Driscoll, yoga and demon meat…
When it comes to controversy, Seattle’s Mark Driscoll (Pastor, Mars Hill) is no stranger to raising eyebrows. From his reputation as “the cussing preacher” to his desire for an “Ultimate Figther Jesus,” Driscoll is loved by his fans (and loathed by his critics) for speaking his mind.
Recently, during a Q&A session, one of Driscoll’s more popular approaches, he was asked if Christians should stay away from yoga. His response:
“Totally. Yoga…is…demonic.”
Driscoll went on to explain that there’s nothing wrong with stretching, but that doing yoga is a form of demonic worship due to its pantheistic Hindu origins.
Driscoll is not along among Southern Baptist leaders. This week, Souther Baptist Seminary President Al Mohler also declared yoga to be antithetical to the Christian faith:
“I’m really surprised by the depth of the commitment to yoga found on the part of many who identify as Christians,” Mohler said.
Mohler argued in his online essay last month that Christians who practice yoga “must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga.”
He said his view is “not an eccentric Christian position.” [source]
So is this just a case of Southern Baptists’ cultural conservatism, or are Christians who practice yoga involved in the worship of demons?
Probably a little of both…[continue to JM’s full Examiner article]
Categories: Arts and Culture, Biblical Theology, Blog, Martial Arts, Ministry, New Testament, Theological issues
James-Michael Smith's Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Driscoll, yoga ……
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
by World Spinner on Oct 12, 2010 at 2:26 am
Just recently found your website, for a young(ish) Methodist agonizing over wether to leave or stay in the UMC, it has been a really great resource
Driscoll and Mohler are some of my favorite authors/bloggers, but I think you really hit the nail on the head with this issue. The analogy to idol-sacrificed meat was really right on
keep up the good work!
by Jason on Oct 14, 2010 at 3:49 am
Thanks Jason. Spread the word; readers like you are exactly why I write. I’m not a big fan of either Driscoll or Mohler’s work (much of it is due to their theological dogmatism) but I can appreciate them as brothers in Christ…even if we rarely see eye to eye! 🙂
by jm on Oct 14, 2010 at 4:07 am
JM
what do you think about Driscoll’s Acts 29 network, and the whole missional movement in general? It’s his work/writing in this particular area that intrigues me
by Jason on Oct 14, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Jason, I think that there are a lot of good things coming out of the “New Calvinists” movement. But many of them seem to often come across as if they are the only ‘true’ Christians–even John Piper (the closest thing to a Reformed Billy Graham out there) admits that this is a problem among people who lean to the Reformed perspective.
I had the privilege of sitting under some fantastic Reformed/Calvinist professors in Seminary and I can appreciate that stream of thought (though of course I see it as an unnecessary system in the end). The thing I liked about them is that they all had a very gracious interdenominational approach. They had their convictions about certain doctrines and they argued for them; but they recognized the validity of those who stood on the other side and saw them as colleagues and fellow Christian leaders–and vice versa. This was a strength that I do not see in movements which gather only like-minded subsets of Christian thinkers, leaders and teachers. They become theologically inbred (which us Wesleyans have also been equally guilty of!) and end up caricaturing the positions which they oppose in order to “appeal to the base.”
So when, for instance, Driscoll, Mohler or others in their crowd speak about issues like Complementarianism, Election or Creationism, there is almost never a genuine admiration (or even a fair presentation of opposing views) for those who disagree with them (and yes, this is true of those who caricature from the other side as well!). Thus, they give their congregations a hunger for deeper theology, but then they only give them half of the picture and end up belittling or creating unnecessary division among the wider evangelical Christian community.
A better approach (I would argue) would be to openly share the areas where Christians–genuine, Spirit-filled, Biblically-based Christians–differ and to present opposing views as fairly as possible, while offering a critique of them from their own tradition. This creates a congregation that is theologically deeper and better at critical thinking and discernment than just giving them conclusions and opinions of just one stream of theology. This is the approach that I try to take whenever I teach and topics of disagreement come up. I don’t always succeed (everyone’s biased in some way, including me!); but I genuinely try.
Unless it comes to Prosperity Gospel or Rapture Theology…then I don’t mind being a little more direct in my criticism. 🙂
by jm on Oct 15, 2010 at 1:34 am
I’ve never taken a yoga class that made me feel uncomfortable spiritually. Most of the time it’s about how to do the pose, how to breathe, etc. There’s nice music in the background and at the end we might say “namaste”. I’d say the majority of yoga classes are taught more as stretching/exercise than a spiritual displine. I could be wrong.
Have these guys taken a yoga class?
by Heather on Oct 14, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Heather, I’m not sure; but given their view of it, to participate in a class would be to participate in idolatry or false religion.
Mohler’s comment I noted shows that he’s not opposed to “yoga” classes that don’t practice the religious/spiritual aspects of it. He simply says that such classes are not true yoga…and most hardcore yoga teachers would agree with him on that, actually.
by jm on Oct 15, 2010 at 1:37 am
JM: Very common-sense response, however I’m not convinced of the direct correspondence between eating (a natural necessary function) and the PRACTICE of exercise-with-eastern-meditation, which is Yoga. One would seem to be much more directly open to, and even part of a religion (exercise with eastern meditation) than another (mere eating, with thankfulness to God).
If you look on your Methodist website too, where the article was published, at least 3 posters have an overtly pantheistic world-view, seeing no possibility of anything wrong with Yoga–which is a very common American world-view today.
