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A Blinding Darkness
A book review by Sarah Leslie
They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope in the noonday as in the night. (Job 5:14)
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COWBOYS and OUTLAWS – A Wild West Parable
Two rugged cowboys came galloping into Deadville.
They leaped off their horses and flung the reins over a post.
Bashing in the door of the sheriff’s office, they blurted out
breathlessly. “There’s been a fire over in Tombstone City! It was a
bad one. The town went up in smoke! There ain’t nothin’ left!”
Their grimy faces looked haggard and worn. “We seen the outlaws who
did it. We know their names. We seen how they operate.”
Deadville’s sheriff leaned back in his chair and put his boots up on
his desk, “Well, now,” he drawled complacently, “what does this
hafta do with me and my town?”
Looking very earnest, the older cowboy exclaimed, “Cause they’re
comin’ here next! We overheard them plotting! They might be headed
this way right now!”
The old sheriff stuck a toothpick in his mouth and chewed it around
absent-mindedly. He scrutinized the sooty clothes that the men were
wearing and examined their dusty boots. “Now, how do I know that you
fellas are tellin’ me the truth? I ain’t heard about no outlaws in
this area. Particularly not the kind that burn down towns.”
“But, sir, you gotta understand! These are bad men. They got evil
ways about them! They tricked folks and set Tombstone City on fire!
They burned it down to the ground!” The younger cowboy was very
earnest.
The sheriff clasped his hands behind his head with a slightly
bemused expression on his face. The other cowboy chimed impatiently,
“We seen how they do it! We know how they operate!”
The sheriff casually flicked some lint off his pants and then
crossed one polished boot on top of the other. “Suppose you fellas
tell me what makes you such big experts on fire-setting?”
The two cowboys looked at each other in dismay and shrugged their
shoulders. “We ain’t experts, sir,” the younger cowboy apologized.
“We jus’ know what happened. We figured you’d want to be warned
before these outlaws get over to yer town.”
“I thought so,” the sheriff grimaced. “You boys is greenhorns, ain’t
ya? You dunno what yer talking about.” He paused for a moment to
look distractedly out the window at the freshly-built wooden
storehouses lining Deadville’s streets. “Jus’ who didja say these
men were?”
The two cowboys eagerly reported the names of the outlaws. “Hmmmm
….,”sighed the sheriff, shifting uneasily in his chair. “I know
those fellas and they’re a fine bunch. Got a good reputation as law-abidin’
citizens in these parts. They’re rich kin to the McCaber clan over
on Mort Mountain.”
“Those men are outlaws!” asserted the older cowboy vigorously. “They
conned everybody in Tombstone City and we overheard ‘em talkin’.”
They’re headin’ over here to charm your ladies and swindle the
townfolk with their good manners. We seen how it happens!”
The sheriff looked upon them with utter scorn which quickly turned
to anger. “See here! You boys get outta here now – before I give ya
the boot,” he said menacingly. “I know your type. You’re jus’ here
to make trouble fer folks. Now git on with the both of you!”
There was a stunned silence. “Dontcha even want to know what
happened?” pleaded the younger cowboy softly. The face of the
sheriff was threatening and unmovable. The cowboys rose up and
dejectedly walked out of the office.
As soon as they were gone, the sheriff turned to his deputy, who had
been sitting silently in the corner witnessing the entire scene.
Nodding towards the doorway, the sheriff gruffly issued instruction,
“You’d best follow them boys and make sure they’re headed in the
direction outta town. Be real quick about it before they stir up any
trouble around here.”
The deputy stood up. He grasped his holster as he ambled toward the
door. His face looked hard. He knew what he had to do. |
GURUS and JESUSES – a Modern-Day Parable
Twenty-five years ago, a young man searching for some
spiritual meaning to his life began a journey. His steps seemed
particularly well-orchestrated, almost as if an unseen hand was directing
his path. Strange coincidences and chance encounters served as guideposts
on his quest for faith. Psychics, mystical leaders, and a host of
self-help experts introduced him to the methods and beliefs of metaphysics
and the occult. Each step took him deeper into a dizzying array of
doctrines that taught spirituality and self-fulfillment.
The young man devoured everything in sight, aching to find that ultimate
answer to the innermost yearnings in his soul. His search led him to a
myriad of New Age workshops, retreats, conferences and training sessions.
He became an expert in the plethora of concepts and practices leading
towards “godhood.” Eventually this young man’s path took him to a “Jesus.”
He studied this “Jesus” tediously for many months by reading A Course In
Miracles. “Jesus” taught him that he could become a “god” and that we are
all “perfect, sinless, guiltless Sons of God.”
Hungry for deeper spirituality, he dug into a wide variety of esoteric
teachings. He followed gurus, attended conferences, received training from
reputed masters, and learned the fundamentals of “New Age” doctrine – that
God “is already inside us, waiting to be discovered,” and that the
spiritual journey is “inward into the vast realms of our divine
consciousness,” and that our “only obstacles are our own self-imposed
limitations.” He was taught by the Course that “as we shed our false
beliefs of a sinful self we can more fully appreciate and love ourselves
for who we are – a glorious part of the totality and oneness and
perfection that we call God.”
This young man lived the perfect, free-spirited California life during the
1970s. Everything in his life seemed to be part of a magnificent
synchronistic destiny, until…. One day something dark and sinister
happened that changed his life – forever. This cataclysmic event
precipitated an unfolding drama in which all things that he had previously
believed began to disintegrate rapidly. The crisis led him to read the
Holy Bible, and in so doing he discovered the real Jesus Christ, the Son
of God who died on a cross and shed his blood for our sins. The young man
quickly learned that he was a sinner and that he needed salvation. He
became a Christian.
Rapidly and miraculously, his life was pulled back together, but nothing
would ever be the same again. He had a genuine burden to reach the lost
souls still imprisoned by the false doctrines of the New Age movement. He
began to reach out and minister wherever there was an open door. By this
time the young man knew his Scripture well. He told anybody who would
listen, “I know these gurus! They’re wolves in sheep’s clothing! I know
their slick words and tactics! I used to follow their heresies! I know how
seductive they can be! I know how evil they are! Flee from it!”
Then one day the Lord opened a door for his testimony to be published. He
finally had a way to reach the lost, unsaved souls held captive by the New
Age movement. You’d think that the evangelical Christian community would
be excited about a book that could reach New Agers with the Gospel. But
what happened next begins to parallel the Cowboys and Outlaws parable.
The LIGHT that was DARK
Eight years after he was saved, Warren Smith retained a
deep burden to minister to others still caught up in the burgeoning occult
doctrines and practices of the New Age. He hoped that by sharing his life
story he could show New Agers the way to the true Jesus Christ of the
Bible. And, he hoped that by writing a book for the Christian market he
could persuade Christians to stay far away from the false “Jesus” he had
encountered on his metaphysical journey. Moody Press published Warren
Smith’s Christian testimony in 1992 in a book entitled The Light that was
Dark: A Spiritual Journey.
Soon after Smith’s testimony was published, the book began to die on the
vine. The Christian publishing industry had apparently decided that nobody
was interested in reading about the New Age movement. It was becoming more
profitable to publish books that were re-defining and “transforming”
Christ and Christianity by merging and blending New Age beliefs into
evangelicalism. Despite Smith’s best efforts at getting the word out, his
book eventually ended up in back storerooms and warehouses.
During the next decade there arose a powerful evangelical media culture
which elevated its leaders to guru-like states of infallibility. Smith
began to observe telltale signs that New Age ideas were creeping into
mainstream evangelical books, beliefs and practices. He noticed that
easily recognizable New Age leaders were sharing the stage with popular
evangelical media preachers, patting each other on the back and commending
one another. He detected that these leaders were using a deceptive
Christian-like vocabulary – just like the false “Jesus” he had studied in
A Course In Miracles. Alarmed, Smith watched with dismay as the very same
techniques and methods he had learned in metaphysics were being integrated
into Christian doctrine and practice.
A volatile mishmash of doctrinal confusion was beginning to rise. A
heretical hybrid of Christianity and the New Age was forming and rapidly
gaining momentum. Smith watched in growing consternation as “emergent” and
“transformational” Christianity began to take shape. By the late 1990s, an
explosion of alternative theologies had entered the evangelical
marketplace. Suddenly Christians were vulnerable to being seduced by the
same evil doctrines and heresies that he had once encountered in the New
Age!
Surely, Christians would want to be warned about this, assumed Smith.
Early in 2002, Warren Smith wrote Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New
Gospel. In this book he documented the increasing connections – after the
9/11 tragedy – between national evangelical pastors and New Age leaders.
The same false “Jesus” that Warren had once encountered in A Course In
Miracles was suddenly center stage and rapidly gaining new converts.
Two years later, Warren Smith wrote again, this time alerting Christians
about the New Age connections to Rick Warren’s purpose-driven church. By
this time prominent New Age personalities were being mainstreamed into
respectful roles within Christianity as experts, advisors and “mentors.”
But leading evangelical spokespersons appeared to be disinterested and
were strangely silent. Deceived On
Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church rapidly
sold out its first two printings and was quickly re-published for wider
distribution.
Christian Cowboys and Outlaws
It became increasingly apparent to Smith that a new
generation could benefit from hearing his testimony. He decided to
re-publish The Light That Was Dark: A
Spiritual Journey. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. His testimony is
even more relevant today than it was 13 years ago. Smith’s life story
provides an important opportunity for those people who missed learning
about the dangers of the New Age movement the first time around. Thank God
for second chances. But now the audience would extend beyond New Agers and
non-believers. Smith realized that his testimony could help explain many
things to Christians sitting in the pews of the post-modern churches.
It is indeed a sad fact that there is now a whole new generation of
evangelicals who have never been warned about the New Age movement. For
whatever reason, they didn’t read the landmark books written in the 1980s
exposing the New Age – excellent books such as Constance Cumbey’s Hidden
Dangers of the Rainbow or Johanna Michaelsen’s The Beautiful Side of Evil.
As a tragic result, many Christians simply do not know how to recognize
the error. They’ve never been taught about the necessity of exercising
discernment. These poor souls are ripe for seduction and exploitation from
the false shepherds who are creating and/or promoting New Age mysticism.
Writing clearly and concisely, in his easy-to-read, laid-back style, Smith
recounts his harrowing spiritual journey. He thought he was heading into
light, but it turned out to be very dark indeed. The Light That Was Dark
is the kind of book that can be given to anyone. It is a captivating book
that one can read all the way through in one sitting. The conclusion is
absolutely riveting.
This is a book that you should give to your pastor. In a perfect world,
we’d like to think that somebody like Warren Smith, who’s “been there and
done that,” would be respected and intently listened to. He knows his
facts. But just like the sheriff in the cowboy parable, there is an
inexplicable complacency. Today would be a great opportunity for a
sheriff/shepherd to read this book, and then step outside the office and
take a look towards Tombstone City, where the black smoke of heresy is
rising high in the sky.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light
in the Lord:
walk as children of light…
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:8,11)
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