A deeper relationship with God?

On Aug. 13, the RD ran a short article announcing that Rev. Jos Douma is starting an online School of Spirituality after the summer. The headline above the article read, "Biblical meditation via online course”.
Unfortunately, it did not include a specific assessment, which is unfortunate because perhaps several readers will see this as a positive development and then engage in meditation. But the Bible, in my opinion, shows that we should actually avoid these views and the associated practice - so-called "contemplation.
Incidentally, that leaves open Douma's question of how to live a fulfilled Christian life, and how to answer this biblically.
In the following, we try to explain e.g. as briefly as possible.

The problem statement

According to Douma, the problem with many Christians is that they "...seek how they shape that relationship with God. They are mainly fed by a preacher or church service on Sundays. The church does much good, but for equipping its members in dealing with God it sometimes pays too little attention.". They long for "depth and growth in their lives, but don't find it in the church." 

If this is the diagnosis, there is quite a bit of truth in it, I think. But whether Douma's answer to it is the solution? He adds the following: "The Protestant tradition has traditionally had a lot to do with words. There is a lot of talking and talking. Prayer is called talking to God. With the Reformation, we lost the listening, the silence in the liturgy and the life of faith, and that's a shame."

Apparently, then, the Reformation left something behind in the Roman Church that we now have to discover again: silence. Of this Douma says, among other things, "This is not always about big things. Just sit still on a chair alone for five minutes to experience God's presence. Learning to be still is important for everyone." and "... I want to teach people meditation, prayer and contemplative Bible reading. I hope this will lead in them to more silence and space in their lives and a deeper relationship with God."

When we read things like this, the question is always whether this is the way the Bible points. Although many biblical-sounding words and concepts are used, God's Word may be pointing in a different direction.

The Contemplation

What in the 'School of Spirituality' being offered is the path of mysticism, contemplation. You can learn about spirituality in many ways online, and there are practice rooms, where you can find, for example, "the silence," "the centering prayer," "the Jesus prayer" or the 'Lectio Divina' you can practice. It would go too far to go into all of these methods here, but the common point of them is that they belong to what has been called the 'contemplation' mentioned. 

Contemplation is especially characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church and it was indeed "left behind" at the Reformation - not without reason. All contemplative exercises involve experiencing God and ultimately experiencing the unification with God, even though Douma concealingly calls it "a deeper communion with God. The search for that "inner experience of God" - or "the divine within us" - is something contemplation has in common with pagan religions. The terminology and "methods" may be different, but the inner experience of God is the same.

Idolatry

The people of Israel were admonished by the Lord not to approach Him in the same way that the Gentiles approach their gods: "You may not do toward the Lord your God as they do" ( Deuteronomy 12:4, 30, 31). When they would do so anyway, they would actually serve those gods - the demons. Or in other words, they would come in contact with the demons and serve them (Deuteronomy 32:17). That is what the Bible 'idolatry calls: thinking you are approaching God, but in reality you have what Paul calls 'communion with the demons' (1 Corinthians 10:20). 

Idolatry was a constant problem for the people of God; time and again they fell into that great sin, already so emphatically forbidden in the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:3-7). Ultimately, this is also what caused them to be judged by the Lord God and driven out of the Promised Land.

Idolatry is also a problem for the Christian church, since we need to know what comes from "a spirit" and what is from "the Spirit. Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians in response to a number of questions, including those about (a) eating idol sacrificial meat (8:1) and about (b) spiritual things (12:1). He addresses these interrelated topics at length in chapters 8 through 11 and 12 through 15, respectively.

Idolatry is a central theme in the Bible that unfortunately receives far too little attention, keeping the subject under the radar for most Christians.

The reason for the constant temptation to idolatry is, on the one hand, disobedience to the commandment of the Lord, but also, on the other hand, the addictive effect of the inner experience of God. For what you experience inwardly is so incredibly "wonderful" that you really think it must come from the Lord God Himself. Thus man reaches out to experiences that are forbidden to him, the dealings with the gods of the invisible world and the 'hidden things' ( Deuteronomy 29:29).

Another Gospel

Two Roman Catholic monks Thomas Merton (1915-1968) and Thomas Keating (1923-2018) are in his 20s.^th century has been important for the continuing growth of the contemplative movement, not only in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in Protestant communities. Keating gave a talk in 2004 titled "Contemplation as the Center of Active Life" from which we can distill what the gospel is that is being preached. This "gospel" boils down to the following:

