Christian Mindfulness? | About God and Gods

Mindful meditation on Psalm 92 – Church&religion – RD.nl

Fast, faster, fastest seems to be the credo of today's society. To keep the stress under control, many Christians turn to Christian variants of mindfulness, an originally Buddhist form of meditation and relaxation. Biblically justified, or is the genie out of the bottle?

Mindfulness

This week I received articles from two sides that appeared in the Reformatorisch Dagblad of 2 July.

On page 3 there is a article entitled 'Christian Variations of Mindfulness Popular', reflecting the views of Dr. Arnold Huijgen. He is senior lecturer in systematic theology at the Theological University of Apeldoorn (TUA). In the Accent supplement of the same newspaper there is then a great article of 2 pages entitled “Mindful Meditation on Psalm 92”. In it, therapist Wolly Touwen tells us about her 'Christfulness' course, a Christian variant of mindfulness.

A number of proponents and opponents are given the floor in the articles. All together opinions of about six Christians, all experts or theologians.

If I try to summarize a few things, it is hardly possible because of the amount of opinions. That in itself indicates that there is great confusion about this subject and that a normal person does not understand it at all.

The key question is whether a method derived from Buddhism may be used by Christians. We do not want to be guided by people's opinions, but by God's Word.

A multitude of different sounds

We quote here a few opinions on the subject.

the Buddhist foundation of mindfulness is no reason for Huijgen to reject all mindfulness therapies. (…) What matters is how dominant that background is in the therapy itself. It is important to take a good look at the image of humanity that is hidden behind a therapy.
There is no clear yes or no from the Bible when it comes to Christian mindfulness, says Huijgen. He advocates leaving such a course to everyone's conscience, along the lines of 1 Corinthians 8.
the Ropes course aims to grow a Christian's desire for God. (…) Many people just keep running (…) This causes physical and psychological complaints. With Christfulness they learn to notice that and to submit to God.
Mindful living, that's what it's all about. Living like a child, full of wonder, open-minded, happy. That does not come from Buddhism, but is fully Christian. Just read in Jeremiah 31:21: 'Set your attention to the way you follow'. If you live like this, you are less stressed and you enjoy more (Ropes).
According to Ruud van der Ven, the core of Christian variants of mindfulness remains intact. While Buddhists strive for the emptiness of the individual to achieve unity with the universe, Christians strive for self-emptying to become one with God.
Christian mindfulness is not without risk, says Van der Ven. The Christian variant tries to achieve an experience: a sense of calm, peace, Christ, God or hearing the voice of God. (…) an opening can arise for the fallen spiritual world.
Bastiaan Visser, mental health psychologist always translates a therapy into a Christian variant. In mindfulness, for example, he left out the Buddhist elements and added Christian exercises from Benedictine spirituality, such as a Biblical meditation based on Psalm 62.
Visser thinks the warning against occultism is unjustified. (…) for a healthy spiritual life it is necessary that you know what is going on inside you mentally. Otherwise it will hinder your relationship with God. Of course, you can go in the wrong direction with mindfulness. Then you get separated from God. But with most clients I see the opposite. The training teaches them to accept life and put it in the hands of God.
Ewoud de Jong, psychiatrist at Eleos and the Therapeutic Center Flevoland, thinks there is nothing wrong with Christian mindfulness training. (…) It helps you to be more positive in life and to enjoy things more as they come to you. (…) Christian trainers should not dwell on the classic variant of mindfulness. (…) Mindfulness training in which people learn to live more consciously and deal more consciously with God's Word seems very valuable to me.
Koert van de Velde, religious scholar and journalist at Trouw, believes that mindfulness is not just a method, but deeply religious. He sees the naive neglect of the religious roots and content of mindfulness as an example of 'mindfoolness'.

The problem

The problem that all scholars and experts agree on is that more and more people – including Christians – are experiencing difficulties in their lives, apparently want to think less about the future (what does it look like?) and become increasingly stressed. Even Christians, for example, because they have forgotten to 'live meditatively before God's face' (quote by De Jong as well as Huijgen).

