In every sect or church there are those who seek to go deeper, to experience God in more intimate ways. For the Catholics it was the Stigmata, for Protestants the Charismatics, and for the Orthodox Church it is Hesychasm or the Hesychaste Movement. Mystics have always been apart of the church and there is concern about their impact. Many are uncomfortable with any practice that stretches beyond the liturgy or the Lord Supper (Eucharist). Many fear the term mystic altogether because of its pagan connotations. The reason so much fear dominates the subject is because the devil does not want people to develop a deeper connection with Christ. Our enemy is content if we continue in ritual and keep the Lord at a distance, but should anyone endeavor to draw closer to Emmanuel, the evil one will caste doubt on the entire experience. [All experience's should be tested with the Bible.]
Many churches proclaim that the perfect path to knowing the Lord is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27). While love is cornerstone in following Christ, after all Jesus said, "This command I leave with you, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34, cross ref John 15:12). The problem is this is one command among many. Jesus also said, "deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). A great issue in the Protestant Church is imbalance in Scriptural teaching. Pastors and ministers tend to take one passage or three from one book, gospel, or epistle and make dogma or doctrine of it. The truth is that the Bible is a balance of many teachings, points, and doctrines. One scripture says, "judge not lest ye be judged," (Matthew 7:1) and another says, "it is necessary to judge those within the household of Christ." (1 Corinthians 5:12). Love is important, the apostle Paul even said, "if you have not love, you have nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2). But there is another important element we need to look at, that is knowing. It is possible to love, but not know and thus create a false love called loyalty. If you decide to make a religion out of love, you no longer love. If love becomes obligation and not a choice and relationship, it then becomes anything but love. We are to love God, but you cannot do that at a distance.
To love God you must know Him. To know Him, you have to spend time with Him. Look at your earthly relationships, do you keep your distance with those you love deeply? No, if you affection runs deep you crave to be with them wither they be friends or family. It should be the same with Jesus Christ. But how do you spend time with God? Prayer. That word either illicits excitement or enmity. Prayer is the phone call in western ideology. But in the eastern ideology prayer is not a phone call, but presence. It is being present before God, open as you take the posture of your choosing and waiting on the Lord Jesus's presence to manifest. In our tech world, people go to and fro like bees and bare any time they could spend with the Lord. Excuses abound for why people can't pray, but prayer for a Christian "should be breathing." (Kallistos). It should be something we do daily and all the time, "pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer doesn't have to interfere with work or you daily schedule, prayer can happen as you do tasks in your heart, head, and whispering breath. While others may use profanity when frustrated at work, why not pray? But to commune with Christ requires quiet, a stillness. At first this should be practiced in private, in a place that allows you to focus on the Lord. Then as you learn to commune and know Christ personally in prayer and stillness, then you can apply it to more public and daily living where you can carry Christ's presence into your workplace, school, and social life.
Jesus said to those who claimed to do things in his name, "I never knew you.." (Matthew 7:23). Knowing Christ is important. Not knowing about Him, anyone can find massive volumes of teaching about Jesus from Bibles to St. Benedict of Nursia. It is not a head matter, but a heart one. Knowing someone is to connect, develop a relationship and to know intimate details of their inner soul and spirit. Many people can claim to know about Jesus Christ, citing Scripture and Scholars, but can they tell anyone a personal detail, an experience with Christ or something He said outside those texts? Can they claim a closeness with Christ? I doubt it. Do not get me wrong, studying the Bible and other devotionals has merit and value, but they are tools to draw nearer to Christ, not the end in themselves. It is possible to turn anything into ritual and a newspaper, rather than nourishment for the spirit.
The world is stirring. It once was a spiritless place embracing atheism, agnosticism, nihilism, humanism, and nationalism. Now spiritism is taking root and unfortunately its the wrong kind of spiritism. People are employing demons and spirit guides, rather than turning to the Holy Spirit and communing with Christ Jesus. The fact that the world is becoming more spiritual again is good so that the gospel may reach these seekers, but it is also a time when knowing Christ personally will be pivotal to keep from being decieved. Jesus said, "There will be many false christs and false prophets who will work wonders and signs to deceive if possible even the elect." (Matthew 24:24). This will be the framework, a world open to spiritual things and so the deceiver will raise up false christs and prophets. For a while Satan blockaded the world with the lie of no God and no spirituality, drowning people in psychology and medical (fountain of youth) salvation. Now people are wising up as easterners come to the west. But our enemy will try to deceive. If the devil cannot steal or kill, he will lie. Through the Age of Reason, the Industrial Revolution, Communism, and Humanism Satan sought to steal spirituality from Man and kill him with the factory work ethic and self focused lifestyle. Now that our enemy cannot keep man's yearning for the spiritual in a tomb, he must deceive people with polluted spiritualities (demonic realities) from other religions and cults. Only Christianity: seeking, knowing, following, and believing in Christ Jesus is the only true spirituality. Through Christ alone who is God can we reach God (John 14:6, Colossians 2:9). So decide today to not be a casual and sit in a pew. Begin to pray earnestly. Cease the endless platitudes and petitions to fix all your problems and spend some time in presence of Christ and get to know Him.
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