Is Yoga Sinful?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 July 2015

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When it comes to yoga or anything else, don’t simply ask, “What’s wrong with this?” Ask the much fuller question, “Will this make me more Christlike?”

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have a stack of about 60 emails from listeners in Scotland and the United States and India,
0:11.4	who all want to know about yoga.
0:14.2	Is yoga a mere physical exercise or is unavoidably a participation in Eastern spirituality?
0:21.2	One of our listeners named Todd writes and asks this, Pastor John is a healthcare professional.
0:26.3	I am interested in the benefits of Eastern practices like yoga and tai chi for the documented
0:31.9	health benefits they offer.
0:33.5	Can a Christian practice such things with roots and mysticism in good conscience?
0:37.7	What would you say, Pastor John?
0:40.3	One of the first things I would say is that there are two kinds of approaches to questionable
0:48.1	practices in life.
0:50.1	One I would call a minimalist approach to holiness and godliness and the other maximalist.
0:58.5	In the first case, your typical question is, well, what's wrong with it?
1:03.2	It would apply to movies and music and kids often ask their parents, what's wrong with it?
1:09.3	The other approach is not to ask what's wrong with it mainly, but will it make me more
1:16.1	Christ-like?
1:18.1	Will it make me more devoted to Jesus?
1:20.7	Will I be more powerful and full of the Holy Spirit?
1:24.6	Will I be more effective in prayer because of it?
1:27.5	Will it make me more bold in witness or weak in me?
1:30.9	Will it help me be spiritually discerning of the ways of Satan in the world?
1:36.0	Will it help me lay up treasures in heaven?
1:38.2	Will it help me find joy in God and all that he is for me in Jesus?
	...

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