• We are invited divine people to become;
• The purpose of the Gospel, the purpose of life and, in fact, the purpose of everything, is focused on the unification with God;
• That divine unification is a real experience, already here on this earth; it is the one and only Christian experience;
• In having this experience we are followers of Jesus, who knew God as Father, as Abba. God is in us.
• Jesus teaches us to enter into who we really are, in order to to discover our true selves and the divine indwelling, which is the source of our existence in every moment;
• You don't have to look for it anywhere but within yourself. This discovery of your true self becomes Salvation named. It's a process, also called 'healing' called, in which the so-called 'false self', that is everything that holds you back from going this way, must be let go of. Including especially letting go of all that which you (were) taught as a child.
• It is not necessary the Bible as (historically) reliable to continue to accept;
• This Kingdom within you can only be discovered and entered through the contemplative prayer; it is the only way! The noise in the environment and the noise (of your thoughts) within you, you must leave behind in order to become one with the Father in the silence that thus arises. You can meet the divine indwelling only according to a certain regularity.
• This to be one with Godbeing who you are, be yourself, is the greatest gift we can give to God.
• Moreover, as humans we are all together connected; we are one and we only need to discover that together we are the mystical body of Christ. The world peace depends on how many people go through this change process of achieving a higher level of consciousness, and therefore proclaiming this gospel of the utmost importance. We cannot be happy unless everyone is saved.
• Incidentally, the necessary process of change is also offered by the spiritual traditions of other religions.

This 'other gospel' is, of course, preached in several variants. But the contemplative practices taught at the "School of Spirituality" are at its core. Keating started the 'Contemplative Outreach' movement and on their website you can take similar courses online as in the "School of Spirituality.

Christ and Him Crucified

Douma is probably right when he says that many in Protestant communities do not know how to shape their relationship with God and come to a "deeper relationship with God. But when we reject contemplation as a "solution," the question comes up as to what then is the biblical way. In what way, then, can the Christian - to use the same words - come to "a deeper relationship with God"?

However, this question assumes the wrong starting point, namely, "what I want" and "what I desire" or "what I need. The question starts from ourselves, from ímselves and my human needs, and that is where it goes wrong. We must start from what the Lord God wants, what He longs for and what His desire is. That even begins the "Our Father" (Luke 11:1-4). When we start from what the Lord God values highest, we will be amazed! For in that which is highest for the Lord, is at the same time our highest happiness to be found.

God desires people who honor and praise Him for the work of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary! People who worship Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).

There's a lot to say about that, but this is what it's all about. We make a few brief remarks about it here to show that this is a central theme in Scripture is.

• Christ and Who Crucified. The first, of course, is that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary must mean something to you. You must know Who He is for you and what He has done for you! You must have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord. Then you are grateful to God and can express those thanks to Him.
• Giving glory to God. This is also very normal. In Luke 17 is the story of the ten lepers who were healed. Only one of the ten returned, glorified God, knelt down before the Lord Jesus and gave Him thanks. For the Lord Jesus, it was very disappointing that only one came back "to give glory to God. At the same time, the Lord assured that one of the good choice he had made when He said, "Your faith has preserved you.
• A guiltless, bloody sacrifice. The brothers Cain and Abel both understood that it was good to give thanks and offer sacrifices to God. Cain started it and then came Abel. But God could not accept Cain's sacrifice and Abel's could. The reason was that Abel had understood that in the relationship between sinful man and God, a guiltless, bloody sacrifice was needed. It looks ahead to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
• The Father seeks worshippers. In the Lord Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4), at one point the question was about where to worship God. Then He says that from then on the place where you worship is no longer important, but what matters is that your worship is "in spirit and truth. For He says: "the Father seeks those who worship Him thus". God the Father is looking for people to worship Him. He seeks people who can worship Him as Father because He is also and above all the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are redeemed and reconciled through the work of Christ, we are children of God and may call Him our Father.
• God's food: offerings of praise and thanksgiving. When we thank God the Father for the work of the Lord Jesus, His Son, these are "sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. In the Old Testament they are called "the food of your God" (e.g. Leviticus 3 and 21). God is (a) Spirit and does not need food. But He does call it that, because He Himself sees it as something important, something pleasing, but also as a kind of "primary necessity of life. Thus God desires the thanks and praise of His people!
• Priesthood. The latter brings us to the fact that God has called both His earthly people Israel and also the Church of Jesus Christ to be priests and to perform the sacrificial service for Him. Peter calls the New Testament Church a spiritual house in which believers are priests "To offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

The highest we can bring to the Lord God are the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that rise from our hearts to Him because we know His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. His sacrifice on Calvary is the reason for our spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving!

What is special is that anyone who knows the Lord Jesus as his Savior can offer these sacrifices to God. There is no need to have studied or learned special skills to do so; the thanks from your heart is enough!

In this way Christ the Crucified becomes more and more precious and greater to the believer's heart. Then we experience a work of God's Spirit in our hearts, not a mystical experience of God, but that Christ becomes greater to our hearts and we love Him more, as Peter also writes:

"Though you have not seen Him, yet you love Him. Though now ye see Him not, but believe, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorious."

Peter 1:8

Finally, there is this wonderful thing: that we ourselves will be blessed by it, be spiritually nourished and grow in the knowledge of Him. We will then, as Psalm 50 says 'Seeing God's salvation.

"Whoever offers thanks will honor Me; whoever goes [the straight] way, I will make him see God's salvation."

Psalm 50:23

The way of the sacrifice of thanksgiving - so to speak - has the effect for our own souls that God's salvation comes to us, as it were. Or, as the NBG translation says, through our sacrifices of praise we pave a way on which the Lord shows us His salvation. So that we grow in the knowledge of Him.

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