May 21, 2006 - This weekend, a position paper addressed to pastors was posted on the Calvary Chapel website. The paper indicates that Calvary Chapel is taking a stand against contemplative spirituality and the emerging church and decrees that the title Calvary Chapel not be attached to such movements. The statement comes on the heels of a recent discovery by Pastor Chuck Smith, the movement's founder, that his book, When Storms Come, had been tampered with unbeknownst to him. The book was published by Thomas Nelson and included contemplative and Eastern meditation language, which apparently had been added by someone doing the final editing of the book.

Lighthouse Trails issued two press releases regarding the book tampering, and on May 18th, Pastor Smith wrote an email to the editors at Lighthouse Trails Publishing, addressing the tampering and stating that he "prepared a position paper to be distributed to the Calvary Chapel pastors on the subject of the Emergent Church and its many divergent and unscriptural theological positions that trouble me greatly." Pastor Smith also thanked Lighthouse Trails for sending him a copy of A Time of Departing, which he said he "read with interest," then added "[A Time of Departing] resonates with the concerns that I personally have concerning the direction that many ministries seem to be taking in their endeavor to unify all faiths. I do believe that straight is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and as Jesus said, He was that way, He is the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father but by Him."

There has been a growing concern by many Calvary Chapel pastors that some pastors and teachers in the Calvary Chapel movement have been promoting practices that are related to contemplative spirituality and Eastern religions. Regarding this, the Calvary Chapel position paper states:

Should we look to Eastern religions with their practices of meditation through Yoga and special breathing techniques or repeating a mantra to hear God speak to us? If this is needed to enhance our communication with God, why do you suppose that God did not give us implicit instructions in the Scriptures to give us methods to hear His voice? Is it the position of my body or my heart that helps me to communicate with Him?

While the Calvary Chapel position paper to pastors does not specifically use the term contemplative spirituality when addressing the emerging church, the philosophy and practices are described, and we hope that pastors will understand that contemplative prayer is the glue that holds the emerging church movement together and is the main reason it should be avoided. Furthermore, contemplative spirituality is the common denominator in not just the emerging church movement but other current trends as well including the spiritual formation movement and the Purpose Driven Life movement. It is vital that pastors and believers of churches in all evangelical denominations understand that those who regularly practice contemplative prayer have consistently ended up with a panentheistic view of God, which in turn negates the message of the Cross. The notion that we should enter into the "silence" or an altered state of consciousness to "hear" God is unscriptural and downright dangerous.

Roger Oakland, director of Understand the Times and a frequent speaker to Calvary Chapel churches throughout the world, spoke to Lighthouse Trails about the new position paper:

We believe it is pertinent for all evangelical pastors to have at their disposal the facts and documentation on contemplative spirituality. Both A Time of Departing and Running Against the Wind as well as our free research website have all of this information available.

We commend any pastor or leader who stands against the contemplative prayer movement. In this eleventh hour, believers need leaders who will courageously take a stand, and those not yet believers need to hear the pure gospel message of Jesus Christ.

The founder of the Calvary Chapel churches, Pastor Chuck Smith, is known for his emphasis on expositional Bible teaching. So it was quite a surprise, when recently reading his 2005 book, When Storms Come, to see Smith favorably quoting the late Catholic mystic, Anthony De Mello (p. 137).

De Mello wrote the contemplative classic called Sadhana: A Way to God and in that book says:

In another section of Smith's book, he instructs readers to practice a "Spiritual Exercise" that uncomfortably resembles an Eastern style meditation exercise (pp. 102, 103). And yet in another section of the book, there is mention of Jewish Kabbalist (Jewish mystic) Lawrence Hoffman who has strong interfaith sympathies (p. 107).

We contacted Calvary Chapel last week and talked to Pastor John Mann. He told us that someone other than Pastor Smith had done a final editing of the book and inserted these comments unbeknownst to Chuck Smith. When asked whether Chuck Smith would make a public statement warning the Christian community about the book, Mann said he knew of no plans for that.

On pages 102 and 103 of When Storms Come, readers are told there is a "practical way" to alleviate stress in our lives through a "spiritual exercise" in which we are to "sit up so your spine is straight, inhale slowly, relax your muscles, then slowly exhale. Place your hands on your lap with your palms up, but make a fist as if holding on to something. Imagine you carry all your anxieties in your hands ... observe the rhythm of your breath." While no mention of repeating a word or phrase is made, using this type of language could set the reader up to be open and receptive to more blatant and dangerous forms of these practices. Basically a Christian shouldn't have to practice some kind of technique to enjoy the presence of God. (See Ephesians 2:18 and Romans 5:2) The whole rationale behind the contemplative prayer movement is that a Christian is somehow hindered or limited in his or her access to God while in a normal state.

For the sake of the thousands of people who may have already read Smith's book, we hope that a public statement will be made by Calvary Chapel to warn readers about the book ... We also hope and pray that Pastor Smith will let Calvary Chapel pastors in his denomination know that he stands against contemplative spirituality.

Incidentally, the foreword to When Storms Come was written by Chuck Smith Jr., son of Pastor Smith. Smith Jr. is pastor of Capo Beach, Calvary Chapel in California and recently returned from a sabbatical at a Catholic monastery. In Smith, Jr.'s book, The End of the World as We Know It, he reveals his affinity with the contemplative when he states:

Referring to this "Celtic spirituality," Smith, Jr. says: "There is something so natural and appealing about this earthy, practical spirituality that I find myself wanting to adopt it in my daily routine" (p. 104). But in the book, The Celtic Way of Prayer, de Waal tells readers to do the sign of the Cross and says:

The End of the World As We Know It is riddled with quotes by contemplatives and New Age sympathizers, including Leonard Sweet, whom Smith Jr. quotes twice from Sweet's book Quantum Spirituality. Sweet's book is a handbook on interspirituality saying that all things are interconnected (a Buddhist/Hindu concept) to each other.

It is hard not to wonder what Chuck Smith Sr. was thinking by having his son write the foreword to this book, and hard not to wonder if perhaps Smith Jr. is the mystery editor.