EAST MEETS WEST:
Rob Bell, Yoga and Family Christian Stores
Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill emerging church and creative mind behind the "Nooma" DVD's that are sweeping through the young Christian emerging church, has just released a DVD called "Breathe". The basic idea is that breathing somehow puts us more deeply in touch with the Divine.
On face value, I struggle with the idea that better breathing somehow helps the Holy Spirit communicate better with me, or makes me more receptive. Breathing is good. In fact, you die without it. But it is not, as far as I have been able to discern from scriptures, a required or even recommended spiritual discipline.
It is, however, a required and recommended spiritual discipline for Hindu and Buddhist believers. And therein lies the problem. Over the last few years, the church has increasingly opened its doors to Eastern religious style forms of prayer, meditation and thinking. The release of a "Christian Yoga" book by Zondervan was a very pivotal turn towards the East. Hardly a soul raised a cry. After all, it's just "exercise." Or is it? Listen to what the Hindu teachers have to say about Christians and Yoga:
"Hinduism is the soul of Yoga based as it is on Hindu scripture and developed by Hindu sages. Yoga opens up new and more refined states of mind, and to understand them, one needs to believe in and understand the Hindu way of looking at God..A Christian trying to adapt these practices will likely disrupt their own beliefs." (Sannyasin Arumugaswami, managing editor of Hinduism Today.)
And this from an instructor associated with the Classical Yoga Hindu Academy: "Is Yoga a religion that denies Jesus Christ? Yes. Just as Christianity denies the Hindu Maha Devas such as Siva, Vishnu, Durga and Krishna, to name a few, Hinduism and its many Yogas have nothing to do with God and Jesus (though we do respect that others believe in this way.) As Hindus who live the Yogic lifestyle, we appreciate when others understand that all of Yoga is about the Hindu religion. Modern so-called "Yoga" is dishonest to Hindus and to all non-Hindus such as the Christians."
Wow. Do you need more to understand that Yoga and faith in Jesus Christ and His Word are incompatible?
So when I listened to a teaching directly from Rob Bell on breathing (again, scratching my head on what this has to do with Jesus), I was stunned when I heard him make the following statement: "In Yoga, one of the central tenets of Yoga, is your breath needs to remain the same, regardless of the pose...It's not how flexible you are - it is, can you keep your breath consistent. And the Yoga Masters say, 'this is how it is when you follow Jesus and surrender to God.' That's integrating the divine into the daily."
(Link to hear it yourself can be found here:
As someone who spent 7 years tangled up in the darkness of occultism and Hindu/Yoga practices, I cannot tell you how chilling this was to hear one of the forerunners of the emerging church recommend we get our cues on how to follow Jesus and surrender to God from "Yoga Masters." The scriptures are very clear on this:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God...Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (2 Cor. 6:14-17, partial.)
When you read that, cozying up with a practice and a philosophy that denies Jesus as the only way to God seems outrageous.
Not, apparently, to Family Christian Stores customer service representatives, who are responsible for deciding what products go into their mega "Christian" store. I assumed, if there were people at the helm who really cared whether the Body of Christ was getting truth or poison, they would at least investigate what Bell has said. The following exchanges with Family Christian Store customer service representative Darryl Tawney make it fairly clear that this is not a concern they feel has any validity, and thus are going to proudly retain and promote Bell's products.
In all fairness, no, I have not viewed the "Breathe" DVD, though I will. It is enough for me to know that whatever THIS DVD teaches, in Bell's ministerial forums, he has no problem promoting Yoga and eastern "breath technique." Before I post the e mails, please keep this in mind: Breath is essential to ALL Hindu Yogic practices. It is called "Prana", or the "divine breath." (Sounds like Bell's "integrating the divine into the daily", doesn't it?) Prana is in Hinduism the "divine breath of life, infused throughout the universe. It is the cosmic breath with which man has become 'out of tune', and, pranayama, like the asanas (Yoga poses done in excercises which are 'prayer positions' representing Siva, Krishna or other various animal gods) is accompanied by certain psychomental phenomena. Through the use of pranayama, it is believed that one is enhancing the flow of life force." (Marcia Montenegro, Yoga: Yokes, Snakes, and Gods)
Knowing these simple facts, any believer should be concerned not just about Bell's "breath" teachings (because it is so similar to Hindu teaching on "prana") but because his DVD is being sold in a Christian venue.
So here is my e mail exchange with the customer service agent at Family Christian Stores. Judge for yourself whether this response is sufficient. For me, it is sufficient for me not only to completely stop patronizing FCS, but to encourage all believers who love the truth of God's Word to take a stand and do the same.
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Dear Sir or Madam,
It has come to my attention that Family Christian Stores is now going to carry Rob Bell's Nooma DVD, "Breathe."
You should know that Bell is now teaching an eastern-style Yoga breath technique and knows it. This is a direct quote from one of his sessions:
"In Yoga, one of the central tenets of Yoga, is your breath needs to remain the same, regardless of the pose...It's not how flexible you are - it is, can you keep your breath consistent. And the Yoga Masters say, 'this is how it is when you follow Jesus and surrender to God.' That's integrating the divine into the daily."
I am extremely concerned that you are carrying a product by someone who is taking his cues on how we should follow Jesus from "Yoga Masters" - and I assure you, he's not referring to Christians. I came out of the occult through great hardship, and I am deeply alarmed that you would carry something that has the potential to lead many people into darkness and occultism.
