Debunking Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s False Assertions About Jesus – Part 1

About Sadhguru

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s website portrays him as, “…a yogi and a mystic…Named one of India's 50 most influential people, Sadhguru's work has touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs. Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, acting as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life. His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful.”¹

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is one of the leading voices of Hinduism.

False Assertions

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev makes many false assertions about Jesus and Christianity per se. Find below, a few:

            1. Jesus’ Existence?

            Sadhguru alludes to Jesus’ nonexistence. He said, “Krishna did not exist. Jesus did not exist. What does it matter to you?”² By asserting that Jesus’ existence does not matter, he merely stops short of saying that Jesus did not exist. So he could be categorized as a Jesus Myther, though not in its strict sense.

            Jesus’ existence is a matter of great concern. If the historical Jesus³ did not exist, then Christianity cannot exist.

            As to the existence of historical Jesus, there is no doubt whatsoever, not even an iota of doubt exists. Historians are convinced about the existence of the historical Jesus.

            Here are a few testimonies of hostile witnesses about the existence of the historical Jesus:⁴

The testimony of a hostile witness is very powerful (cf. Criterion of Unsympathetic Sources). Dr. Bart Ehrman is one such hostile witness. He is a much acclaimed and widely respected scholar.

Bart Ehrman is a hostile witness since he does not believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. A hostile witness (in this context) has no bias or no need, whatsoever, to affirm in the existence of the Historical Jesus.

Bart Ehrman believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus. Significantly, Ehrman emphasizes that scholars who have genuinely studied the evidence pertaining to the existence of Historical Jesus believe that HE existed, “Mythicists have often gotten upset with me for pointing out that almost no one with any qualifications in the requisite fields of scholarship agrees with them.  I can see why that would be upsetting.  My sense is that some of them think that I’ve been rubbing their noses in it.  But that isn’t really my intent.  My intent is to point out to anyone who is interested – for example, someone who just doesn’t know what to think – that those who are qualified to speak knowledgeably on such subjects are virtually unified on one view (there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth) and opposed to the other (he is a complete myth).”4

This should do it!

If every serious scholar believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus, every claim that attempts to disregard the Historical Jesus are insincere and hypocritical. Therefore, these hypocritical claims ought to be disregarded.

Bart Ehrman is not the only secular scholar who believes in the existence of Historical Jesus. Here’s more from the website of Answers In Genesis:5

Here is what some scholars have written about the Jesus Myth (these statements are not just from conservative Christians—the first four are critical scholars who have rejected the miraculous elements of Christ’s life).

Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community. (Rudolf Bultmann)1

To doubt the historical existence of Jesus at all … was reserved for an unrestrained, tendentious criticism of modern times into which it is not worthwhile to enter here. (Günther Bornkamm)2

I am of the opinion (and it is an opinion shared by every serious historian) that the theory [“that Jesus never lived, that he was a purely mythical figure”] is historically untenable. (Willi Marxsen)3

To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has “again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars.” In recent years “no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus”—or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary. (Michael Grant)4

Contemporary New Testament scholars have typically viewed their [i.e., Jesus mythers] arguments as so weak or bizarre that they relegate them to footnotes, or often ignore them completely. (Robert Van Voorst)5

The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence. (Paul L. Maier)6

On a side note, do remember that every claim of Jesus Mythers can be rejected by proving them to be incorrect. There’s an abundance of resources [on the internet] to help us achieve this.

Here’s an example: Jesus Mythers contend that Nazareth did not exist, hence Christ did not exist. But Bart Ehrman debunks this contention by ascertaining that [Palestinian] archaeologists believe that Nazareth existed because they have discovered evidence for its existence. He goes on to add that the existence of Nazareth is not even a point of debate among Palestinian archaeologists.6

            2. Jesus a Success?

            Sadhguru alleges that Jesus did not live a successful life! He said, “At the age of 32 you got nailed. Had a terrible death. You call that a successful life? No!” ⁵

            Sadhguru, evidently, has not understood the Christian perspective of success.

            Success, according to the Historic Christian worldview, is defined in the spiritual context and not the material or the hedonistic:⁶

For Christians, success can never be measured by money. When people say to me, "That man's worth ten million dollars," that tells me he's wealthy, but it doesn't prove he's successful. In some cases, it could mean the opposite. For instance, if Mother Teresa, whom I consider a tremendous success, confessed she was hoarding a million dollars, I'd think she was a hypocrite. Money would prove her a fraud, not a success.

The measurement of success is simply the ratio of talents used to talents received. What you are doing with what you've got, plus who you are becoming. Are you a growing, maturing Christian? Whether you work in business, or in Christian work, or as a day laborer, professional, or academic, if you are a maturing Christian, using a large percentage of your talents, you are successful. Be glad.

The person doing the most with what he's got is truly successful. Not the one who becomes the richest or most famous, but the one who has the closest ratio of talents received to talents used.

An unsuccessful person, on the other hand, is one who didn't use the chances he or she had. He could have developed himself, he could have made a contribution to life, he could have become a mature Christian, but he didn't.

