the path of occult learning. Practically all esoteric societies employ initiation. Freemasonry, Rosicrucian orders, hermetic societies, spin-off Masonic bodies such as the Shriners, Eastern Star, and the Order of DeMolay, all use initiation as a means of bringing candidates into their organization. Once inside the group, the society uses initiation as a way of advancing members into higher degrees of "illumination." Within each of these rites, mystical concepts are passed down by means of symbol, myth, and legend woven throughout the initiation experience. The candidate, for the most part, does not understand its significance or meaning. Only as one climbs the ladder of ritual and esoteric work does the member comprehend what the initiations really entail.[13]

Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries, gives us additional insight from his article The Initiation:  "For one to be part of the world servers in the New Age, they must first have an initiation. This does not come necessarily from joining a specific group, but by ones own spiritual experience. The common denominator for those who are enlightened is the experience of light. It does not matter how one receives it. Whether it comes by meditation, or a spirit guide or from their Astral traveling, as long as they have experienced it."[14]

Those like Naomi Kouns who walk the labyrinth, are knowingly or unknowingly entering into a covenant agreement with deceiving spirits, just as one who innocently uses a Ouija Board thinking they are just playing a game. We become joined with the powers of darkness and we put ourselves at the mercy of the spirits who will lead us to destruction. Paul warns us again in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (also read 2 Corinthians 7:1)

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Besides the use of labyrinths, there are plenty of other examples of how the contemplative or spiritual formation movement is taking hold in the Restoration movement. College Press has also joined the contemplative bandwagon with their publication  "What the Monks Can Teach Us: Ancient Practice/Postmodern World", by  J.K. Jones. Even a cursory description of the book provided on the College Press website gives the reader a pretty good idea of where the author intends to lead us:

The Church doesn't need more programs. Increased busyness is not the answer. What's needed is a rediscovery of the balance between personal piety and community charity, of love of God and love of neighbor.

What the Monks can Teach Us seeks to examine five large questions relating to discovering a biblical form of monasticism: 
    * Why the call to re-monk the Church; what's behind it?
    * What objections are there to this call?
    * What is Christian monasticism?
    * What are some tools available for re-monking the Church?
    * How does this change occur?

The purpose of this book is to encourage readers to have a longing for God, which will in turn produce a longing for telling others about Him.

The author doesn’t try to veil his agenda as he explains his reasoning that went into the making of this book in the introduction:

This book is about change. Some change is good and some even welcomed. We speak of changing our clothes, our hairstyles, and the oil in the car. We even bask in the changing of the seasons. However, for many of us change is a tough, leathery word. It conjures up images of what we don’t particularly enjoy doing. Change reminds us of the need to lose weight, reduce cholesterol numbers, or start exercising. There are multitudes of other words in the English language that are much more hospitable and warm than this one. Words like joy, grace, peace, and hope have found comfortable places in the life of most people within the Church. Most of us are creatures of habit. We like some form of consistency. Even those among us who claim to like variety have a tendency toward wanting a rhythm, a constancy of some kind. But even going to Sunday worship reminds us of the change that is all around us. We once enjoyed finding that same pew, opening the old hymn book, singing those familiar songs, and following a recognizable path of worship. This book will not argue the pros and cons of worship shifts. I simply acknowledge that change exists.

Change that has teeth in it, that carries a price tag, and calls for sacrifice is seldom greeted courteously. Few enjoy a steady stream of strangers knocking at the door. There is satisfaction in the nod of recognition. The problem arises when comfortableness settles cozily into a state of complacency. It is not insightful or new to suggest we live in a post-Christian or even pre-Christian culture in North America and in much of the Western World. What is unique is to suggest a means of change within the context of the Church that would aid in liberating evangelicalism from its cultural captivity. The suggested tool of change is a “Protestant form of monasticism.” This idea first took seed in my thinking in 1988 when Rodney Clapp wrote an editorial in Christianity Today, entitled, “Remonking the Church” (August 12, 1988, pp. 20-21). I’ve been carrying the concept around in my mind for well over a decade. That article included a discussion about monasticism from three highly distinguished Christian statesmen: John R. W. Stott, Richard Halverson, and Richard Mouw. Clapp recognized that the small, but growing call for remonasticization was and is propelled by the awareness that our situation will not change simply by talking about it. He clearly saw that the American Church finds itself in a culture dominated by consumerism and propelled by a media that encourages and promotes violence, materialism, and sensualism. Even the Church has contracted the disease. It has become increasingly difficult for the Church to maintain its distinctive identity as the Body of the Christ. Clapp soberly reminded us of the amazing ability we have in creating our own celebrities, while claiming we shun the world’s stars. At the same time we caution one another not to fall victim to the mania over Wall Street numbers, while developing our own obsession with flow charts, membership rolls, and counting the numbers saved.[15]

All this talk about remonking the church reminds of that familiar passage by the apostle Paul in 2Timothy  3:1-9: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.” (emphasis mine)

Another passages that comes to mind is Ephesians 5:6, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” (emphasis mine) Or as the Amplified Bible reads, “Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience.” (emphasis mine)

The wise apostle also warns the church in Colosians 2:8,  “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

What we need to be asking ourselves at this point is this: What truly Biblical practice did ancient monasticism restore to the church, if any? And if they didn’t then, what truly Biblical practice will a return to ancient monasticism restore to the church of our day? These are fundamental questions that in our mad rush toward contemplative spirituality no one seems to be willing to ask themselves.[16]