I have gotten a few emails that people have sent me in the past few days about Orpah and her new found boldness in speaking out about her religious beliefs, mostly in connection to Ekhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. First of all, I must comment on the fact that Oprah (or anyone else for that matter) thinks these ideas are new. Tolle's "new earth" is simply Buddhism, maybe with a bit of new packaging. Both Tolle and Oprah assert that God is "a feeling experience, not a believing experience." God is a power or life force, not a personal deity. On a practical level I take exception to God being a feeling... if God is a feeling than he/she/it is always changing. Not only is God (or should I say, god) always changing, but he/she/it is always changing based on ME. That's scary. One of the things that I have come to appreciate about Christianity as different from new age philosophies such as this, is that I am not the center of the universe. The deeper you look into what Oprah/Tolle are teaching, the more you will see that the individual (me/I) stands at the center of the universe. Isn't that original sin? Wasn't that what Adam and Eve really wanted in the garden? They wanted to know what God knew so that they could become like God. Essentially, they wanted the story to be about them.I am proud to be part of the Christian tradition that unashamedly asserts that Jesus Christ is the only way to get to God. I am more convinced daily that I could never get there on my own. Not only that, but I am grateful to know a God who stands at the center of the universe; having spoke everything into existence, unmatchable in power, glory, and splendor. I am constantly humbled that this same God would want to have a relationship with me. To me, that's good news. I'm eternally thankful that I don't stand at the center of my world, but that God (personal God, not an idea or a force god) does.
I'll end with a verse from Colossians that I touched on last night. "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8
2 comments:
and of course, because of oprah, many people will buy into that idea. i think oprah followers are starting their own religion with oprah as the god, they'll read any book she says to read, use any product she says to use, yikes!!
In 10 years Oprah will have fallen off the radar of pop culture and no one will care what she thinks (or feels). In 1000 years Jesus Christ will still be Lord, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Friend.
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