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by Charlie Wolcott

Ever seen the “Coexist” sign, where it has seven different symbols of different religions from Islam to Judaism to Christianity and others?

This comes from the idea that all religions point to the same truth, just with different flavors. But did you ever notice WHO is promoting this and to WHOM? It’s not the Jews. It’s not the Muslims. It’s not the Hindus. They aren’t calling for it, nor are they being asked for it. It’s by the mainstream media and the New Age mystics, and it’s targeting Christians in particular.

Why New Age? New Age is showing itself in many different forms, and one of their primary teachings is an idea of a panentheism. It is slightly different than straight pantheism, which is the idea that God is nature and is part of nature. It does have those aspects, but it treats “God” as an overarching mystical energy that we all have a piece of the essence of that energy (it can be known as the “Divine Spark”). This god is not a person but an energy that powers the universe.

This is the same teaching from the Gnostics from 2000 years ago which the Apostles fought. It’s not a new teaching at all. It specifically denies the Creator His position and puts man in the “god position” with the “divineness” or the “godness” to speak and draw that mystical energy and control our own destiny.

Some of you may be thinking, “I’ve heard that stuff before.” You don’t have to go to a Tarot Card reader or go read Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, which is a very popular book that codifies the “Law of Attraction” using these principles. I watched the documentary over the book to see what it was about and “Satanic” certainly came to mind as well as “blasphemous.” One quote was: “Greater is the power within you than the power in the world.” This was talking about how we can, with our thoughts and our lips, control the “energy” of the universe to bring what we desire into reality. You don’t need to check out those pagan sources to hear these teachings. You just need to attend your typical “Progressive Christian” or “Prosperity Gospel” American “Christian” church. If you don’t believe me, check out the documentary “American Gospel: Christ Crucified” released earlier this year (it’s on Amazon Prime and DVD).

What we have seen is a mixing of worldviews within the Christian church. What the “Progressive Christian” movement has done is taken the New Age mystic ideas and covered them in Christianese. They started out with correct objections to how the typical evangelical church has been doing things, but instead of going back to what historic Christianity is and looking for the real thing, they went out to literally redefine Christianity.

What has happened as a result? A larger and greater Christian community? A people walking in holiness with Almighty God? A faith so strong that the world cannot faze them? Nothing of the sort. What has happened is a castrated church. Yes, that is a very appropriate term. When we abandon the sound doctrines passed down to us from the Apostles through the preservation of Scripture, we castrate ourselves of our faith’s power. We may declare a form of godliness, but there’s no life, no power, and no ability to reproduce.

Paul warned the Corinthian church about mixing worldviews. We are not to be unequally yoked. We cannot tie ourselves to the heathen and thus be forced into commitments that we are obligated to keep but are morally against what God said. Back in those days, many businesses were part of trade guilds. You could not operate a business independently. You had to be “registered” with the guilds. And the guilds were often dedicated to a particular pagan deity, and their “union meetings” (if you could call them that) involved rituals to worship said deity and most of them had something sexual in nature. This meant that as a Christian, if you associated in business with the heathen, you were expected to pay for and participate in pagan rituals that you knew were sinful.

But that passage is talking about marriage, right? It’s often been taught that way, and it most certainly applies to marriage, but it’s talking about ANY relationship. Now we can have acquaintances who are not believers, but we are not to have a relationship with an unbeliever where that relationship will produce a commitment that can lead to sin. Marriage, business, politics, you name it. However, Paul wasn’t just aiming at a practical application with this passage. He was aiming at our spiritual lives, at our worldview, and at our way of thinking. How can a Christian, who has been born again, having had his nature changed from sin-loving to God-fearing, having his mind be renewed to think of God’s things not man’s things, have anything to do with that which he was rescued from? What business does a Christian, who was bought with a price to be freed FROM sin, continue to have relationships with that which is sinful? How can we claim to be Christians and yet borrow so many ideas from the world in how we think and operate?

“But I’m not doing that? I’m a Christian. I live by the Bible.” Do you? Let’s test that. Do your ideas about origins come from the Bible, or do they come from our modern scientists? If the latter, then you are carrying a mixed worldview, if not an anti-Biblical one. How are you raising your children? Are you teaching them how to live and operate by Biblical standards (like parents being responsible for a child’s education and upbringing) or have you let the “village” raise them? (This is not a knock on schools, but the idea that all parents need to do is house and feed their kids, and let the “education” be done by the teachers). How do you handle your problems? Are you tuned to Scripture to see what it says and seeking the face of God in dealing with them, or are you seeking the advice of the professional counselors and doctors to give you pills for your problems? How do you handle conflict? Do you follow the instructions from Scripture on what to do, or do you follow the world’s way of lashing out with insults, violence, and lawsuits? Can you point to me which Scriptures you are living by, or are you just going by what your social groups or church traditions tell you?

How are you doing? Let me make this clear. NONE of us are doing it 100% Biblically, because none of us have been completely redeemed yet. However, there are only a few of us even trying. There are only a few of us who can go to Scripture and say, “I am doing this this way, because I am striving to follow this verse.” Can you do that? Can I?

If we want to see power back in the church and if we want to see the real thing again, we have to rid ourselves of that which is hindering us. We have to rid ourselves of worldly thinking and the worldly way of operating. We need to have our minds transformed, completely changed, and conformed to the will of Christ and of Christ alone. Jesus does not share masters. The idea of “Coexist” is really just code for something else: “Comply.” It is not asking us, “Can’t we all just get along?” No, they are saying, “You better get off your exclusivity claim, and you better join us in our exclusive religion, or we are going to make your life miserable.” They aren’t going to compromise. Why should we? Yes, we’ll be unpopular, but who said popularity was something we should chase? Our goal and our purpose for living is for the glory of God alone. That is what I am aiming for. I’ll mess it up and I’ll stumble, and I’ll miss it many times, but I’ll be aiming that directly. Let us not mix our worldviews. Let us stand holy and separate from the rest. Let us build our lives on Scripture Alone, by the Grace of God Alone, through Faith Alone, in Christ Alone, and for the Glory of God Alone. Let’s not share that which belongs to God with another.

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