Al Mohler has caught up to a controversy that’s been talked about for years in Christendom. In a post last week at his website ¹, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president — I’m sorry to say this — breathed new life into the issue.

Without outlining my own position just yet, here’s an overview of three Christian views on yoga.

1. Pagans came up with yoga for false-religious reasons. Its belief basis, meditations, ideas about the human body, poses and breathing methods do not honor God. Therefore Christians should shun everything about the practice, not wanting to worship idols.
2. While pagans may have come up with yoga for wrong reasons, I as a Christian should be able to do it, even the meditating and whatever, and I’m okay. What’s wrong with it?
3. Yoga began as a system of exercise based on anti-Christian beliefs. Wise Christians will employ Biblically based discernment to weed out the junk, not wanting to dishonor God (and waste their time!) with false religious beliefs. However, although almost any Thing in the world (such as food) may be invented or sold with anti-God motivations (definition: any motivation not sanctified by the Spirit!), a Christian may stretch or exercise in a way that yoga practitioners just happened to popularize first, and not dishonor God.

Mohler takes a stance

This past spring I joined an anti-yoga Facebook group and participated, not because I believed in the group-starter’s beliefs (ahem), but because I wanted to stretch my mind (ahem) and take part in an intellectual exercise and learn (ahem!). That didn’t go over too well with other group “members,” most of whom were anti-Christian activists, polite and otherwise, who had more-crucial issues to complain about. But I did get a column out of it (plus a short sequel).

Still I stand by my conclusions then, that yoga poses, stretches and even breathing techniques and the like are almost direct equivalents to the “meat offered to idols” the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-10.

It seems Mohler doesn’t bring up that issue. To him, perhaps, not discerning yoga as a false religion is the main Problem in Christendom.

Do I agree this is likely Christians’ biggest problem? Yes.

Will I also ask rhetorically whether Mohler may be skipping over potential lesser problems? Yes.

He won’t know anyway, that I’m about to first, quote from his column:

[A] significant number of American Christians either experiment with yoga or become adherents of some yoga discipline. Most seem unaware that yoga cannot be neatly separated into physical and spiritual dimensions. The physical is the spiritual in yoga, and the exercises and disciplines of yoga are meant to connect with the divine.

… then rework it just a bit, like so:

[A] significant number of Corinthian Christians either taste-test meat offered to idols or become adherents of some pagan temple worship service. Most seem unaware that eating these meats cannot be neatly separated into physical and spiritual dimensions. The physical is the spiritual in idol-worship, and the exercises and disciplines of eating such meats are meant to connect with the divine.

This changes things somewhat — especially if we also remember that Paul did not say this or anything similar. Rather, the apostle said that while evil is real and we should not participate in actually worshiping demons, nothing is intrinsically wrong with the meats.

What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

1 Corinthians 10: 19-30

Spiritual freedom restrictions

A Christian’s only restrictions on doing something that could look evil but is not actually evil, are not based on the possibility that they’ll actually honor a demon by accident. Instead a Christian should avoid eating because another brother, with a conscientious objection, might be hurt.

That’s the catch. Freedom is what we have in Christ, Paul says. But as he himself gave up his freedom for His sake, we should take into account a Christian brother’s honest difficulties.

As I disclaimed in my first column on the issue:

[L]et us assume you are a newer Christian, or truly a more-sensitive sister. Such a person could have experience with an actual pagan-saturated practice of yoga, and want to avoid it. Why? For the same reason that a new Christian with an alcoholic past might avoid any restaurant with a bar: He might be tempted to fall back into that sinful habit that dishonors the Lord he loves.

So if you had a background in New Age practices, paganism or religion-saturated yoga, I would not be telling you like this that certain parts of yoga might be okay. Instead, I would encourage you to think about where the real sin comes from — as I’m doing now. But then I would back off and let God and you make your own decisions and whether it would be sinful for you.

Will the real compromise stand up?

Yet what about Mohler, and other Christians — such as a pastor friend of mine — who either merely bypass another potential problem of the yoga issue (blaming a neutral Thing for sin), or else directly state that you simply can’t have yoga’s physical part without its spiritual part?

For example, Mohler seems to acknowledge an inherent neutrality of yoga-esque positions:

There is nothing wrong with physical exercise, and yoga positions in themselves are not the main issue.

… yet then immediately adds:

But these positions are teaching postures with a spiritual purpose. Consider this — if you have to meditate intensely in order to achieve or to maintain a physical posture, it is no longer merely a physical posture.

Agreed with the meditation part: any connotation, in or outside of Christendom, of meditation without a preposition (we meditate on Christ, on His Word!) comes not from Scripture but from false religion, and has no place for a Christian. It’s also a tremendous waste of time.

But how can a position of the human body teach anything, especially if it is undertaken by a Christian who can and does separate it from its pagan origins?

Isn’t this equivalent to saying “even if you don’t eat meat in a temple as part of a false religious ceremony, the meat itself would teach you to worship idols”?

