Parshall Partners

A Hole In The Human Heart

         According to a YOUGOV poll that was released, a staggering number of Americans hold to some new age belief.  The poll asked whether or not Americans believed in “new age spiritualism” and the results should be a wake-up call for the Church.

         41% of those polled described themselves as both religious and spiritual; 7% said they were religious but not spiritual while 24% said just the opposite.  But nearly 87% of Americans hold to some aspect of “new-age spiritualism.”

         According to the YOUGOV data, “Of the beliefs asked about, the largest share of Americans, 55%, say they believe in karma, which — while definitions vary — is generally perceived as the notion that a person's actions in life influence what happens to them in the future (or, in some versions, in future lives). Many Americans, though fewer than half, believe in each of the following: hypnosis, extraterrestrials, UFOs, and manifesting — also referred to as the "law of attraction." Around one in four people believe in reincarnation, astrology, parallel realities, or telepathy.      

         The reason polls like the one YOUGOV did are important to followers of Christ is because it tells us something very important about the culture we are called to go into to share the Gospel.  For example, the poll discovered that:

“Despite not fully endorsing many of new-age spiritualism's practices and beliefs, a majority of Americans are aligned with some of the movement's core goals. Three in five Americans (61%) say that at least one of the six goals asked about is very important to them personally, and 93% say at least one is somewhat important to them. "Achieving spiritual growth" is personally very important to the largest share (40%), followed by "living in harmony with nature" (32%). The fewest number of people (16%) say that eating organic foods is very important to them, though 52% say it is at least somewhat important to them.”

         Did you catch the important part? “Achieving spiritual growth” is important to a whole lot of people.  Why is that, do you think? I believe it’s what the Bible tells us, that God has placed eternity in our hearts.  (Ecc. 3:11) Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French mathematician put it this way:

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”

         Whether we fully recognize it or not, each of us hungers after God, trying to fill that vacuum with what we think will fill the void – sometimes it’s New Age practices like belief in astrology or karma; sometimes it’s sex or drugs; sometimes it’s attempts at perfectionism.  But that hole in the heart was designed for one thing – a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Nothing else can fill that God-shaped void.   “He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” ( Psalm 107:9) May we all discover our true significance and worth in Him.

         Those are my thoughts.  I’m Janet Parshall.