Oh, here we go again!
My coworker pointed me to this article in Relevant about Christians doing yoga. An avid yoga-goer, I was super interested to read it. Until, that is, I saw Mark Driscoll's name in the first sentence. Rolling my eyes at least halfway back in my head, I sighed and pressed on.
He never disappoints. "Yoga is demonic," Driscoll announced definitively. "Yoga is absolute paganism." "Yoga and meditation and Easternism (yes, he said that) are all opening to demons." Anticipating the counterargument that yoga can actually help people connect to God, Driscoll was quick to compare this with "getting drunk and sleeping with your girlfriend in the name of Jesus" or becoming a Jehovah's Witness and worshiping a false God.
As someone who has never held Driscoll's teaching in high regard, it's not shocking to find that all of this strikes me as deeply thoughtless, bombastic, uninformed, and frustrating. Beyond my own opinion, though, is real (anecdotal) evidence. I know several Christians - myself included - who have benefitted in very real ways from doing yoga, and whose walks with God have been deepened through their practice. The Psalms, Proverbs, and other parts of the Bible make reference to the goodness of meditating on the word and works of God, and practicing yoga is a fantastic space to practice taking your thoughts captive to do just that, as you connect with your body, a good gift from God.
"If you just sign up for a little yoga class, you're signing up for a little demon class, that's what you're doing," Driscoll says. (A 'little' yoga class? Are we four?)
The point that Driscoll is missing here is that we can connect with God in all things where he will choose to meet us. And turning away from him, or to another God - as in the Jehovah's Witness example - although not beyond the pale of God by any means, aren't usual instruments of God's formation. But yoga? Yes, it originated in the Hindu tradition. And people were praying long before Jesus set foot on earth. Should we summarily dismiss prayer, as well? Or fasting, or solitude? Or should we meet God where he is, and where he is working in us? That's what I'll choose to do.
