THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD

Peter had written something so incredible about the role of our knowledge of God that few of us really believe it:

·       May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2-3; ESV)

How can it be that “all things that pertain to life and godliness” come to us “through the knowledge of him?” Of course, we can only internalize these truths through the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, we still cannot get our minds around the fact that all blessings come through this knowledge.

Why not? We have been conditioned to believe that the Christian life is about experiencing God apart from truths about God. We have come to believe that there is either something very sterile about truth or even that the notion of truth carries negative consequences for our experience of Christ.

Many have written this way. For example, the professed Christian and psychologist, David Benner, has written:

·       Equating faith with beliefs truncates and trivializes spirituality by reducing it to a mental process. Thoughts are, quite simply, a poor substitute for relationship. Some Christians speak much of a personal relationship with God but assume that this is based on holding right beliefs. Is it any wonder that this attempt to reduce Ultimate Mystery to theological propositions so often results in the principle personal relationship being between a person and his or her own thoughts? Cherishing thoughts about God replaces cherishing God; knowing about the Divine replaces knowing the Divine. Whenever the Wholly Other is thought to be contained in one’s beliefs and opinions, divine transcendence is seriously compromised and personal relationship with the Spirit minimized. (Soulful Spirituality, 6)

Benner needlessly denigrates thinking, believing, and the knowledge of God. Even worse, for him it is an impediment.

However, it is because I know that God loves and forgives me that I can love Him and feel intimate with Him. I know that I am beloved, and this helps me to love others. Our beliefs affect our entire lives – how we feel about ourselves, our attitudes towards others, and how we behave towards them.

What does Benner have to offer in place of Scriptural truths?  Awareness!

·       The spiritual life starts with awareness. Limited awareness equates to a shallow spiritual life. (96)

This certainly agrees with Scripture. However, what does Benner mean by “awareness?” Certainly not the awareness of God and His Word! Rather, it is the awareness of an unthinking object:

·       Feel it, smell it, look at it from as many angles as possible.  Notice how heavy or light it is, how hard or soft. Don’t analyze it as a scientist. Just allow it to capture your interest and hold your attention. Gaze at it in wonder and curiosity, and allow yourself to see it as if for the very first time. (99)

This is tragic. It is the Spirit working through the knowledge of God in Scripture that has rescued me from decades of depression and panic attacks. Scripture informed me that:

·       I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

It was Scripture, the knowledge of God, that enabled me to stop obsessing about my own failures and inadequacies and to look at the One who now owned me and would never stop loving me. This truth told me that I could now rest, because it is no longer about me but what He has done for me.

Scripture has also corrected me in so many ways. I used to feel so condemned, and even after I came to Christ, I felt that even God was condemning me. However, the Spirit woke me up to the knowledge of God:

·       There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

In view of my overwhelming feelings of condemnation, it was hard to believe that this verse was true. However, the Spirit eventually made this truth of God very real for me. Before, I had resented a God, who I felt had been unwelcoming of me, but I now became convinced that He not only didn’t condemn me, but He actually loved me with a love that transcended anything I could comprehend (Ephesians 3:19).

Through the knowledge of God, I had received a confidence and a freedom that the idolatrous meditation upon an object could never give. To Him alone be all the glory!

HOW BAD THEOLOGY CAN UNDERMINE THE FAITH

Paul had warned that bad theology undermines faith:

·       See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8; ESV)

Bad theology can take us captive. Sometimes, it can even look benign:

·       Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

Paul argued that even the smallest morsel of bad doctrine can undermine the entirety of our faith:

·       You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:7-9)

A little bit of bad teaching can contaminate everything. I know that this sounds unbelievable, but just think about a computer virus. It’s just a small bit of information, but it can destroy your computer. The same seems to pertain to our faith.

Let’s take a couple of examples. Universalism is the belief that everyone will be saved in the end. They argue that, since God is love, He would never condemn His creations to an endless hell. However, this one simple belief contradicts the entire Bible.

Why should any bother to read the Bible if they are going to be saved anyway. The Christian life is not easy. We are called to suffer (2 Cor. 4:10-11). Why then live for Christ? Why be obedient if all will be saved?

