Sharing your faith with New Age Believers
The New Age Movement is both a religious and a social movement. In fact, Western culture is currently experiencing a phenomenal, spiritual, ideological, and sociological shift. It is a religious world-view that is alien and hostile to Christianity. It’s a multi-focused, multi-faceted synthesis, in varying degrees, of the Far Eastern, mystical religions, mainly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Western Occultism, adapted to and influenced by Western, materialistic culture. It sometimes appears in secularized forms.
Many attribute the rise of the current New Age Movement (NAM) to evolving occult movements, such as New Thought and Theosophy in the late 1800’s, and the counter-culture movement of the 1960’s. Its root forms, however, actually are expressed in Satan’s temptation of man in Genesis 3, and in the beliefs of many pagan and eastern religions, thousands of years old.
Some popular publications and journals are New Age Journal, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, and Omega.
Other Names: Higher Consciousness Movement, Occultism, Eastern Mysticism, Eastern Spirituality, Ancient or Perennial Wisdom, Age of Aquarius, Holistic Health Movement.
It is comprised of hundreds of groups and individuals who have gained significant influence, affecting almost every area of the culture – sociology, psychology, medicine, the government, ecology, science, arts, education, the business community, the media, entertainment, sports, and even the church. It shows up in secular forms as well, in various human potential seminars, and much in between, i.e., transcendental meditation, some alternative holistic health practices, and certain curriculum in public (and private) schools.
The most central and commonly shared beliefs among New Agers are various combinations of Gnosticism and occultism. Gnosticism is an ancient world-view stating that Divine essence is the only true or highest reality, and that the unconscious Self of man is actually this essence.
Sharing the Gospel
It is very challenging, since many “New Agers” will see you as “unenlightened”. Use Paul’s example of the “unknown God” in Athens (Acts 17:16-34) as a way to perhaps get their interest. Since new Age believers claim to seek special knowledge, this approach may be our best approach.
Once you share the gospel, commit to praying for them every day; pray that God will reveal the truth to them. Our job is to share the truth of the gospel—only God can move the human heart.