Are You a Christian Mystic?

Sometimes I am at a loss for words to express how much superstitious mysticism has invaded our churches and our faith. It is so pervasive as to almost have taken the place of Christ and His redemptive purpose. People think this way: "I am a Christian. I had this experience. The experience must have come from God." Or they think: "I am a Christian. I thought of such-and-such. The such-and-such I thought of must be from God."

What a total perversion of what Truth is and how it is presented to God's followers in Christ!

Over the years people have come to me to "enlighten" me about how God works. Once, when I was suffering a physical condition, a pastor type came to me and proclaimed that I was in that condition because I had "confessed it," and that I had "failed to accept God's offered healing." To back his position he quoted to me Isaiah 53:3, "...But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." He leaned very heavily on the "...with his stripes we are healed" part. 

When this (I guess well meaning) pastor recited those words to me, I suppose he thought I had never read them before. In over 57 years of studying and teaching the Bible, I have never read Isaiah 53:3? Is that what he thought? How does he think I missed that part? Does he think I just ignored it? Perhaps he thinks I just skipped over it.

Actually, I have read and taught Isaiah many, many times and I have always included Isaiah 53:3. I am not ignorant of it, I just think beyond any shadow of a doubt that this pastor was totally miss-applying it, as do many, many Christians.

The idea that this passage refers to Christ's being whipped brought physical healing to us requires us to believe that God is capricious and disorderly in His revelation through His word. It requires us to think that the beginning of the passage (rightly) refers to spiritual things, but then God arbitrarily threw in a short physical reference before continuing His spiritual discourse.

Folks, there are no instances in all of Scripture where the revelation proceeds in this manner. Sometimes Paul is accused of being "stream of consciousness" in his presentation, but properly read and understood, nothing could be further from the truth.

What that pastor was actually guilty of (as are far too many Bible expositors) was having an idea (whether on his own or taught), considering himself a Christian, and concluding that the idea must, therefore, be from God. That is the essence of the error of Christian superstition and mysticism.

Another way of considering the thought processes that lead to superstition and mysticism goes like this: “I saw/experienced/heard X, therefore, X is true and should be pursued as a practice of our faith.” 

But true biblical reasoning must go: “Though I saw/experienced/heard X, I must rigorously test it up against a hermeneutically sound interpretation of Scripture. If Xconflicts with Scripture, it is X that is abandoned as a practice of our faith, not Scripture. 

Scripture alone is the authority.” Put another way for the sake of argument: “I think I saw a unicorn. Scripture says that unicorns do not exist. Therefore, I saw something, but it was not a unicorn.”

Though we may experience interesting spiritual phenomena, if the phenomenon is not supported by a sound interpretation of Scripture, then it is not to be pursued as something of the Christian faith. It would dissolve into superstition and mysticism.

There is another issue that leads to superstition and mysticism. It is correctly quoting Scripture but doing so out of the context of the word used in the original language, the verse it is in, the chapter it is in, the book it is in, the Testament it is in, the Covenant to which it applies and the Bible as a whole. All of those must come into play in order to correctly interpret and apply Scripture.

What often leads to bad theology and heresy is connecting Scriptures that are unrelated and from them establishing a theology or theosophy. For example, the following Scriptures are word-for-word what the Bible says:

Matthew 27:5 "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself."

Luke 10:27 "Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

John 13:27 "What you do, do quickly."

Put them all together and you can use the passages to conclude that Jesus justifies suicide! Nonsense, of course.

Sadly, that is how Christians establish their doctrines and theosophies. The end result is superstition and mysticism.

There is at least one more approach to Scripture that leads to superstition and mysticism. That is to totally misunderstand how Scripture is to be applied. There is a saying, "Scripture has one interpretation, but many applications.” That is patently false.

The problem with that approach is that it reduces Scripture to a form of Christian behaviorism. But that is not what Scripture is about in any way, shape or form. Some present this idea under the guise of Scripture being “designed for application, not just for spirituality.”

As long as that is totally understood in light of Scripture, that can be true. But the Bible is not a guide for living. If you need a guide for living, there is none better, but that’s not what it is about. Nor is it a book of history. If you need a history of the beginning through the end, there is no better book, but that’s not what the Bible is about. The Bible is not about correcting social injustice. If you need guidance as to what social ills need attention, there is no better source than the Bible, but that is not what it is about.

The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption. The purpose of any Bible study must be to determine what the passage reveals about God’s character. Miss that, and you miss the meaning. The purpose of any Bible study must be to discover how much He loves His creation. Miss that, and you miss the meaning. The purpose of any Bible study must be to uncover anew God’s plan for man’s redemption. Miss that, and you miss the meaning.

The Word of God is rooted in Truth (Jesus Christ). That Truth has nothing to do with what we wish God was like. It has nothing to do with coincidental events in our lives. God’s Truth is totally removed from any hint of superstition or mysticism. His Truth finds its absolute sufficiency in Christ, without added experiences, pretentions or imaginations.

Characteristics of Teachers of False Doctrine

Scripture has a great deal to say about false doctrine and those who teach it.

Matthew 7:15 warns: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.”

First Timothy deals extensively with teachers of false doctrine. In fact, that’s what the whole book is really about.

Romans 16:27 -  “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

We often emphasize the “divisions and obstacles” in this passage, but we tend to ignore the “contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught” part.

There are references to false teachers in 1 John, 2 John, Titus, the Revelation and many other places.

What are some characteristics of teachers of false doctrines and how do you recognize them.

Teachers of false doctrines typically promise what they cannot deliver. Their promises are often based on some imagined “word from God” that causes them to teach contrary to scripture or to teach practices that violate God’s set laws of finance. They eventually end up destroying the church they are supposed to serve.

In other words, the fruits of false doctrine are often collapse and church splits. Those are not acceptable fruits.

Teachers of false doctrine often stray from the gospel and teach some sort of prosperity faith, faith-healing or spiritual heresy.

Many teachers of false doctrine are leaders of very large congregations and are very charismatic. They teach a sort of “positive thinking” theosophy resulting in leading hoards astray.

Sometimes teachers of false doctrine are not the leaders of “mega-churches,” but of churches that should be growing but because of their false teachings and/or their inattention to the gospel, end up splitting instead.

Another characteristic of teachers of false doctrines is that they “experiment” with a variety of styles of both worship and education. They leave the methods that follow the principles laid out in God’s word and follow the crowds of those who are bent on becoming modernists.

The really sad thing is that leaders of the congregation who really “like the pastor” follow him over the cliff of failure and despair, blaming everything but themselves for being led down the wrong path.

More than anything else, Christians need to learn how to “rightly divide” the word, understanding that it is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.