The same goes for prayer, confession, repentance, and certainly evangelism. I would be ashamed to tell anyone that they need to come to Christ if they are going to heaven regardless. In fact, if all are to be saved, nothing in the Bible is of any real consequence. Better to eat, drink, and be merry!

Many other heresies will also undermine the entirety of the faith. Mysticism is becoming fantastically popular. Mysticism is the belief that we can enjoy the love and blessings of God without certain beliefs and doctrines. All that is necessary is the practice of certain mindless techniques/exercises like meditation to clear the mind, visualizations, repetitions of a single word, or imaginations.

If we can experience the love of God through the various mystical exercises, who needs the Bible, confession, repentance, faith, and obedience. Mysticism makes them all irrelevant. However, their various techniques are entering the Church like a tsunami.

Why? Progressives are coming to believe that experience, rather than our opposing beliefs, will bring world unity. Sociologist Tony Campolo wrote:

·       A theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have within their histories examples of ecstatic union with God…I do not know what to make of the Muslim mystics, especially those who have come to be known as the Sufis. What do they experience in their mystical experiences? Could they have encountered the same God we do in our Christian mysticism. (Roger Oakland, Faith Undone, 108)

According to Campolo, we can plug into God through mystical techniques and experiences, and this common experience can become the basis of “common ground” among the various religions. He claims that he has been able to achieve “intimacy with Christ” through “centering prayer” (113). For him, this involves the repetition of the name of Jesus. However, he suggests that Muslims – and probably others – may also be able to achieve this same “intimacy with Christ” through the use of similar mystical techniques. If this is so, then theology and doctrine are no longer important. Instead, they build walls and present obstacles.

However, Campolo’s hope that people of different religions are experiencing our God lovingly and savingly is biblically absurd. Without having been reconciled to God through His Son, we cannot enter into His presence; nor would we want to. Israel had been so terrified by the manifestations of God on Mt. Sinai that they thought they would die (Deut. 5:25).

The Temple stood as a constant reminder that anyone not authorized to approach God would be struck dead. Even the authorized could only approach after lengthy preparations.

Jesus reiterated that fact that, naturally speaking, we hate the light of the presence of God:

·       And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

Jesus, therefore, is the last One the unredeemed would want to encounter. What then are they encountering when they claim to have an encounter with God through exercising their techniques? Paul had warned:

·       For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Where then can we find safety from demonic deception and demonic encounters? Only through Christ and through His Word!

Christian Growth: Theology or Feelings

What defiles or corrupts us? And what interferes with spiritual growth?

• Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by [teachings of] grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. (Hebrews 13:9) 

The Apostle Paul states it another way:

• Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

The source of growth is not the feelings but the thoughts. It is our thinking that allows us to “test and approve what God's will is.” Our feelings and experiences are only as weighty as our interpretation of these events. If we misunderstand them, we will be no closer to understanding the will of God.

While there are teachings that will carry us away from truth and maturity, there are also teachings which are in accord with truth and spiritual maturity.

According to Jesus, it is not those things that touch us or even enter into our stomachs that corrupt and misguide us:

·       "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'" (Matthew 15:17-20)

We are what we think. Our thoughts can either lead us away from sin or into its clutches and destructive influence. We will always have temptations. Even Jesus was tempted (Heb. 2:17-18, 4:15). Instead, it is how we understand these temptations that makes the difference. Ultimately, it is what we think that corrupts us. If this is so, then what we are taught and believe also corrupts or builds us. Therefore, Jesus instructed His disciples to be on guard against bad theology:

·       "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

·       In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven [teachings] of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (Luke 12:1)

Why must we be so careful about what we think? Because what we think is who we are! It also determines our fate:

• See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

We can be imprisoned and controlled by our philosophies or worldview. In fact, what we believe is so central to our life in Christ, that what the church teaches is of critical importance:

• Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (Revelation 2:14-15)

Conversely, Jesus commended the Philadelphian church because they “have kept my word” (Revelation 3:8).  Jesus’ messages to the churches make it clear that what we teach and believe determines how we will act. Keeping His Word is even a measure of our love for Him (John 14:21-24).

Although this is so clear and simple, most of us just don’t get it. Why not? We tend to think that what we experience and feel is more important than what we believe. Therefore, we tend to pursue good feelings and peak experiences at the expense of correct thoughts.