Furthering Mohler’s point, a pastor acquaintance of mine — whom I much respect — asked this:

There is a difference between accidentally striking a pose and deliberately learning and imitating yoga techniques. To think that we can separate the physical from the spiritual in this matter is to not understand eastern religion.

In response I asked: “But why should we assume that what Eastern religion believes is right?”

Put another way, let’s consider only two of the yoga positions, ruling out the second, which both no. 1 and no. 3 believe is wrong (i.e., Why can’t I practice everything about yoga, it’s okay, right? and I can meditate — without a preposition — and still love Jesus!).

1. We can’t separate the physical and spiritual components of yoga, so we need to avoid it all. Eastern religion says the physical and spiritual components of yoga can’t be divided.
2. We can indeed separate the physical and spiritual components of yoga, and perhaps assume a yoga-esque position, intentionally, for exercise, rejecting false beliefs.

Now I ask: which view here has actually bought into Eastern religious beliefs?

As for me, I say the Eastern-religious can’t-divide claim is hokum, just like the notion that meat offered to idols automatically gives credit to idols wherever it goes. And while I don’t believe Christians who take the Eastern-religious concepts at their word do so intentionally, I have also begun to wonder whether they’re not avoiding Things not out of concern for weaker brothers, but because the Bad Guys say they’ve “claimed” them and the Christians just go along with it.

What testimony are Christians giving to others about where we believe sin actually originates?

By the way, quasi-sabbatical over. Back to work, now writing three entries three times a week.

(A short sequel to Wednesday’s column, originally posted here.)

Some Christians are convinced that Satan can corrupt many things — such as alcohol or yoga practices, like positions or breathing — to the point where

Consider this montage of quotes from Justin Taylor’s blog: Alcohol, Liberty, and Legalism. It’s one of the best summaries I’ve read of why Christians ought to fight man-made rules at least as much, if not more so, than they fight addictive behaviors or actual pagan practices.

Here’s an excerpt, from Taylor’s excerpt from You Know Who¹ about legalism’s appalling dangers. It is far worse than the obvious danger of alcohol, or any other Bad Thing we try to avoid.

Satan is so sly. “He disguises himself as an angel of light,” the apostle says in 2 Corinthians 11:14. He keeps his deadliest diseases most sanitary. He clothes his captains in religious garments and houses his weapons in temples. O don’t you want to see his plots uncovered? . . .

Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism because it doesn’t look like one.

Alcoholism makes men fail; legalism helps them succeed in the world.

Alcoholism makes men depend on the bottle; legalism makes them self-sufficient, depending on no one.

Alcoholism destroys moral resolve; legalism gives it strength.

Alcoholics don’t feel welcome in church; legalists love to hear their morality extolled in church.

Or: Why I joined a Facebook group called “Yoga and Eastern Martial Arts are NOT Christian!”

In which the Author, having No Wish to cause un-Biblical Offense to a Sister in Christ, Nevertheless attempts to show what Scripture says actually causes Human Sin.

Firstly, for those of you who don’t claim Christianity, or who have issues with major ideas like “God is love, so He made it clear what He wants us to know by inspiring His Word” — that is a far more important discussion. Isn’t this far more important than whether yoga is good or bad, or whether Christianity is against every element ascribed to yoga?

What is important is whether God is real, loving and holy. And does He see any of us worthy of Him, to delight in and enjoy Him forever? Have any of us kept all Ten Commandments? If not, will we suffer the punishment, or has Someone suffered it for us?

Now with that in mind, those of you who are not Christians can see (I hope; help me, Lord!) what it is like when Christians respectfully disagree with each other or discuss issues. Welcome to the inside. You’re in the treehouse now; make sure you pull the rope-ladder up after you.

For starters, [group founder], I think that you are misunderstanding a key part of what I’m saying.¹

What I say: “ ‘Meat sacrificed to idols’ (i.e., a Thing someone does with evil intent) is not sinful. What someone makes of it is sinful. Therefore the Thing is not at fault; the person can be.”

What you seem to hear: “Idols (i.e. a Thing that’s intrinsically opposed to God or His standards) are not sinful. We can enjoy an idol and still be Christian. Freedom and love are the way, man!”

Does Scripture have a balance between two Biblical truths that God doesn’t see as contradictory at all: Christians’ freedom in Christ, and the need to discern and avoid evil influences that are “not profitable”? I borrow that phrase from 1 Corinthians 6. The Apostle Paul warns Christians not to fall into the extreme view portrayed by a popular secular proverb, “All things are lawful for me.” No, Paul clarifies, “not all things are helpful. … I will not be enslaved by anything.”

We are in full agreement that some things are not helpful. In a recent Tweet, you mentioned internet porn. This is like an idol — at best it is a vanity, useless and there is no point to it; at worst it is corrupting. But I do not see all of yoga as an idol. Do you think all of it is?

Please note also that everything I say here applies equally to martial arts, television or the internet, musical instruments, movies, science fiction, or anything else that can be abused.