Given that prevalence–of the inroads of eastern Monism–I would strongly advise persons to avoid connection IN PRACTICE, even to the possibility of an open door to eastern-Monism (the root of Yoga), which, Driscoll correctly identifies with demonism…. I think the same argument applies to something as pedestrian as the Masonic orders: We should avoid non-Christian practices/associations….which is DIFFERENT than mere eating without any pagan practice of our own attached to it. Does that make every Yoga-practitioner or Mason demonic? OF COURSE NOT!!! But why nibble the grass on the fence-line when there’s plenty of lush green grass in the middle of the field?
Very unlike the meat of the 1st Century, there are literally dozens of exercise/relaxation regimens available–equally inexpensive–other than Yoga. So why do certain Churches bring in something with a direct connection to an anti-Christian worldview into their midst?
by Ralph W. Davis on Oct 18, 2010 at 6:46 pm
One other thing, Driscoll, as a pastor of a giant mega-Church/Church-planting Church (with as many people under his teaching-authority as most Bishops, in other Churches) in Seattle, WA, surely has a lot of experience with eastern-Monistic religions, as the pop-Hindu/Monistic world-view is much more common on the highly-unchurched West Coast than here in the South East. He even mentioned his personal experience with a guy meeting a spirit-entity in meditation which falsely identified itself as “Jesus” (not of Nazareth!), therefore, I’m sure Driscoll is more sensitive to the potential for Monistic-demonic influence than those of us with less dramatic experiences. Still, trying to divide bad (authentic/Hindu) Yoga from good (inauthentic/just-exercise)Yoga seems like it could be a confusing and difficult task. Why not just do Tae Bo, or any of multitude of other exercise programs?
by Ralph W. Davis on Oct 18, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Ralph, good points and valid questions in both comments. I would offer the following in response.
On a purely practical/physical level, yoga focuses on stretching, breathing and balance, and is no-impact in nature (unlike Tae Bo, P90X, Zumba or calisthenics). It is similar in this respect to Tai Chi (which also originated in a pantheistic/monistic religious milieu). So if someone is looking for the physical benefits which have been demonstrably documented physiologically among practitioners of yoga (and here in obesity-prone North America, the question of exercise is fast becoming a Kingdom issue–or at least should be!) then one has to discern how to separate the religious/spiritual aspects from the physical benefits…just as believers in Asia Minor had to discern how to separate the religious/spiritual aspects of buying meat from the agora (the marketplace was inherently religious and patron deities were invoked and worshipped openly by both buyers and sellers). Sure, they could’ve gotten their meat in other “less pagan” ways (or even avoided eating meat altogether), but it was practical and beneficial for them, healthwise, to buy the quality meat from the temples and the marketplace. Likewise, for many people, it is more practical and beneficial for them to exercise via yoga (for various health/joint/schedule reasons), though of course they could find other “less pagan” ways to exercise (or, as most people unfortunately choose, to avoid exercise altogether!).
If Driscoll had even remotely acknowledged this in his comments (as Mohler did), he would’ve received far less criticism and I would be much more sympathetic to his response. But as his answer stands, I can’t reconcile it with a mature Biblical response. Driscoll is known for his in-your-face, no-nonsense approach, of course, and even many within the SBC have urged him to adopt a more mature, less reactionary approach at times; but that’s his style, so I understand why he says what he does. I just wish he’d temper his zeal with a bit more wisdom at times…or at least seek to clarify, given his vast influence around the evangelical world. Though he’s based in the more pagan-friendly Pacific Northwest, his messages reach far beyond the confines of his church. With greater power comes greater responsibility…and the need for greater clarity and theological nuance, I believe.
by jm on Oct 18, 2010 at 8:06 pm
The other side of the meat-sacrificed-to idols argument though, is deference to the weaker brethren….and Paul asked the stronger ones to restrict their freedom, if that freedom could possibly offend the tender conscience of those weaker ones.
It would seem to me that one way to do that would to not condemn Yoga altogether for individuals, a la Driscoll–assuming such is practiced as mere exercise, not relgion–but at the same time, promoting it at Churches (as I see at a Church right down the road from me) would also seem to violate the the deference principle of love for the weaker brother.
To me it would be the same kind of thing as having a wine fest at the Church…. Sure, wine can be, and is used responsibly, even at wine fests, however, you WILL offend weaker brethren, and sour people about your Church, if that was allowed at the Church. Condemn members from responsibly going to one? No. Host it and promote it at your Church? No also.
by Ralph W. Davis on Oct 20, 2010 at 4:54 pm
I agree with you overall, Ralph. Cultural context is everything when it comes to such situations, I believe.
by jm on Oct 20, 2010 at 5:53 pm
[…] as the yoga-is-demonic controversy was passing, Seattle Pastor Mark Driscoll does it […]
by James-Michael Smith's Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » First yoga, now stay-at-home Dads?? on Oct 27, 2010 at 2:24 am
[…] to how Christians should approach MMA as there is to how Christians should approach things like Yoga or Demon Meat. What do you think, Dojo readers?? […]
by Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Qualifying Mark Driscoll’s defense of MMA on Feb 14, 2012 at 10:46 pm
Just do Pilates instead 🙂
by Mark on Oct 8, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Being Italian, Pilates is surely descended from the pagan Roman gods. Thus those who do it are unknowingly worshiping Jupiter and Diana. 😉
by jm on Oct 8, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Well to me Martial Arts means respect and discipline.
I have trained in different Martial arts now for well above 21 years.
I have seen scores of people come and go but one thing that I have noticed is the respect and
discipline which has changed those peoples perception of life.
Young kids that have started which were on the wrong side of the tracks,
always in trouble and no idea how to respect other kids.
Place them in a controlled environment with discipline and fighting and
they soon start to understand.
Martial arts is a terrific way for youths and adults to
get rid of their aggression without hurting or bullying anyone.
by pinterest.Com on Aug 1, 2013 at 9:52 pm