Moses had had the ultimate peak experience. He had spent 40 days on top of Mount Sinai with the Lord. The experience must have been so intense that his face became radiant. Consequently, he had to cover it lest he frighten the Israelites.

When Moses met with the Israelites, instead of talking about his peak experience, he taught them about what mattered - the words of God.

But how was it that Moses face shined? Simply by being in the presence of God? By experiencing Him? No!

• When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. (Exodus 34:29)

Moses’ transformation wasn’t about experiencing God but about hearing His words – words of truth.

Correct thoughts are the safest and surest road to good feelings. There are thousands of examples of this. If I think that my dentist is trying to undermine my mouth, I will be paranoid. But if I trust him and his work, I will remain at rest.

This principle also pertains to the Bible. Take this verse, for example:

• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

It was this verse that enabled me to stand against my over-powering feelings of condemnation and trust that God had totally freed, loved, and accepted me. What a relief and what blessed feelings!

It is therefore easy to understand that the one who meditates on His Word continually will be blessed exceedingly:

• He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

The Bible identifies that our battleground is in the mind not the feelings. Our warfare is to think God’s thoughts and not those of the surrounding culture:

• The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Our warfare is against arguments and theological temptations to think and embrace thoughts and beliefs that are not of Christ. If we win the battle of the mind, we will be able to resist the temptation of our feelings.

Consequently, as we have been taken captive spiritually by wrong thinking, we are set free from Satan by right thinking through the Holy Spirit:

• And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26) 

As the captive comes to the “knowledge of the truth,” he will “come to his senses” and escape. Of course, argumentation alone will not free anyone. Instead, it is God who must liberate by changing the heart.

In fact, our Lord will even chasten us if we don’t have the right theology. He even chastened the pagan King of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this theological lesson the hard way. He had a dream that deeply disturbed him. He called Daniel unravel its meaning:

• “This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times [or years] will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.”(Daniel 4:24-26)

All of this would happen to the King until he learned a theological truth - that his success was all about God. However, he continued to take credit for the great empire he had built:

• Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.” Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” (Daniel 4:29-33) 

However after seven years, his mind returned to him, and he had learned an essential theological truth:

• “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'... Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:34-35, 37) 

If this pagan King had to learn sound biblical theology - the lesson of humility and God's glory - how much more must God's people get this lesson down! If he had to lose his mind for seven years, what will happen to us if we refuse sound doctrinal truth?

Clearly, we are not free to reject God’s doctrinal truths. For one thing, they are available to all, but we reject them:

• Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand… (Proverbs 1:20-24) 

However, it is only at great cost to ourselves that we can reject wisdom and harden our heart against its warnings:

• “Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.” (Proverbs 1:29-31) 

The rejection of knowledge carries its own appropriate penalty. We will receive the very things we desire, the fruit of our own choices.

Scripture identifies growing in truth by the Spirit as a bedrock of Christian maturity, not feelings:

• Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:2-3)

Consequently, our primary battle is with our thoughts. Good feelings will follow sound thinking. If we walk in the light, we will be set free from a lot that binds us up:

• To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32) 

Christian truth – theology and doctrine - is the ark which bears precious cargo. To jettison the ark is to reject the entirety of the Christian inheritance.

Do Doctrines Divide?

Many in the Western church are choosing mystical experience over doctrinal truth. Why? Because they insist that doctrines divide us, while common mystical experience can bring us together. Mysticism is now touted as the means to directly experience God, making our “divisive” doctrines unnecessary. These experiences are achieved, not through believing the truth but through techniques available to all, irrespective of their religious orientations.  In this regard, sociologist Tony Campolo writes:

• A theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have within their histories examples of ecstatic union with God…I do not know what to make of the Muslim mystics, especially those who have come to be known as the Sufis. What do they experience in their mystical experiences? Could they have encountered the same God we do in our Christian mysticism. (Roger Oakland, Faith Undone, 108)

According to Campolo, we can plug into God through mystical techniques and experiences. He claims that he has been able to achieve “intimacy with Christ” through “centering prayer” (113) – for him, the repetition of the name of Jesus. However, he suggests that Muslims – and probably others – may also be able to achieve this same “intimacy with Christ” through the use of similar mystical techniques. If this is so, then theology and doctrine are no longer important.