Real idols vs. meat meant for idols

I will keep coming back to a clear Biblical truth about how Christians handle “meat sacrificed to idols” as mentioned in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-10. In short: “meat sacrificed to idols” was a Thing that someone meant for evil, in anti-Christian religious ceremonies. Paul said such meats were not themselves evil, for an idol is nothing compared with the real God (1 Cor. 8:4). Romans 14 makes it clear he’s talking about more than food — Paul singles out holidays. Wise Christians also take this principle to include choices of media, music, books, or where to live.

But is yoga an idol, as you’re saying, or a meat sacrificed to an idol? Let me set up two scenarios. True discernment would sort out the differences between them:

1. Some yoga classes might include everyone assuming a painful-looking position (at least it looks painful to me) breathing a certain way, maybe doing strenuous exercise. They may reference energies or something (I’m likely messing up the particulars here; please bear with me). As you’ve said, participants may use this as part of an attempt to channel a demon (or spirit, or whatever). They may say things that contradict God’s Word.

Which parts of this are wrong?

It sounds like you’re saying “f” when you say: “Yoga is basically channeling a demon.” All of it?

2. My wife used to teach and take dance at a private Christian-oriented dance school. In one of my wife’s classes, her teacher (a solid Christian) incorporated, with discernment, “yoga moves” into the training. Did this include the whole package above? Not at all. It only included positions — which really hurt in hard-to-reach places, my wife assures me — concentration and breathing, and strenuous exercise. No chanting. No channeling. No false teaching or religion.

Do you think such activities, away from any pagan anti-God context, are still themselves so evil that a demon can utilize them to infiltrate any Christian?

Disclaimer: don’t cause stumbling

Here I want to be very clear. [Group founder,] I know from elsewhere about your real background. But let us assume you are a newer Christian, or truly a more-sensitive sister. Such a person could have experience with an actual pagan-saturated practice of yoga, and want to avoid it. Why? For the same reason that a new Christian with an alcoholic past might avoid any restaurant with a bar: He might be tempted to fall back into that sinful habit that dishonors the Lord he loves.

So if you had a background in New Age practices, paganism or religion-saturated yoga, I would not be telling you like this that certain parts of yoga might be okay. Instead, I would encourage you to think about where the real sin comes from — as I’m doing now. But then I would back off and let God and you make your own decisions and whether it would be sinful for you.

‘Stopping the indulgence of the flesh’

However, I understand that isn’t your background. Instead you’ve simply said, “I hate yoga.”

Why? Do you mean all the parts of it, including anything yoga teachers may have stumbled upon, apart from the pagan stuff, that happens to help dancers or athletes train their bodies? If so, then isn’t this not following Biblical discernment? Isn’t this instead making up regulations that ultimately can’t prevent real sin from within?

So what is of value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh? Paul goes on (and the rest of Scripture agrees) to urge a focus on Christ and Who He is. He has disarmed spiritual authorities! Yes, they are still out there, still dangerous and can cause temptations, but He has “put them to open shame” (Col. 3:15). As Christians hold fast to Jesus as our Head, our priorities change. We depart from a rule-driven lifestyle and love Him. Thus gradually our minds are being conformed to His (Rom. 12: 1-2). His Spirit changes us from within.

Colossians 3 goes on to describe the dual-sided process of putting to death old-earthly, evil things (this requires discernment) and becoming like who Christ wants His people to be. This is how we stop the indulgence of the flesh. It’s not by telling ourselves or others, “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch,” but by saying: “Know, love, become like and touch Christ.”

Conclusion, for now

That is why I joined this group, why I believe your premise is flawed, and why I believe there are more important things to be saying to Christians and non-Christians.

To Christians, we should say: “Christ is our all in all; let us be more like Him.”

To non-Christians, we should be saying: “Jesus is Lord, righteous, loving and holy. Apart from Him, your worst problem is not just being in the wrong environment or doing the wrong things, but failing to love and respect Him above anything else. Repent and believe in the Gospel!”

I know you are sharing these truths elsewhere. But when anyone is at the same time collecting shiny things — lesser spiritual causes — like magpies, what does that say about the Gospel? Doesn’t it say to others something like: “Yes, the Gospel is a huge priority for Christians and deadness in sin is the main problem — but also, vote this way! Reject this! Do this!”?

Alas, no! Our main priority is the Gospel. All other issues are secondary. What do you think?

I would urge you to consider the weight of these Scriptures, and particularly the emphasis in the New Testament on how we fight sin and the way demons really exploit it. (They are not making up the sin; only bringing it to the surface from the sin-shrapnel in our own hearts.) Furthermore, do you see how little the Scripture says about fighting demons directly, with exorcisms and all that? The battle is simpler and yet more complicated than that.

In fact, if I were a demon, do you know what I’d do? I would make Christians so focused on avoiding obvious things like yoga that they let me smuggle paganism into their lives through bad novels, sappy worship songs and false teachers. After all, Satan dresses up not as an obvious villain, but an angel of light.