It's All Good

Are things like yoga, acupuncture, the Enneagram natural hidden gems from God, or spiritually unsafe practices?

Like a rabbit that eats selectively and discards what it doesn't need, we should consume the good and reject the bad.

What is Good?

God created everything good (Gen 1; Titus 1). Evil is not a thing in itself but a lack of the good that ought to be present. (See Peter Kreeft's Good and Evil on YouTube.)

The only things that cannot be redeemed are those which are inherently ordered against good (such as witchcraft).

One tendency is to be blind to what God has redeemed, yet throughout church history, believers have always sought out and purified unclaimed goods.

Church History Examples

When we encounter foreign cultures, we often discover unexpected gifts from God—gifts that, in many cases, are later redeemed to some degree.

• Greek Philosophy: The early church discovered impressive Greek philosophy, consumed its wisdom, and exported the false doctrines like polytheism and the notion of random chance (randomness is only apparent chance, not true chance).
• Anonymous Worship: In Acts 17, we learn that some Greeks were already worshiping Jesus—anonymously. Paul even quotes from Greek religious poets as evidence they were worshiping Jesus: "In Him we live and move and have our being."
• Redeemed Holidays: Spectacular examples include Christmas and Easter, which have mixed roots in pagan holidays that were largely transformed and redeemed.

However, we often swing to extremes. Either we accept harmful practices with good ones, or we reject new goods entirely. In both cases, we remove reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Jesus doesn't run from the good things that giants are holding. Neither should we. For courage to enter your Promised Land, see Land of All.

"Be of good cheer.  Sing.  I delight to answer prayer and to make the crooked straight.  It is vain to battle the spiritual elements with the natural mind.  Only the man who is taught in the Spirit can war in the Spirit. Jesus on many occasions demonstrated this fact and moved directly into the front line of attack against the devil.  You must do the same."

Bible Theme: "Is" Means Good.

• Genesis 1:31 — God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
• 1 Timothy 4:4 — God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
• 1 Corinthians 10:25 — Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
• Romans 14:13 — I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself.
• Acts 10:15 — Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.
• Colossians 2:16 — Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
• Titus 1:15 — To the pure, all things are pure.
• Colossians 3:17 — And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.