I am asking that you remove Bell's products, or at least this "Breath" product from your stores. To not do so would lead me to believe you do not care about the Christian content of your store materials, and would make me consider not just ceasing to patronize your store, but to encourage others to do so. Your response in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely in Jesus Christ,
Dr Gregory R Reid
www.gregoryreid.com
YouthFire Ministries
Dr Reid,
After reviewing your e-mail and reviewing the NOOMA "Breathe" by Rob Bell I find no correlation between what Mr. Bell was communicating and the subject of Yoga. He never even uses the word yoga, nor does he talk about how to breathe. The entire DVD is a monologue about God providing breathe to every living being. And, the deeper spiritual meaning of the breathe He provides. He states, "You are a sacred creation of God. The divine breathe is flowing through you, and it's flowing through the person next to you and it's flowing through the person next to them. You are on holy ground. There is a holiness to the people around us and how you treat them. Jesus said whatever you do for them, you've done for him."
I have also discussed the DVD with our Buyers of this product. Three different individuals in this area of our company had previewed this DVD prior to releasing it. And all of these individuals were shocked by the statements in your e-mail. We would have to respectfully disagree with your comments. It would appear that you have criticized this project without personally reviewing the content. We are pleased to be able to offer the NOOMA product and the title "Breathe" is a quality product that we feel will draw the viewer into a deeper relationship with God. We will have to decline your request to have this product removed from our stores.
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Darryl Tawney
Customer Service Specialist
darryl.tawney@familychristian.com
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Dear Darryl,
Thank you for your response. I am glad that you made it clear where you all stand, and that you chose to completely disregard my concerns and my direct quotes concerning Bell's affinity for the "Yoga Masters." I believe the desired response for me would have been, "We did some research, we found out Rob Bell is teaching a form of occult meditation breath technique and he does quote 'Yoga Masters' as experts on following Jesus. We love truth more than anything so we're going to err on the side of caution and remove Mr. Bell's materials until we are confident he is not teaching unbiblical principles either on his videos or at his church."
It is very clear that you have no knowledge of the occult and eastern Buddhist/Hindu practices and its dangers, and you are completely unable or unwilling to even look at that and its influence in the Christian marketplace.
As you are "pleased" to offer Bell's products because of its quality, I will be saddened to make it clear to everyone I can that Family Christian Stores are carrying products by someone who is promoting eastern Yoga in his personal "ministry." I deeply regret your decision, and the steps I am going to take. But if those who can take a stand refuse to, please do not be surprised if those of us who have been through the kinds of hell the occult and eastern religions produce WILL.
Regretfully,
Gregory Reid
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Mr. Reid,
That is certainly a Christ-like attitude. I trust you are also
perpetrating this hate campaign with other Christian retailers as well.
As I have found that most major Christian retail outlets gladly carry
Rob Bell's products and that the product is well-received by a wide
variety of Christians nationwide. Again, before you tear something
down, perhaps having direct knowledge of it would be a good idea. View
the DVD then if you disagree perhaps a better avenue of expressing your
dissatisfaction would be to contact www.nooma.com.
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Darryl Tawney
Family Christian Stores
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Darryl,
Being Christlike is loving the truth that Jesus said He IS above all else.
This is not a hate campaign. This is about pleading with those responsible
for dispensing truth to be responsible to the truth found in the Word of
God. If you truly loved the truth you would have investigated my concerns,
and you have not. Attacking me with crass snippets like "that certainly is a
Christ-like attitude" and accusing me of perpetrating a hate campaign does
not change the heart of the issue: IF Rob Bell is truly supporting Yoga and
"Yoga Masters" (Hindu and Buddhist, because a Chrstian "Yoga master" is not
at issue) then, by supporting his product, you are enabling him in his
CHURCH TEACHINGS to propagate occult eastern practices. Of course, it is
entirely possible that you do not VIEW Yoga as occultic. In that case, I
truly have wasted my time, and yours. But rest assured, Bell may be teaching
something apparently innocent on the DVD - but it will lead people to what
he really teaches, and that is clearly Biblically-forbidden occult
collusion.
Gregory Reid
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(This terse response came without any salutation)
The heart of the issue is that you are attacking a man of God, because
he teaches in a way different than you are used to. If you can live
with that. Fine. But as far as this communication string. I will no
longer participate. I trust you will prayerfully consider these attacks
against Rev Bell. If you are a follower of Christ that shouldn't be too
much to ask.
__________________________________________________________________
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I admit, I came on pretty strong in my initial e-mail to FCS. Perhaps that is in part because I know it is strictly a business, and the number of new-age friendly bibles, books and products they carry lead me to conclude that whether a product is TRUTH or not is not as important as if it would sell. I have no doubt that FCS has many sincere believers working for them. Even Mr. Tawney. At issue for me - and the reason I came on so strong - was to see if they really DID care for truth enough to at least look into the real teachings at issue. They did not. Instead, they proudly stood behind a product that, to anyone who knows New Age teaching, is virtually indistinguishable from what they teach. Instead, they turned the attack on the messenger. To Mr. Tawney, I am a hater, carrying out a hate campaign against FCS. I am unchristlike. I am attacking REV Bell. It does not matter one whit to me what I am thought of - but it is highly disturbing to see, clearly demonstrated in these e mails, the next generation of "believers", who are so vague in what they believe and so unwilling to stand up for the truth that anyone who does is considered divisive and hateful. And it will only get worse from here. Now would be a good time to start making some decisions about what Christian media, music groups, publishers and retailers you are going to support. As for me and my house, I think I'm going to find some old time small Christian bookstores online and give them all my business. It seems the only right thing to do.
Gregory Reid