Apprising Ministries continues warning about the corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) a la neo-Gnostics like Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard. It’s been slithering into the mainstream of evangelicalism under the guise of so-called Spiritual Formation.

I told you earlier in SBC’S Beth Moore Merely Pretending To Be Protestant no less an authority than Emergent Church guru Brian McLaren informs us Foster and Willard are “key mentors” within the Emerging Church. ((http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/000271.html, accessed 7/31/12.)) One of the most notable of CSM gurus today is Living Spiritual Teacher and Roman Catholic mystic Richard Rohr.

You can see e.g. from Priscilla Shirer Points Us To Richard Rohr this apostate’s mystic mythology is spreading into wider evangelicalism, which is becoming rife with superstitions after jettisoning the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura. Now you’re about to see, he may even be entering into Reformed sectors as well.

We begin with Trevin Wax, “Managing Editor of The Gospel Project at LifeWay Christian Resources ((http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/, accessed 7/31/12.)), who tweeted today:

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The link goes to a guest post at The Gospel Coalition blog of Trevin Wax called You Are Not Called to Be the Lone Ranger by Chris De Man. He seemed thankful for the forum as he would tweet:

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We’re told that De Man has:

a degree [from] Liberty Theological Seminary and transitioned to employment in the church. He currently serves as the Director of Support Ministries at Blythefield Hills Baptist Church in Rockford, MI. (source)

He blogs at Dwelling Under A Friendly Sky and is co-author of Man Made: Reclaiming The Passage From Boy To Man. De Man’s post begins with him talking about his boyhood friend with whom he was “tight.” Later the friend moves away and De Man describes who he would grow up and become a man.

It seems to me he doesn’t like that because:

life moved on. The sad thing about boyhood is its brevity. Too soon the worries of adult life suck the air from youthful wonder. The rugged individualism of manhood coupled with a curse of passivity yields an army of Lone Rangers.

Men disengaged from relationship with other men – real relationship that goes further than sports scores and lawn care. Relationships that are an adult-sized version of what I had with my childhood buddy. (source)

From years of studying the effete works of CSM gurus this type of squishy talk immediately raises my antenna. What “rugged individualism of manhood coupled with a curse of passivity yields an army of Lone Rangers” is he talking about? Looks like postmodernism’s over-emphasis on community to me.

That’s being kind. Frankly De Man, no pun intended, sounds like anything but as he then tells us in CSM-speak:

I was shackled in a prison of denial, too proud to see how lonely and isolated I was. I was unable to see the shiny, happy façade I’d made that kept relationships safely superficial. My perceptions of manliness left no room for trite, childlike friendships. There were places to see, things to do, worlds to be conquered. Who has time to talk life or get emotional? Suck it up, don’t be a baby, and get busy!

Unfortunately, my jacked-up Teddy Roosevelt rough-riding persona has no place in the life of a Christ-follower. I was empty. Deserted on the island of me. I needed rescue. (source)

How very Peter Scazzero; but odd talk in Reformed circles. Well, this CSM psycho-babble is slowly becoming more and more the norm in the young, restless, and reformed camp. And sure enough, Chris De Man tips his hands as he tells us:

Richard Rohr said, “The false self is a privately manufactured and maintained ‘I am.’ The true self is our participation in the great ‘I Am’” (Adam’s Return, p. 44). Too long was I bound by the lie that I was big enough to handle life. That seeking help was weak and unmanly. That my shoulders were plenty broad to handle life’s weight. Sadly, such thinking squeezed out the source of anything truly manly in my living – Jesus Christ.

I am deeply grateful for the spiritual posse God sent to rescue me. Sure, it took time to reengage and establish trusted, Christ-centered relationships. And it was painful to face the sin of my overly developed ego. In the end, my new manly friendships were key to helping me move from a worldview of “I am” to the “I Am.” (source)

Let’s just leave aside that no one credible is saying that “seeking help” is “weak and unmanly.” Here on a Gospel Coalition blog you’ve just seen apostate Red Letter Christian Richard Rohr, a Roman Catholic Christian universalist, appealed to in a positive manner as a good source for proper Christian spirituality.

Really? You mean we couldn’t find a Christian source on the subject? Now, perhaps this slipped the attention of Trevin Wax, but as you saw above, he tweeted the link to this post. One would assume he had read it; in fact, he said he did:

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Even so, things can still be missed. However, this is not the case with Chris De Man citing Richard Rohr. At his blog we can see he’s quoted Rohr before:

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What do you think; time to draw the line when we point readers to people who clearly preach another gospel?

Further reading

• RICHARD ROHR AND THE EMERGING CHURCH AS THE THIRD WAY
• PETER SCAZZERO INTRODUCING ENNEAGRAMS INTO MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM
• THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON OTHER RELIGIONS