Revelife recently featured a blog that addressed the Hindu origins of yoga and how those origins may be problematic for Christians. Left unsaid, the issue of practicing yoga is problematic for Christians because they, like the Jewish people preceding them, are commanded to be a holy (set apart/distinct) people on earth. The Church is not meant to be persuaded by the religious practices of surrounding culture. Throughout scripture Israel's downfall originates in exactly such persuasion and engagement of religious practices. Even in the New Testament this temptation to abandon the distinctness of the culture of the kingdom of God for the embrace of worldly culture becomes quite heavy on the Church and as a result her leaders must set the church members straight with proper theological teaching.
There was a point for the church in Corinth in which sinful behavior was thriving. The city was full of various religions, gods, and idolatrous practices. Corinth was so filled with idolatry that it was difficult (perhaps impossible for some people) to live their lives without involving themselves with idoltrous practices. One of the greatest examples of this was the eating of food that was sacrificed to idols. The food at friends' homes and in the market place were often involved in idol sacrifice and the Christians, being arrogant in their knowledge of the truth (that those gods were nothing and that food is merely food) gave little thought to their practices and as a result caused great damage to their witness as a body and caused great damage to members of their very own body. The eighth chapter of 1Corinthians states,
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.*
We are fooled if we somehow believe that this sensitivity is no longer necessary in our midst. We still have immature and weak conscienced believers in our gatherings. We still have practices that are polluted by idolatry surrounding us in our daily lives. Yoga is a good enough example for the present-day church. It's Hindu origins can not be denied. It is clearly a religious practice at its core and it seeks to glorify false gods ("nothing" gods). However, many Christians (and nonChristians) practice yoga merely for the sake of physical exercise. Just as the Hindu roots of yoga can not be denied neither can the health benefits of the practice. After all, can not the sober mind confess that stretching is nothing special? If the Hindu gods are nothing and the configuring of one's body is in no way divinely important then what harm is there in practicing yoga or similar activities? For the individual who has this knowledge there is no danger. However, for the unbeliever and for the believer with a weak conscience (or formerly associated with the idolatrous practice) the damage could be immense so one must learn their environment, their liberty, and how to appropriately engage the world around them so as to only edify and give proper witness. How do we answer this dilemma in practical terms? We'll get back to that in a moment.
I've never been a fan of any type of product that is a mock of an already existing product with the slight alteration of adding a "Christian" emphasis. T-shirts that play on popular slogans and logos, bands that make music near identical to "secular" artists but with altered lyrics, mints with scriptures on them, etc. have always rubbed me as corny, noncreative, and shameful. At the same time, there is something to be said about the obvious attempt to be a distinct people in clothing, food, entertainment, and so on. I encourage Christians to mark themselves as Christ-followers in this world in every way possible! I also encourage them to do so in creative and, if possible, original ways. I no longer despise Christianized mock-products but they still don't impress me. The fact is, we need to be distinct. We need to worship God in all we do (1Corinthians 10:31). Perhaps making Christian exercise programs that resemble yoga but put an emphasis on the truths of the One True God is a great idea. If nothing else it certainly makes the statement that the Christian is concerned with how they are perceived. They desire to be seen as attached to God and serious about that attachment. That's a big part of holiness.
At the end of the day the discussion isn't truly about yoga. It's not even fully about Christians being distinct in their world in which they are to be foreigners/aliens. The issue is love. Love is what makes Christians truly holy and truly distinctive in this world. Love takes on many forms. Sometimes love takes on abstinence for certain practices, clothing, entertainment, etc. Sometimes it takes on the engagement of certain practices, clothing, entertainment, etc. Nothing has changed in the last several thousand years in regards to this truth. Whatever Christians do to be distinct people and avoid idolatry, they must do it with the intent to first love God and second, love their neighbor. Whenever Christians think of themselves last and all others first they will be truly unique and holy. Therefore, if one can practice yoga and not cause harm then there is liberty for them to do so and if one engages in a Christianized version of yoga then let them do so creatively in a way that honors God. Finally, if one abstains completely from those activities, let them do so in complete and noncondemning love so that their holiness does not become a deathly legalism that endangers their salvation and the salvation of others.
One way in which we can best discern how to live our our daily lives as distinct and selfless people is to discuss all matters with our congregations. May we seek proper theological education. May we go to our Pauls and ask them what is right and good for us to do and what is not right and good. Let us not think ourselves knowledgeable and become so arrogant as to live without authority, rebuke, or edification. Let us be selfless and depend on our communities and leaders of faith as well as scripture and the Holy Spirit to lead us into loving this world as a holy people.
*Equally important to the discussion but omitted for the sake of space is 1Corinthians 10.
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