Introduction to Biblical Meditation (II)
Shoppers and merchants consumed the crowded street on both sides. Mouth-watering smells of sweet ginger and beef lingered in the air. The clouds displayed dark hues of grayish charcoal, in contrast to the bright crimson red of the Chinese buildings. The buildings were all in unison; decoratively embroidered with golden tassels and trimming, with statues of dragons on corners, and architecturally important places. What started as an early walk in the cold crisp air had turned into a morning exploration wanting to see the new environment of where I had found myself. This was my first time to China and I was determined to spend every waking moment seeing the sights, culture, and people. What I did not realize I would find while I was there, was the very realistic understanding of difference in opinion with meditation. By coincidence or fate, I happened to cross a Buddhist temple. The fragrance of light smoke coming over the gateway through their courtyard cut through the merchant aroma as a knife through butter. The Buddhist monks dutifully about their responsibilities, traditions, and obligations. Ironically, the sight quickly brought my attention back to my days living on the reservation and being a eye witness to the practices of the medicine men. Like the Buddhist monks, the medicine men dutifully performed their traditions and obligations. The beat of the moose hide drums were almost in unison with the swirling Buddhist scent. Both experiences were almost a decade apart on two different continents, and yet I realized the same uneasy feeling had crept into my stomach, “This was man’s attempt to meditate.” Mistakenly, I assumed all meditation was wound up into one of these two distinct differences and yet to my shame I did not immediately search out God’s Word for what the true answer was.
Years would pass by and not a thought towards the subject had come across my mind, until I was walking in a rather large church and I recognized the meditation smell coming out of a room. Now to my bewilderment I did not understand why I was smelling such an aroma in a church. Following the scent, I found myself next to a room dedicated to Yoga, and “Christian Meditation.” I quickly asked myself, “Why on earth was this being allowed in the Church?” To my utter amazement the church (which will be nameless) was encouraging and training Christians to meditate in this manner. They called it Christian Meditation. My question to the church leadership was, “If this is Christian, why did my mind immediately race to Buddhist and Native American Medicine Men practices?” The leadership attempted to persuade me this was well grounded in Biblical truth and supported by main stream Bible organizations. However, they could not provide any solid contextually supported Bible verses for the very thing they were endorsing and training Christians to do. It was here that I finally realized my need, desire, and recognition of duty to fully understand what true Biblical Christian Meditation (BCM) really is. My goal is to help warn my brothers and sisters of the encroachment that has been found in the Church and to help encourage real BCM in our daily walk. God has made meditation for a unique purpose so that we can learn and draw near to our Heavenly Father. However, Satan like in other topics, has taken what was designed to be good and manipulated, polluted, and poisoned it into something that now hurts and pushes us away from our God. A.W Tozer once said, “Christianity at any given time is strong or weak depending upon her concept of God. And I insist upon this and I have said it many times, that the basic trouble with the Church today is her unworthy concept of God.”[1]
Many Christians are too afraid to utilize meditation due to the word and images that cross into our mind. We think immediately of the negative ideas and other religious practices that focus intensive energy into meditation practices. I respect your cautiousness and want to help you come to a better understanding of what God’s Word says about meditation. For others, they might already be put off due to their daily practice of Yoga or their church might also have adopted some of these religious practices. If you are in this group, I would encourage you to also stay around and see how God’s Word can help us understand what is right and what is wrong in practicing meditation. BCM can be something that helps enrich the soul for better understanding of Christ. It can lead us into visualizing a challenge of scripture that we are wrestling with and allow us to see it from a different perspective. BCM can calm the nerves, heighten the spiritual awareness, and bring focus to our lives that is desperately needed. What I ask for is patience and a spirit of the Berans, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” Acts 17:11. Take everything I say back to the Word of God and examine it for yourself. As we continue on this journey together, let us come to the feet of Jesus and learn what it truly means to repeat what is found in Psalm 1:2, “but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Because as we will learn through scripture, when we meditate on God’s Word we can see His Word come to life in our lives Joshua 1:8, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL
[1] A.W Tozer The Attributes of God Volume 1 Pg. 41.