This raises the question, “What is an ‘ecstatic union with God?’” The Bible makes no mention of such a thing. This Biblical silence speaks loudly, especially since Scripture claims to provide everything that we need for a relationship with God:

• All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

If mysticism is the means for world unity and peace, we should expect that Scripture would say something about this!

If anyone had experienced an “ecstatic union with God,” it was Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, instead of teaching His disciples about how to have an “ecstatic union with God,” He instructed them to not tell anyone about what they had seen (Matt. 17:11). If there ever had been a teachable moment to introduce mystical methods, it was then!

Moses also had a fantastic mountain-top experience, through which his countenance was transformed. However, instead of telling the Israelites about how they too could experience God, he related to them God’s words (Exodus 34:29-34). Rather than focusing upon having an experience, Moses placed the emphasis upon the Word of God.

Campolo fails to recognize that there is a prohibitive price to be paid for genuine experiences or revelations from God. God had taken Paul on a journey to heaven. However, lest he become proud about what he had learned and experienced, God chastened him severely (2 Cor, 12:1-10)!

However, it is important to realize that each one of these transformative experiences had been the product of God’s initiative and not human manipulations. In fact, the idea that we humans can coerce an “ecstatic union with God” is sheer arrogance.

At a low point in his ministry, Moses did request a divine revelation: “Show me your glory” (Exod. 33:18). However, God delivered in the form of doctrinal content rather than an ecstatic experience. He placed Moses in “the cleft of a rock,” while “His glory passed by” (33:22) and He honored him with His Self-disclosure (33:19).

But do we really encounter God through mystical techniques, and what assurance do we have that we aren’t really plugging into something malevolent? The mystic:

• Richard Foster claims that practitioners must use caution. He admits that in contemplative prayer “we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm” and that sometimes it is not the realm of God even though it is “supernatural.” He admits there are spiritual beings and that a prayer of protection should be said beforehand – something to the effect of “All dark and evil spirits must now leave.” (Roger Oakland, 99)

Foster is presumptuous if he thinks that just a “prayer of protection” will suffice.  In view of these spiritual threats, he should be asking if he has taken the wrong path, an unbiblical one, one that has taken him outside of the parameter of God’s protective hand! In view of the fact that the Devil poses as an agent of the light (2 Cor. 11:14), what guarantee does Foster have that he hasn’t been deceived?

This leads us to the next question: “Can people of other religions employ mystical techniques to experience God?” For one thing, God is the last Person that the unredeemed wants to experience. Naturally speaking, we hate God (Rom. 8:8:6-7) and can’t stand His presence:

• This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

Even the children of Israel couldn’t tolerate His presence:

• When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:18-19)

The last thing they wanted was a more intimate encounter! Surprisingly, God was pleased that Israel had this fearful awareness and, therefore, wouldn’t try to pursue a mystical union with Him. Without the redemption of the cross, He too didn’t want to be in Israel’s presence. He explained that He might destroy them if He came into their presence:

• I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” (Exodus 33:2- 3) 

Campolo suggests that the Muslims might also be experiencing God, apart from faith in Christ. However, if they were to experience God, they would be experiencing His wrath:

• The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. (Romans 1:18)

It is only through faith in Jesus that we have been redeemed from the wrath of God: It is only through Him that we can enter boldly into His presence:

• Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Mysticism would not be quite so offensive if it only claimed to influence our personal experience. However, it also claims to influence God! Campolo writes:

• The constant repetition of his name clears my head of everything but the awareness of his presence. By driving back all other concerns, I am able to create what the ancient Celtic Christians called “the thin place.” The thin place is that spiritual condition wherein the separation between the self and God becomes so thin that God is able to break through and envelope the soul. (114)

Campolo claims that “constant repetition … to create…the thin place” out of a thick separation between he and God, enables his less-than-omnipotent god “to break through and envelope the soul.” In essence, Campolo has become the prime agent of reconciliation, since God, by Himself, is unable!

However, Scripture assures us that God already lives within us to such an extent that we can confidently say:

• I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

Mysticism preaches a different Christ, One who is not omnipotent and cannot break through to us without our mindless repetitions or other profane techniques. Jesus even warned us against this practice:

• And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)

Repetitions might make us feel connected, but they have nothing to do with our relationship with our Savior! Instead, God wants truth, not repetitions, in our inmost being (Psalm 51:6). This truth should entail contrition and repentance and not ecstatic union!

