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"We used to inherit religion. Now we assemble it."

This article (access it by clicking --> here <--) explores how we tend to mix the exclusive claims of Christianity (serve no other Gods - there is no other way to the Father but through Jesus), with our tendency to borrow and addend other religions into our lives. We mix the pure with the impure!

"Today’s spiritual seekers want transcendence, ritual, and community—but without authority, exclusivity, or submission. They want the vibe of the sacred without the call to take up a cross."

I would add to what the author, Tommy West, says. This mixing of religions is not a new phenomena. It has happened from the time of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. We see the children of Israel turning back to the gods of Egypt, then to the gods of the nations. This bent toward making God into our image by treating religions like Leggo blocks from which we construct our own tower has been in our history for a very long time. 

"The theological lines have blurred. God is often treated not as a Lord to submit to but as a cosmic life coach."

Here are the steps toward confronting buffet-style religion, when you see it in others who profess Christ:

1. Be curious before corrective.

2. Name the longing.

3. Expose the shortage.

4. Share the better story.

"False gospels are beautiful until they break. They dazzle with rituals and mantras but cannot cleanse a guilty conscience or heal the soul. They promise empowerment but deliver exhaustion."

I would add #5:  Never back down and compromise. It is always a temptation when you are talking to a friend who may be mixing karma, new-age philosophy, or a touch of astrology with belief in a holy and exclusive God, to give some ground in order to maintain a relationship. Fight that temptation. Always bathe your words and actions in grace and love, but never affirm what the Bible calls idolatry.

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” Acts 17:6-7