CHRISTIANITY ISN’T MYSTICISM (PART I)
By Akin Ojumu
This is my earnest appeal to anyone who will read this commentary. I don’t want you to listen to what I’ve got to say with an open mind. No, not at all. All I ask of you is that you listen to me with an open Bible. Like the Bereans, fact check me with the Word of God and not with the opinion of your Pastor.
Acts 17:11
“Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.”
Christianity is not mysticism. There are no special breeds or an elite class of Christians who are specially endowed with the power and authority to access hidden secret knowledge of God. Biblical Christianity has no need for super apostles who will, through their dreams, visions, special revelations, and specifically prescribed oblations, acts of self-abasement, and asceticism, reveal to the rest of us the agenda of God.
Colossians 2:18
“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”
Promoting human philosophies, New Age, New Thought, and Gnostic ideas is not Christianity. Mesmerizing people with intelligent sounding verbiage, empty rhetorical flourishes, logical concepts, and strategies to enter dimensions is a haughty act of misplaced hubris.
Colossians 2:8
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
There’s no salvation in the elemental spirits of the world. Obsessing over man-made rules and regulations will not make you more pious. A religion of human achievement that relies on human-centered efforts will not make you right with God. Putting on external displays of spirituality by ritualistic ceremonies, gymnastic performances, and by what you wear and the way you dress are not the marks of holiness.
Colossians 2:20-23
“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations – “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used) – according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
Anti-intellectual Christianity is no Christianity at all. Opposition to critical thinking and analytical reasoning is a thought-stopping device used by religious con artists. The LORD God Almighty wants you to utilize your brain in worship. Indeed, true worship occurs only when we employ our spirit, mind (i.e., intellect), heart, and emotions in the act of worship.
Mark 12:30
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…”
The Bible is not a talisman, placing it under your pillow will do you no good. Faith and life come only by knowing and doing what’s in it. God reveals Himself to us in His Word. If you are looking to see God, look into His Word. If you desire to hear God, read His Word. If what you want is to feel God, immerse yourself in His Word.
John 6:63
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The Words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
We’ll take it from here next time.
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