A number of Christian people I talk to about about yoga see no harm in Christians practicing yoga. They see it as merely a stretching exercise to enhance physical well-being. They believe as long as you separate the "spiritual or religious" entity of yoga it is okay to participate - even bring it into the church.
I would like to bring up some points for consideration to those with this view.
First, in 1 Corinthians 10:23 we hear those that say "I have the right to do anything," but Paul says - but not everything is beneficial. The early Christians were saying "I have the right to do anything"--but Paul says - not everything is constructive. Paul asks them the question in 1 Corinthians 6:15 - "Don't you know that your bodies are the members of Christ himself? Should I take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? That's unthinkable!"
In Corinthians 10: 18 Paul is exhorting the Corinthians who thought they could eat from the feasts of their pagan friends and not be in danger of idol worship since they had been baptized, forgiven and purified from sin; since they knew that an idol was nothing; since they were devoted to God's service; and since they had been so highly favored, as the people of God, with so many blessings, and were so strongly guarded against the possibility of becoming idolaters.
Paul gives them to the example of the ancient Jews, who were also a people set apart by God. They had been dedicated to God and to Moses. They had been fed from heaven and were supplied water miraculously from a rock! It didn't take long before they had forgotten God, had become idolaters, and had been destroyed. The Corinthians were told not to be ignorant! It's not bliss.
1 Corinthians 8 Paul warns them to take heed that by any means this liberty of theirs become a stumbling block to those that are weak.
Second, let's take a look at what yoga is. In Webster's New World Dictionary Simon and Schuster 2003 YOGA means "union with god" or "to yoke" "a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline for achieving union with the supreme spirit through meditation, prescribed postures, controlled breathing, etc."
The Lord of yoga is the Hindu deity, Shiva, The Destroyer.
"Yoga poses are offerings to the 330 million Hindu gods." - George P. Alexander, Ph.D., former professor of World Religions at Biola University.
Surya Namaskara, or the Salutation of the Sun, which is very commonly practiced in most forms of yoga, is 12 postures in a series originally evolved as a type of worship of Surya, the Vedic solar deity.
The yoga postures or poses are the third "limb" in yoga. The eight limbs are, in order, the "five abstentions", "five observances", "discipline of the body", "control of life force energy - breathing", "withdrawal of senses from their external objects", "concentration upon a physical object", "oneness with the object of meditation", and "unity with Brahman - The Hindu Concept of God because consciousness becomes its essential nature: the wholeness and fullness of the Absolute, of which there is only one".
Many times people in yoga are greeted with the word nemaste which in Hinduism means "I bow to the divine in you. Yoga is very much connected with New Age thought and philosophy.
So with these considerations -what is the practice dedicated to the "Lord of Yoga" doing in the Church of the LORD JESUS CHRIST? Does yoga really glorify God?
Third, I have heard that Holy yoga or Christian yoga is redeeming the poses of yoga by these instructors for God. Could we also redeem an image of Buddha, write scripture verses on it and set it in church? Can we redeem Voodoo for the Lord and use charms, amulets and dolls that are covered in scripture verses to decorate our sanctuaries? Or the moves of African spiritual dances to incorporate into our services as dancing in and of itself is not evil and King David even danced before the Lord when the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem?
Or would that be naive to think that we can Christianize pagan worship and their idols. It didn't work for the Israelites in the Old Testament. They were told "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." They and the generations after them paid a price for trying to incorporate other gods, possessions and their practices into their life. Wouldn't that be haughty to think we can incorporate foundationally pagan practices and that it wouldn't affect modern believers?
To your health, wholly.
Patti
Christian Faith and Health Coach, Patti Olson, was inspired to become a health and wellness coach after her victory over 23 years of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and assisting her husband's victory over Farmer's Lung, sleep apnea, ED and arthritis.
Since then she has helped many others overcome their chronic conditions by following the same basic steps. Get her free report titled: Six Causes of All Chronic Illness: And how to overcome them to win back your life.
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