Sometimes we think something is good for us when it's actually damaging our faith.
Most Christians who get involved in pagan or new age practices do so through ignorance. But ignorance quickly gives way to compromise, syncretism, and loss of discernment.
Let me use one of the most popular examples: yoga.
When I share my concerns with Christians who’ve never done yoga, they see the wisdom in avoiding anything with pagan origins that is still practiced by Hindus. They realize 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 contains an important warning about such things.(1)
However, Christians already involved in yoga typically have more difficulty realizing these truths because the deeper their involvement, the less their discernment and objectivity.
Despite the multiple options for exercise methods, yoga takes people captive, convincing them it's better than anything else they've tried. It leads most Christians to “syncretism,” thinking they can incorporate Scripture into Hindu rituals.
We’re commanded to separate ourselves from pagan practices and reject worldly patterns for important reasons: So we’ll be God’s faithful sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) and we’ll “be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
Yoga is a spiritual practice that's been around for thousands of years. It's no coincidence that it has become more popular as our culture has moved further away from Christian principles (2 Corinthians 4:4).(2)
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I know that I will get negative feedback and unsubscribes when I write things against yoga, but I feel very strongly that yoga affects every Christian's faith to some extent. In the 1980s I met a woman who had become demon-possessed by doing yoga, even though she thought she was simply doing an exercise. She wasn't a Christian. But if it has this effect on a non-believer, why would we want to have anything to do with it? If it's simply an exercise, why is it always described as involving both mind and body?
It's also interesting that so many ex-vangelicals (people who've walked away from biblical faith) are advocates of yoga.
If you believe yoga helps you, I challenge you to quit doing it for a while and seek God about it. And please be open enough to read these articles:
While yoga may be the most popular form of syncretism in the modern church, there are other practices to avoid. See Pagan Influences and Major Warnings in Old Testament Narratives for more examples. I also encourage you to avoid The Enneagram.
Footnotes
(1) 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: “Do
not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and
wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with
darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what
does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is
there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the
living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them,
and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean
thing, and I will receive you.’ And, ‘I will be a Father to you, and
you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’”
(2) The number of people doing yoga increased by 63% between 2010 and 2021. There are 34.4 million people in the U.S. who practice yoga. (source)
Bible Love Notes
Wow, who would have thought that a simple thing like Yoga could put me into the danger of questioning my faith. Thank you for this article. I don't do Yoga, have never done it, and can't do it now with a spine that is crumbling a we speak. I put my faith in God, and in Him only. I liked this article, though I know some people personally that would disagree with me.
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