Part 1: The Rise of Christian Mysticism in the Church
Today we have a church culture that lacks doctrine and
discernment. A culture that when asked
“How do we determine right and wrong?”, we receive answers that stem from our
conciseness and how we feel, rather than on God’s Word. Instead of Christian Spirituality being
dependent on the Holy Spirit for growth and discipline we are seeing a movement
towards experiential form of Christianity that is accepting the forms of “ancient”
Spiritual Disciplines that seem to benefit the believer in Christ, or does it? We see the influence of Christian mysticism
in the practice of prayer and meditation of God’s Word. As defined by a Christian Mystic, it is “…spirituality
of the direct experience of God. The
direct experience of God is a kind of knowing, which goes beyond intellectual
understanding.”[1]
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow
and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental
spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”[2] For centuries we have seen ideas penetrate
the very core of the Christian faith. A movement
that penetrated the early church and began to divide the body of believers was Gnosticism. Gnosticism prided itself on finding unity
with Christ through “secret knowledge”.
Many times this “secret knowledge’ was a blend of pagan and Christian
practices. It seems that Paul dealt with
an ascetic view of Gnosticism in Colossians 2:20-23, where John challenged the
church to watch these “prophets” and test the spirit from which they came in
his letters named after himself, 1 John.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.”[3]
This two part article will take a look at Richard Foster,
a very well-known author whose classical Disciplines have been embraced by the
modern church to bring people into an experiential practice of
Christianity. We will take a look at four
disciplines of the Christian faith, Meditation, Prayer, Study and
Solitude. Richard Foster says that these
disciplines have been given to us by God “as a means of receiving His grace.
The Disciplines allows us to place ourselves before God so that He can
transform us.” [4] We will then define the word transformation
as described by Christian Mysticism versus Christian Spirituality. Lastly we will end how we started, with God’s
Word. What does Scripture have to say
concerning spiritual growth and how does that affect our modern day church
culture?
Four
Areas of Spiritual Growth
In defining mysticism, Otto A. Piper writes the following,
“It is by way of meditating on the human predicament that contact is finally
established with the divine”.[5]
There are four areas that mysticism
seems to concentrate on and use as a means in their own words, to experience
God. The question is do these special
Disciplines really bring spiritual growth to a believer in Christ. For Foster he believes that “we must be
willing to go down into the recreating silences, into the inner world of
contemplation”.[6] Let us take a look at four areas that Foster
and mystics alike think is a source of spiritual growth for all believers.
- Meditation
As we read in the Scriptures about meditation, David
writes his love for the law and that meditating on it all day is his greatest
desire (Psalm 119:97). We are challenged
by Paul in his charge to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the
servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” [7] Taking a look at meditation as a verb, we are
giving a description of a person who reflects or engages in the thought
process. If we take this definition and
apply it to our personal attentiveness to Scripture and reflect or engage in
the passage, is meditation bad? No, it
is not. To meditate on God’s Word allows
one to be refreshed and transformed by Scripture. To engage in the passage brings a person to
apply that which is spoken through God’s Word.
When one meditates on Isaiah 46:9-11, a person can be drawn to the
words, “I am God and there is no other”.
To reflect on those very words brings one to a place of awe in God. To engage in the passage brings a person to
understand the omnipotence of God! Yet I
believe Foster brings confusion to the body of Christ when he states, “Eastern
meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt
to empty the mind in order to fill it”.[8] It seems that those that embrace this form of
meditation fuses very two different worldviews.
In his book “Meditation and Communion with God”, John Davis writes, “By
leaving words and images behind, an exclusively apophatic style of meditation
tends to erase the boundaries between Eastern (Buddhist, Hindu) and Christian
forms of meditation.”[9] Foster goes even further by providing a
guide on how to meditate which seems to be taken out of the manuals of Eastern
Pantheism. His first action towards entering into a meditative state is to do
what is called “palms down, palms up”.
This act is to be symbolic of our surrendering to God. He then recommends the person to focus on
breathing which is believed to center oneself.
Foster states that “this will help you to get in touch with your body
and indicate to you the level of tension within.”[10] He then challenges the participant to use
imagination to bring oneself into communion with God. For Foster mediation is an act in hopes to
experience God instead of a precept that brings us to a place to observe, interpret,
and apply Scripture in order for one to build a Biblical worldview that creates
values that become a light to the world.
Author Ray Yungen, a Christian apologist says the following concerning
mediation, “The goal of meditation is to subdue the conscious or active mind so
that higher consciousness can enter. The
metaphysician believes that if he can connect himself to and eventually attune
with his higher self, this will facilitate the higher self’s emergence into the
physical plane bringing the person under the guidance and direction of this
source.”[11]
Fosters practice is to be questioned and asked where in
Scripture are we instructed to meditate in this way?
- Prayer
In Luke 11:1-4
Jesus is asked by his disciples to teach them to pray. Jesus responds with one of the most famous
and recognized passages in the Scriptures. “‘Father, hallowed be
your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive
us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And
lead us not into temptation.’” [12] This prayer gives us an example of man’s
petition before God. Prayer for the
Christian is pinnacle in the growth of a man and woman of faith as they come
before God in humility and the understanding that there is One greater than
self. Paul writes to the Philippians, “Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be
evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in
every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”[13] To the Thessalonians he challenges them to be
joyful and pray continually, by giving thanks.
James who was known to be a man of prayer writes, “The prayer of a
righteous man is powerful and effective.”[14] The observation of these passages defines
prayer to be an act of thanksgiving, yet presenting God with the request of the
heart, petitioning our needs in humility before a God who intervenes with his
creation. Prayer also seems to be an act
of worship as one extols God’s faithfulness.
Lastly James makes prayer sound to be an act that can battle the unseen
by asking God’s intervention in all circumstances.
In reading prayer through the means of Christian
Mysticism I am drawn to a statement by Richard Foster who writes, “I sought out
individuals who seemed to experience greater power and effectiveness in prayer
than I, and asked them to teach me everything they knew. In addition I sought the wisdom and
experience of past masters of prayer by securing and reading every good book I
could find on the subject”.[15] Many mystics see prayer as a means to not
only communicate with God but to have a conversation with God in which there is
a dialogue. This is called
“contemplative prayer”. Man clears mind;
converses with God and God answers back, thus creating an experience that in
their minds creates spiritual growth and oneness with God. Kate McGraw gives her readers a guideline for
“contemplative prayer” which encourages a person to do the following when
wanting to enter into a prayer encounter with God.
1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within.
3. When engaged with your thoughts, return gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a few minutes.[16]
End of part 1...
His call. His gift
to you. Your purpose. Irrevocable.
[1]
Luke 11:2-4, NIV
[2]
Philippians 4:4-7, NIV
[3]
James 5:16(b), NIV
[4]
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth.
San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. p33
[5] McGraw, Kate, The
Contemplative Life ; The ancient worship technique of centering prayer is being
revived among Christians and others, Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque
Publishing Company, 2006
[6] "What Is
Christian Mysticism?" What Is Christian Mysticism? N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov.
2014.
[7]
Colossians 2:8, NIV
[9]
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth.
San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. Print. p6.
[10] Piper,
Otto Alfred, Theology Today 10 no 2
Jl 1953. 157.
[11]
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth.
San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. p13.
[12]
2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV
[13]
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth.
San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. p15.
[14]
Davis, John Jefferson. Meditation and Communion with God : Contemplating
Scripture in an Age of Distraction. Downers Grove, IL, USA: InterVarsity Press,
2012. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 2 December 2014. p140
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