Okay…here is where I aggravate or lose some of you. I have had some questions come to me lately about the growing popularity of yoga in America and even in American churches. Everyone acknowledges that yoga has century old roots in Hinduism and is distinctly connected with Eastern religions. Now … no Christian I have heard of thinks that everything yoga offers should be practiced by Christians, but many feel that the exercises themselves are spiritually harmless and physically beneficial. I have to admit that I have casually thought about yoga exercises myself for flexibility and health.

There are two schools of thought that seem to be developing on this issue of Christians and yoga. One is that it is harmless and even though it has spiritually occult roots, none of that is in the mind of the Christian practitioner. Therefore, it is not an issue. For those who have thought about the scriptural implications, they tend to liken this to Paul’s discussion on “eating meat sacrificed to idols” in I Corinthians 10. In that chapter, Paul offers a discourse on Christian freedom. He says that believers could buy meat in the market place that had possibly been sacrificed to idols without inquiring about whether it had been sacrificed to a false god or not.   Orthodox Jews were bound to ask about food products to make sure they were kosher because to eat non-Kosher foods would defile them. Pagan temples in Corinth often sold meat to venders that had been brought for a temple sacrifice but had not all been used. Paul clearly states that under the New Covenant there are no religiously clean and unclean foods and if you happened to buy meat that had been sacrificed to an idol while not honoring that god in your heart, it would not be sin.

However, he does go on to say that we should not eat meat sacrificed to idols if another person raises the question about it because, in the mind of that person, you might be honoring the false god. That misunderstanding might cause him to assume that honoring that god would be acceptable. He is also very clear that believers certainly could not participate in a ritual that honored a false god even if they did not honor that god in their hearts. In other words, you could not join a friend up at the Temple of Zeus for a wedding anniversary and participate in toasts and prayers to the false god.   That would constitute eating from the table of demons and fellowshipping with them. The principle is about our freedom in Christ and those who have thought about the spiritual implication of yoga exercises tend to place their participation in the exercise aspects of yoga under the umbrella of “since they are not honoring or pursuing false gods in their heart, it is not sin.”

On the other side, those concerned about all aspects of yoga tend to assert that you cannot separate yoga from occult Hinduism because even the exercises have spiritual connotations. They were designed to honor false gods (demons) and participating in the “ritual” honors the god even if you don’t intend to. It might be like a 1^st Century Christian going through the motions of a toast to Zeus while thinking in his mind that no such god exists. Paul, however, prohibited that. It might be like placing satanic pentagrams around your house simply because you liked the design and not because you had any intention of connecting that design to any spiritual realities. However, the spirits themselves might well come calling because, to them, the pentagram clearly honors Satan because it originated with him and for him. As Americans, we separate sacred from secular so distinctly that if there is not an opening prayer and an offering we don’t think of it as spiritual. Most of the world does not make that distinction and spirits don’t make that distinction.

My reading does raise some legitimate questions about yoga exercises. First of all, many poses apparently were developed as poses that honor Hindu gods (demons), even if we are not aware of those origins or connections or have no intention of doing so. Secondly, the exercises themselves were developed over centuries to facilitate the entrance of “spirits” into the human body to facilitate the “spiritual growth” of Hindus. Thirdly, some writings suggest that ancient spirits (demons) watch over the practice of yoga as their venue for accessing humans. Apparently, certain common vocabulary words, even in yoga exercises, have roots in language that honor Hindu gods and concepts. Fourthly, to practice yoga may tend to desensitize us to other influences of eastern religion that will eventually open the door for the enemy or create assumptions in those who watch us that all things connected with eastern religions might be acceptable.

I think these issues raise a cautionary flag for the practice of yoga even if you are not participating in chants, meditation, and mantras which will definitely open the door to the occult. Anyone involved in spiritual warfare will attest to the fact that certain practices can open the door to the enemy even if “we don’t mean it.” Children playing with Ouija boards for fun, teens visiting fortunetellers as a lark, best friends participating in sleepover séances, bringing home fertility gods as souvenirs, etc. can open the door to the enemy even if we put no stock in those things and thought they were harmless. It is possible that yoga exercises may fall under that same category of activities.

I want nothing in my house that honors demons even if I don’t honor them in my heart. The general rule for the first century church was not to eat meat sacrificed to idols even though in certain circumstances it might not constitute sin. That was one of the instructions given to the Gentile churches after the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 6, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor.6:14-16). In essence he counsels us not to be yoked to anything or anyone that has roots or connections in darkness.

Yoga enthusiasts themselves say, “It was the Lord Krishna (one of Hindu’s many millions of deities), in the Bhagavad Gita, who introduced the ritual of yoga as a way of achieving union with the universe. The Sanskrit word yoga actually means “union” or “yoking“, aiming at bringing about the union of the human spirit with the spirit of the universe. But what is more deeply meant is a separation from the physical illusion of life.” Does the practice of any form of yoga, then, honor or connect us with the spirits from which it originated? That is the question you have to answer.

I do not want to infringe on anyone’s freedom In Christ, nor do I want to be hyper-charismatic or give the devil more credit than he is due. However, I feel this deserves some caution and prayer…especially since the benefits of yoga exercises can be found in other forms of exercise without the spiritual baggage. Occult spirits are some of the most difficult to deal with and I think we must be wise in the ways and strategies of Satan to make us vulnerable to him. I would simply encourage you to pray about this matter and get a leading from the Spirit rather than just assuming no issues or questions exist about this very eastern practice. Then do whatever is of faith.