Has new age crept into the church?
Here’s what my good friend, Alan Strudwick, has to say.
Yoga, sadly, is a huge part of our society. You can see huge billboards splattered across LA, or thousands of online marketing ads showing attractive women posturing themselves in yoga-like positions.
Yoga markets itself as a relaxing, stress-free form of exercise. It is seen as a popular way to meet with friends and do beneficial stretches for your body. Churches have even started hosting holy yoga sessions while playing worship music in the background.
I have always had a suspicion about yoga. I didn’t know much about it at first, but I’ve had this feeling for years that practicing yoga as a Christian isn’t right.
What really changed my perspective was my good friend, Alan Strudwick, a graduate of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Alan grew up as a young man in the new age movement and helped shaped its growth in America before eventually having an encounter with Christ.
From a young age, Alan was groomed to be an influential leader in the new age movement. He led seminars and strategized with leaders on how to spread new age ideas into the western world.
Interestingly, one of the ways the leaders decided to accomplish this task was to infiltrate new age ideas into the church, specifically with yoga. Here’s a quote from Alan about this in his book, Spiritual Evolution:
“Another focus group we planned to target and infiltrate were Christians… Our strategic plan was to ‘water down’ Chistianity as a faith and replace it with New Age philosophies and practices.”
Alan’s book explains that not only was yoga planned to be infiltrated into the church, but how it was also an age-old Hindu belief intertwined with demonic spirituality. Alan writes:
“The ultimate goal of the practice of Yoga is to ‘yoke’ or have ‘union’ with Hindu gods. The ‘goal’ is clearly identified through the study of ancient Hindu texts… Whether we are an advocate for Yoga or not, we must realize that Yoga is rooted in spiritualism, and many of the postures have a meaning that goes beyond simple strengthening and lengthening of muscles.”
As Christians, I believe it is very unwise to practice yoga. The poses themselves are designed to invite demonic spirits. As believers, we should be advising against these kinds of practices, which is one reason why Bethel Sozo has recently categorized yoga as part of the occult list in the Four Doors.
If you are currently practicing yoga, I invite you to get alone with God and ask for His heart on the issue. I believe we each have our own decisions to make, but from personal experience, I have found that yoga is a sneaky way that ungodly ideas have spread into the church.
For more information on new age practices hiding in the church, check out Alan’s book:
