Are You Lost In A Prayer Labryinth?

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question:  Dear Dave and Tom, Our church wants to send our youth pastor to a national convention for youth pastors, and after looking over the activities, from secular look-alike, sound-alike music groups to psychologized and Roman Catholic led workshops, I noticed they are going to have a prayer labyrinth.  According to the brochure, this maze like device idea is taken from a medieval cathedral, and is to be used by our kids as an aid to contemplative prayer, as a spiritual exercise, or as a form of pilgrimage.  What can you tell me about prayer labyrinth?

Tom:

First of all, a prayer labyrinth is a path set in a concentric circle pattern which is about 30 feet in diameter.  A person begins from the outside of the circle and follows a path to the center where there are meditation cells and then follows the path to exit the labyrinth.  Historically, so-called Christian labyrinth, developed in the 13^th century in cathedrals of the Roman Catholic Church.  This came about because the crusades were taking place, and that prevented Catholic from making pilgrimages to the holy land.  So the labyrinth enabled one to make the pilgrimage, at least metaphorically, and it probably included whatever indulgences were given for the actual pilgrimage.  The labyrinth revival in America is being led by the Reverend Lauren Artress of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco.  She walked her first labyrinth at a conference hosted by New Ager Jean Houston.  Later that year she visited the Chartres Cathedral in France and observed the labyrinth pattern in the stone for the church.  So that’s some background, Dave.  Now we have this going on at the Evangelical Convention for Youth Pastors, and this is by the biggest organization claiming to be Christian in the country.

Dave:

What do you mean the biggest organization, who are they then?

Tom:

Well, this is Group Magazine, this is Youth Specialties, and probably every youth pastor gets their magazine, so this is the going thing.

Dave:

Yeah, Group has of course, promoted visualization, visualizing God even.

Tom:

Well, part of it promotes the contemplative approach to spirituality.  

Dave:

Right.  So now, Tom, we’re back to what we talked about a few minutes ago when we were dealing with exorcism.  We’ve got techniques, we’ve got rituals, [and] somehow, I am looking to this labyrinth now.

Tom:

Spiritual tool, they would call it.

Dave:

Right.  Somehow I can’t walk with the Lord, I can’t just trust Him, and I’m not growing by reading His Word, feeding upon His Word, and that Christ died in my place, and that I have died with Him and I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but now Christ lives within me.  This living the life by faith, and the wonder of the miracle of what Christ does in me.  Somehow it doesn’t work, and I feel dry and empty, or frustrated or whatever it is, and what the Bible offers doesn’t work.  And now someone came up with this, well it’s in the Chartres, Cathedral there, and it’s been in other cathedrals and now we’ve got a technique, we have a ritual.  It’s some kind of a pilgrimage and as I enter onto this journey I begin to meditate and—

Tom:

To look within, it’s a major part of it, searching your heart, your spirit within, whether it’s the Holy Spirit or not, I rather doubt.

Dave:

And then, what do you know? Things begin to happen.  We could probably refer to a lot of things.  You could go back to a book, how many years ago, thirty, forty years ago written by Korzybski, a brilliant man, Modern Semantics, it was called.  And he showed that if you just get a new perspective on something, just a new way of looking at things, you know, a semantic twist to something, why it can transform your life.  It just changes the way you see this.  So I’m not denying that these people entering upon this labyrinth, they have hope now, they are expecting something, and what do you know?  They may have some experience, they may have some insights and so forth that they think, but did it come from the labyrinth or how often do I have to walk this thing?  Where in the Bible does it suggest a labyrinth?  Did Paul use them?  Did Paul take a canvas around with him and have people walk this labyrinth?  So, on the one hand, I’m sure you will have testimonies of people who say wow; it just was like a spiritual breakthrough, I just felt closer to God, and so forth.  On the other hand, I’m afraid it takes them away from the simple faith, the just shall live by faith.  It takes them away from the truth and the reality of God’s Word, and they’re relying upon a technique.  I know it’s not biblical, I don’t believe it is healthy for a Christian, and it could open them up to other spirits.  That’s one of the problems, because now they have opened themselves up to some kind of spiritual transformation through walking this labyrinth.

Tom:

Dave, my concern here is particularly for Christian youth.  In the past we’ve talked about Taeze, now we have this prayer labyrinth, so called.

Dave:

Any technique, let’s come up with a new technique now.

Tom:

Something novel, something.

Dave:

What will we have next?

Tom:

And the people, particularly youth pastors who are taking these things in and then promoting it among their youth, I’d like them to do a little research here.  If they begin to look at any of these techniques, what’s the background of it, what is being promoted?  I would think it would make their hair stand up, if they would take the time and effort to look at this, whether it be Taeze going back to meditative techniques, going back to the contemplative.  All they have to do is read Ignatius’ Exercises. That should scare them to death, because it has to do with parking your mind over here and believing whatever is going to come to you.

Dave:

Tom, let’s explain.  You were referring to Ignatius of Loyola, who was the founder of the Jesuits.

Tom:

But also, with this particular technique.  This was really started or a revival of it was started by this woman pastor, Episcopal pastor at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  Now if you just go to her website and look what she’s promoting.  For example, you can sign up for a tour to Chartres Cathedral, but here’s the topic:  Let’s Walk With Mary 2001.  So she’s taking a group over there, and they are going to be walking and meditating upon all that Mary is, all that she did, not the Mary of the Bible.  This is a Roman Cathedral; this is the Mary of Catholicism, which is not the Mary of the Bible.

Dave:

Well, Tom, why is the Mary of Catholicism not the Mary of the Bible?  I mean, you put your foot in it, now you had better explain it.

Tom:

All right, we don’t have much time here, but if people out there want to know, the October newsletter from The Berean Call, that the article is titled, “Mary Who?”  And I believe I give out enough information, so at least some who are interested in getting to the bottom of who Mary is, then start with that article.

Dave:

You’re not putting down the Mary of the Bible.

Tom:

Not at all.

Dave:

No, but the Mary that the Catholic Church has built up, a perpetual virgin contrary to what the Bible says, Jesus had brothers and sisters, it tells us that.  She now appears all over the world.  This Mary says I will be with you always.  No, that’s what Jesus said.  The apparition of Mary comes with her peace plan for the world.  No, Jesus is the Prince of Peace; there will never be peace without Him.  She comes offering salvation and promoting, in fact she is the originator of many of the unbiblical techniques, such as the rosary and so forth.

Tom:

Right, some of the major dogmas within the Catholic Church.

Dave:

So this is not the Mary of the Bible, this is the Mary who is the Queen of Heaven, who has a little baby Jesus on her lap in heaven, who looms larger than God, as the Catechism and Vatican II say, and I’m quoting them.  “This is the mother of God.”  No, she’s the mother of the body that Jesus took.  God was around long before Mary was.  She is the one that says, “Known as the Virgin” now I am quoting, “to whom the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.”

Tom:

Dave, to finish this up, we’re out of time here, but my point in this is that this, some people may look at it as well, it’s just a simple technique to get people more into more prayer.  No, if they begin to look at the background of all these, it’s going to lead off into directions further and further away from God’s Word, and that’s my concern.  

Dave:

Amen.