Perhaps most troubling of all, Campolo claims that, through his “centering prayer,” he is the one who has removed or thinned the separating barrier between him and God. However, God claims that this is a barrier that He has eliminated through the cross, renting the separating temple veil in two! Of course, this is not to deny that we do erect barriers through our sins. However, we address such barriers through confession and repentance and not mystical practices!

In general, the mystics teach a different Christ, a Christ who is not so much concerned about truth, faith, doctrine, righteousness, repentance, obedience, and holiness as He is about learning techniques – repetitions, centering prayer, imaginations, visualizations and practicing silence. These are practices that find absolutely no biblical support.

Nevertheless, experience is essential to the Christian life. However, we enjoy this experience through the blessings of learning about our Lord (2 Peter 1:2-3; 1 Cor. 3:18; Jer. 9:23-24).

Our experience/feelings reflect what we understand! Having experienced decades of depression and self-loathing prior to coming to Christ, these tendencies had been deeply imprinted upon my flesh. They were so deep that I even felt that God loathed me. It seemed that God had created humanity for His own sadistic entertainment – plenty of laughs. However, one evening, He made very real for me the cross, His own suffering and compassion (Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 63:9). My tears of gratitude have not ceased flowing since!

Sometimes, Divisions are Unavoidable, even Necessary

In the church, we are to avoid divisions. The Apostle Paul pleaded for us to maintain our unity:

• Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:2-6)

However, we can only preserve unity where there is already a basis or foundation – Jesus - for that unity. We cannot create bonds of brotherhood where there are none. Nor can a skilled midwife bring forth a baby where there is none already waiting in the womb. Instead, we are called to be separate:

• Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)

It is Christ’s unity that must be preserved and not a unity of our own invention. Instead, we must not compromise our relationship with our Savior with bonds that will lead us into compromise.

This doesn’t mean that we cannot love and befriend those who do not share Christ with us. We certainly must, but these bonds cannot be such that they will diminish our life with the Lord. We cannot be yoked together with unbelievers in a way that compromises our supreme marriage.

However, within the church, we must be scrupulous about anything that might harm the Body of Christ. “A little leaven [sin] leavens [spreads sin throughout] the whole loaf” (Gal. 5:9).

In the Book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit provided the churches with the results of His theological evaluation. The church at Ephesus was even commended for its intolerance and willingness to risk divisions:

• I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. (Revelation 2:2-3)

Sometimes intolerance, division, and excommunication are commendable. There are other times when the churches were too tolerant, too concerned about achieving an unbiblical and superficial unity, that they were castigated by the Spirt. This was the case with the church at Pergamus:

• Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! (Revelation 2:14-16)

Evidently, the church at Pergamus lacked an adequate understanding or appreciation of God’s truths and concerns – theology! This was also the case with the church at Thyatira:

• Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. (Revelation 2:20-21)

Excommunication seems so archaic, intolerant, and unloving to modern ears. However, we are instructed to pursue this form of church discipline, not only for the benefit of the church, but also for the offender. Paul mentions two such offenders:

• Timothy… fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20) 

For their own welfare, Hymenaeus and Alexander had to be taught to not blaspheme. To accomplish this, strong measures are sometimes needful to bring about repentance. Paul also advised excommunication for an unrepentant man having sex with his father’s wife:

• When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:4-5)

Paul was not only concerned about the church but also the salvation of the unrepentant.

We Christians are often told that, “You shouldn’t judge.” However, when our critics judge us in this manner, they are also judging themselves. This should demonstrate that there is no way around judging and making divisions. They are a necessary part of life.

Mystical Experience and Peace

Can mystical experience unite the world and bring the peace that Campolo hopes for? I don’t see how! Already, we share many common experiences – fear, desire, family, children, friends, anxiety…  The list is almost endless. However, these haven’t brought peace. Why then expect that another common experience might bring peace?

My wife and I share many common experiences. However, we have to strive to maintain peace. How? With God’s theological truths! These instruct us how to please God and to love others:

• Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32)

These truths take precedence over all over our feelings and experiences, as they should!