There are many soothing, comforting ideas "out there". One of them, found in new age mysticism, is that God is in all of us.
This idea has found its way (surprise!) into Anglicanism.
A recent article, published in The Diocesan Times of Nova Scotia and PEI advocates meditation based on the notion that the Spirit of Christ inhabits every person; all you have to do is "tap in"!
Here is my response to this article:
This article contains the idea that the spirit of Christ dwells in every human being.
This comforting idea may fit the views of Hinduism or new-age enthusiasts, but is completely foreign to Christianity and its salvation imperative. Several passages of Scripture explicitly contradict it. From John's "you must be born again", to Paul's, "if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His", the witness of Scripture is uniform and emphatic: man, in his natural state, is not inhabited by God.
The fact that this false universalistic notion finds a home within the Anglican Church today perhaps explains why present-day evangelistic efforts are so anemic. If, in fact, the Spirit of Christ dwells in every human being, there is scarcely the impetus let alone the urgency to preach the gospel "that by all possible means I might save some" as the apostle Paul put it. It is Churches that believe that men and women in their natural state are perishing and need to be saved that engage in healthy and productive evangelistic efforts.
The positive confession highlighted in this article, "I honour the place of love and light, of peace and truth, that is inside you, and inside me", would be right at home with new-age beliefs, but not Christianity. How unlike the confessions of the saints when found in the presence of a holy God: Job ("now I see Him face to face, and repent in dust and ashes"), or Peter ("depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man!), or Paul ("oh, wretched man that I am!"). And how unlike Jesus' own estimation of what proceeds out of the human heart! As for the human heart inevitably being a place of love and light, Jesus warned, "If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Christian meditation? By all means, for "my sheep hear my voice" and this is the privilege of every born-again believer in Christ. But first make sure that you have come to Christ by faith, and have received His Spirit. And don't expect his voice to echo the soothing platitudes of new age mysticism, but rather the comforting as well as discomforting admonitions of holy Scripture, for the Spirit you seek is its Author.
A Starter Kit:
I am the way, the truth, and the life
No one comes to the Father but by Me
Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish
You must be born again
He that believes on me shall never die.
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