It is striking that in the article no one asks – not even the journalist – what the cause is. Everyone is apparently stuck in a 'problem – solution thinking'. People have a problem and are going to solve it. Then only the solution is discussed; whether or not Christian mindfulness is possible and allowed. No one wonders what the cause of the problem is.

Let me do that here. I believe – and I say this with trepidation because I know myself a little – that Christians no longer know what their faith means for everyday life. They no longer know what Christ, Golgotha and the Bible have to do with daily life. That's why they don't look for it there when they experience stressful circumstances in life. It's not the subject of this post, so we can't say much about it here. We only take Paul and Silas as an example (Acts 16:23-25). In extremely difficult and hopeless circumstances, they prayed and sang hymns to God. Praise to God is the foundation and core of a healthy Christian life, we have talked about it before.

Christian Mindfulness – What Does the Bible Say?

It is not the intention to comment on all views as stated above one by one. We limit ourselves to a summary of what the Bible says about this theme. For a more extensive substantiation, reference is made to what is described under 'Serving Idols‘.

the people of Israel were not allowed to interfere in any way with the religions of other peoples. That was because they would not adopt their way of approaching the invisible world and would approach God in that (pagan) way (see for example Deuteronomy 12:4,30-31)
if they did this, they would think they were serving God, but in reality they were serving than the idols. They would then come under the influence of demons.
The first commandments in the 'ten commandments' are about idolatry. They are called "crime" and hatred of Him by God (Exodus 20:3-5).
This idolatry would be the reason God should judge the people. As has happened several times and eventually led to the removal from the country.
In the New Testament this way of thinking about idolatry is extended both by the Lord Jesus Himself and especially by the apostles (including Paul and John).
Key point at the pagan religions is the manipulation of the mind, whereby a higher state of consciousness arises. As a result, one then becomes open to the invisible world and the influence of demons.
Proverbs 21:16 teaches us where the man comes who turns the mind off:A man who strays from the way of understanding will rest in the company of the dead“. Our thinking protects us from the direct influence of the invisible world. If we stray from that road, we come into the company of the dead. That is the world of the ghosts, the shadows; the invisible world. What you find there is by the way 'rest', a state of harmony and peace.
Christians too can do this under a Christian label, of which Paul says, “I do not want you to have fellowship with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
The result of this among Christians is that they generally have positive experiences with this, but are no longer open to the Bible, the Word of God. A condition called "apostasy" in the Bible.

The Bible is very clear when it comes to mindfulness—and all other methods of manipulating consciousness: it's an absolute NO!

The method of manipulating the mind and creating a higher state of consciousness is not only found in Buddhism, but wherever meditation techniques are taught in one form or another. In that respect, so-called 'Christian meditation' from the monastic tradition has the same effect as mindfulness, whether or not it is Christian. In that regard, replacing Buddhist elements with 'Christian practices' – which many of the above experts are in favor of – is a serious misguidance.

A little bit then?

Some believe that you can remove the Buddhist aspects and then add some Christian words, methods, or exercises so that you can effectively achieve Christian mindfulness.

Nothing is less true. The Bible makes it clear. The people were allowed in no way do something with the idols of the nations. Everything that reminded of it had to be cleared up in the promised land. They weren't even allowed to mention the names of the gods!

Paul warns 'flee from idolatry' (1 Corinthians 10:14) and John says 'beware of idols' (1 John 5:21).

The Bible leaves no room for copying any of the pagan ways of contacting the unseen world.

“Beware lest anyone drag you as booty by philosophy and empty temptation, according to the tradition of men, according to the principles of the world, but not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are made perfect in Him who is the Head of every principality and power.” (Colossians 2:8-10)

What then?

What then does a believer have? He has Christ who died for him on Calvary's cross. He has forgiveness of sins, is reconciled to God, and justified by God. He has all that Christ has accomplished. He is blessed with “all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). And he's got a lot ahead of him.

In all you will, Jesus my,
be with me.
You will be in the greatest pain
be with me.
I want to follow you where you lead,
since you are love itself.
You will forever
be with me.
Spiritual Songs 112:3 (2016 edition)