tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20715800.post2338474498877878584..comments2023-06-22T03:32:39.901-07:00Comments on H-n-T: Is There a Wrong Way to Worship?Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18317867541610325491noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20715800.post-21073484164630417772007-03-01T23:33:00.000-08:002007-03-01T23:33:00.000-08:00Good topic! Spiritual/devotional practices and tec...Good topic! Spiritual/devotional practices and techniques are tools to help us to connect with the spiritual or supernatural. For Christians, our practices are meant to help us connect with God, to pray, hear God’s voice, or even to experience God in a deeper than intellectual manner. <BR/><BR/>People get hung up on labeling practices and techniques as "good" or "bad," and theological thought gets neglected. New Age and Eastern religions and philosophies have an entirely different view of “god” and spiritual reality than Christianity, and their practices and techniques reflect that belief. Eastern/New Age thought is based on the pantheistic view of God, e.g. the universe is divine. In that belief system, the way to connect with the divine is to somehow get in touch with the spiritual or unseen reality of the universe. Their belief is that the divine is all, and all is divine; thus, everyone and everything is divine. In New Age thought, there is an emphasis on getting in touch with the divine self (as is summed up in the <I>namaste</I> of yoga). There is an emphasis on tapping into the divine power within. Most Eastern/New Age techniques discourage rational thought in devotional practice. Practitioners are encouraged to use breathing, chanting, and so forth to empty or vacate the mind and just “be.” This is supposed to lead to some kind of enlightenment or deeper wisdom than what the rational mind, which is tied to the natural world of the senses, can provide.<BR/><BR/>Biblical Christianity cannot affirm pantheism: We know that God is personal and not just an energy or force that permeates or encompasses all. While we certainly need to be cautious about introducing some techniques to people who may have a shaky view of God, it's most important to focus on the Christian view of God--that He is personal, transcendent, and immanent--rather than fretting about techniques. I feel that if a person first adopts this Christian view, it will guide them to seek techniques that help in relating to that type of God. <BR/><BR/>That is probably why Judeo/Christian meditation has stressed more of a rational path. Lectio Divina and the like wouldn't make sense in a pantheistic framework, because in that philosophy, “god” is not a person who has anything to say to us. There is a Christian mystical tradition that encourages meditative techniques that are similar to Eastern ones. I have done some study and even practiced some Christian mystical techniques such as centering prayer. These tend to be the practices that many Christians worry about the most. However, I practice them safely because I do not abandon my basic Judeo/Christian framework of God. Christian mystics have just understood that it is possible to experience God on a deeper non-rational level. They advise that to get to this “wisdom of the heart,” one must go beyond thought and just “be” in God’s presence. <BR/><BR/>In the classic Christian mystical tradition, meditation isn't about tapping into some impersonal, all-encompassing force found in the deeper self. Rather, it is a tool for tapping into a deeply personal relationship with the triune God who is at once found at home in our hearts, but also transcends all (even our rational understanding). <BR/><BR/>Again, I would proceed with great caution here because many spiritual seekers have been lead into Eastern mysticism through the door of Christian mysticism. However, I would maintain it is not due to techniques as much as careless theology. Usually a person who checks out these techniques notices the uncanny similarity to, say, Transcendental Meditation. They then make a big theological jump of saying, “It's all the same,” or “all roads lead to the same thing.” <BR/><BR/>My advice to anyone who wants to use meditation as a way of experiencing a deeper relationship with God is first to make sure that they have a clear end in mind. There is a huge difference between getting to know a Person as opposed to just tapping into a universal truth or force. Christian meditation is a way of getting to know a Person. Consider the example of a long-term, committed relationship (such as marriage). I am going to get to know my wife in deeper and more profound ways as I experience our relationship in many ways over time. However, if I don’t have the basic understanding that she is a female human being, I am in big trouble with knowing how to get to know her. Most, if not all, of my attempts to get to know my wife would be totally futile and even misleading if I don’t have a basic framework of who or what “she” is to start with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com