The New Multi-faith Religion

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from World magazine, December 2001 with a headline: “The new multi-faith religion”.The 1500 worshippers filled the former warehouse, now turned into a sanctuary.Before the service the congregation sings praise songs and old-time gospel hymns led by a 160 member choir.The service is informal and lively.People hug each other.The minister prances on the stage preaching at full throttle, dynamic and mesmerizing.In the pews are celebrities, people with testimonies many having been helped by the thirty-one ministries this full service church operates.Prison outreach, twelve step programs, support groups for troubled people, help for the needy.AgapeInternationalSpiritualCenter in suburban Los Angeles has some 7000 members.It is a growing church very much like the hundreds of mega churches throughout the country.But intermixed with the Christian praise songs are the ohms of Eastern meditation.In the obligatory bookstore the Bible shares space with books by gurus, self proclaimed goddesses, and mystical pop psychologists.Agape calls itself a church, but it makes no pretenses about being Christian at all.Rather, as its pastor, Michael Beckwith explains it is new thought combined with ancient wisdom.“We don’t believe you are born into sin,” he explained to Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today.“We are born into blessings and while some seek salvation, we call it self-elevation.”Agape calls itself trans-denominational, but it is really trans-religion.Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Christians, young, old, rich, poor.“We cut along all lines,” said Reverend Beckwith, “to reach what is true.”

Tom:

Well I don’t know what he means by truth Dave, but my Bible says if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.This looks like a model for a one world church, religion?Something for everybody and not offending anyone?Except for a few of us.More than a few—those of us who really know the Lord.

Dave:

Could be.He talks about self-elevation.In other words, we’re not going to put ourselves down suggesting we are sinners, but we want to build ourselves up.Well that’s an ancient idea.I mean it began with the serpent in the garden.You can be another one of the gods too.And he says it’s new thought combined with ancient wisdom.I don’t know who decides whether this wisdom is wise.We have no proof, no evidence.What does he mean ancient wisdom, where does it come from?Well we know where it comes from.It comes from the mystical writings of the East.Eastern mysticism in fact is what it is.New thought—you know that began back in the 1890s and out of it came Christian Science and mind religious science and so forth.

Tom:

Dave, and of course new thought grew out of Thoreau, Emerson—transcendentalism.

Dave:

Right.And the whole idea was we have this power within ourselves.It doesn’t matter what you call God, just so you believe in some higher power.God is kind of like a placebo.You give a person a little sugar pill.You tell them it will do something and quite a high percentage of people will receive the affect, pain killer or whatever that they think this pill will give them.And so you see, the power isn’t really in the pill, but it is in the mind.And that’s what they are working on to uncover this power within us.So okay, you want to talk about God, okay, but God is like a placebo.Something to believe in which then activates or releases this inner power.This is what New Thought is all about.So we want to be positive and we can create our own universe.You can make yourself whatever you want to be.You can control your life and of course Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller have carried on the tradition of New Thought.They somehow managed to bring it into the evangelical church.Whereas those who started out with New Thought were thrown out of the evangelical church as heretics.But it has survived through Christian psychology.Many Christian psychologists teach much the same thing.Self love, self esteem, self acceptance, building up self—whereas the Bible teaches to deny self, that we are sinners, that it’s only by God’s grace, he is merciful to us and it is only because Christ paid the full penalty for our sins and we desperately need forgiveness because God is a righteous God.And one day the world will give an account to him.But they don’t want to believe that, they want to go by their own opinions.

Tom:

Dave, one of the frightening things about this article is that we’ve seen it in this ministry not only with regard to only articles that come our way, but people write to us and there’s an incredible lack of discernment.I wouldn’t doubt that there are people in this church that believe that they are Christians.They are singing Christian songs and so what if you do a little ohmmmm here or there, whatever?They believe it and there’s no discernment.Wait a minute, there’s no—just as we mentioned in the last segment—there’s no hold on here, time out!What does this have to do with truth?What does this have to do with God’s Word and so on?Well, it doesn’t make any difference.

Dave:

He’s talking about you’ve got your truth; I’ve got my truth which is ridiculous.Then truth means nothing.But Tom the most—

Tom:

But many are flocking to this kind of thing with a so-called Christian background.

Dave:

In fact, it’s in Christian churches.

Tom:

Yes.

Dave:

Some real Christian churches and evangelical churches.

Tom:

Right.

Dave:

That’s the tragedy.

Tom:

Right.Dave, you know again, AgapeInternationalSpiritualCenter.I look at all of these things that are listed in here and as you said, we can find mega churches today that are doing the same thing.You go down here with twelve step programs, and all of these support group issues.Whatever happened to good old God’s Word and singing some hymns and having someone preach God’s Word?Or even reading God’s Word—where did those things go?

Dave:

Spiritual center—that’s appealing because that’s what people want to say.I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.Because religion has dogma.It has doctrines and rules.

Tom:

And doctrine divides.

Dave:

That’s right.And we just want to be spiritual and get a good spiritual feeling and so forth.But Tom, it won’t work.Man is a spiritual being and that soul and spirit go on forever even when the body is laid in the grave.We better find out who the true God is and what he has to say about our eternal destiny.It’s just logical.

Tom:

One other thing about this Dave.This ought to be a warning to all true believers out here who are listening to us.Because this is a model of the false church that the Bible says clearly is going to develop in the last days.Dave I know there are some people really sincerely concerned about the state of the church.Look at these people doing this and into this and into that and it just doesn’t seem right to them that you can live your life as you please.

Dave:

Well the Bible contains many warnings and Tom my only difference would be with someone who believes in falling away.We’re looking at a person, who is living in sin but says yes, but I went forward at an evangelistic crusade and I’m saved.Once saved, always saved. I would say that person was never saved.If they’re not willing to be what God wants them to be right now, what evidence do they have that they were ever saved.In fact, in Matthew 7, Jesus doesn’t say “You guys were doing really well until you fell away,” he says, “I will say I never knew you.”