            In stark contrast to the Historic Christian Biblical theology, Sadhguru’s definition of spirituality attempts to dethrone God from the domain of spirituality, for he claims, “Unfortunately, today, spirituality is the most misunderstood and misrepresented aspect of life. The way it is being presented worldwide, some of it is utterly ridiculous, a lot of it is crooked, much more of it is well-meaning but stupid…Spirituality is not about right and wrong or about God and heaven. Spirituality is about exploring the ultimate limits of who you are.”⁷

            Spirituality, in the Christian worldview, is all about God. It’s about man’s response to his Creator and Sustainer – the alpha and omega.

            Christ did not offer to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive; this is Ravi Zacharias’ precise reflection of Christ’s mission.⁸

            Sadhguru does not comprehend this aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is imprisoned in his eclectic new-age worldview.

            The success or failure of God incarnate - the Lord Jesus Christ’s life can neither be measured in terms of his age at the time of his death nor the nature of his atoning death.

            Christ came to save mankind, and save them, HE did (cf. Luke 19: 5,10). If you and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. Romans 10:9 says, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NET).

            Christ’s life was thus a grand success.

            Sadhguru has made a few more false assertions about Jesus Christ. More to follow...

Endnotes:

¹https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/sadhguru

²https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmirUq74Lk , 8:24, entitled What Sadhguru Says About Jesus | Sadhguru Ramayana | Sadhguru Latest On Lord Rama; Published Dec 9, 2018.

³The historical Jesus is the Jesus historians can prove with reasonable certainty and apart from faith, says Michael Licona.

⁴https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-to-communicate-our-belief-in-jesus.html

⁵https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmirUq74Lk , 7:14, entitled What Sadhguru Says About Jesus | Sadhguru Ramayana | Sadhguru Latest On Lord Rama; Published Dec 9, 2018.

⁶https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/christianview.html?start=1

⁷https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/blog/article/hello-interviews-sadhguru-the-material-and-the-spiritual

⁸https://www.rzim.org/read/just-thinking-magazine/threads-of-a-redeemed-heart

Websites last accessed on 10^th September 2019.

10 False Teachings That Could Ruin The Soul

            The Bible instructs every Christian to “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11, NIV). False teaching,¹ most certainly, falls into the category of the ‘fruitless deeds of darkness.’ Hence, it is incumbent upon every sincere Christian to expose the false teachings prevalent in churches today.

                        Here’s a list of 10 most dangerous false teachings, which, I believe, have the potency to ruin our soul, if we believe and act according to them. In other words, we may not² be saved if we believe and live according to any of these teachings:

            1. No Truth: Postmodernists claim there is no truth. In other words, there are no objective standards of truth, rationality, and logic. They subscribe to alternate concepts such as relativism and subjectivism. Postmodern Christians subscribe to this notion as well. The Emerging/Emergent Church Movement is a derivative of postmodernism. The devious import of LGBTQ agenda into the church of Jesus Christ is an outcome of the postmodern thought process.

            2. No Bible: The detractors of Historic Christianity claim that the Bible is not the sole authority for a Christian. You can assimilate just about any religious book and trust just about any book that may seemingly offer you wisdom. This is another postmodern thought.

            The Roman Catholic Church buys into this thought as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church believes that Muslims, just as Christians, would be saved even though they do not believe in Jesus or the Bible, so much so that the Catholic church considers the Quran and the Bible as coequals, “841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."³³⁰”³       

    

            Another variant of this teaching is to believe that the Bible is corrupt (filled with error) and fallible. This erroneous belief led the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, to start a new religion.

            3. No Jesus: Those who deny Jesus may believe in HIS divinity, but they also believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven. You can believe in just about any god and still go to heaven, they claim. Even if you do not believe in God, you can go to heaven. These are some of the various strands of Universalism. Quite a few Christians believe in Universalism or Inclusivism.

            4. No God, this Jesus: Jesus Christ is not God. Jesus Christ was a mere man during HIS life on earth. “Any teaching that redefines the person of Jesus Christ. Doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His sinless nature, His actual death, or His physical resurrection is false doctrine. A group’s errant Christology readily identifies it as a sect or cult that may claim to be Christian but is actually teaching false doctrine. Even many mainline denominations have begun the rapid slide into apostasy by declaring that they no longer hold to a literal interpretation of Scripture or the deity of Christ. First John 4:1–3 makes it clear that a denial of biblical Christology is “anti-Christ.” Jesus described false teachers within the church as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15),” says Gotquestions.org.⁴

            Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was a mere man when he was born on earth.

            5. No Resurrection: Jesus Christ did not [bodily] resurrect. Proponents of this erroneous teaching either subscribe to a notion that Christ did not resurrect or Christ’s resurrection was not a bodily resurrection. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ’s resurrection was spiritual and not a bodily resurrection.

            Another false teaching that can be accommodated into this category is that Jesus did not die, but lived on to marry and have children. This was the main theme of the bestseller book Da Vinci Code.

            6. No Trinity: “Mormons believe that the Trinity consists not of three persons in one God but rather of three distinct gods. According to Mormonism, there are potentially many thousands of gods besides these,” says an article in The Gospel Coalition.⁵ 

     

            Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace claims that those who deny the Trinity subscribe to some form of polytheism or they deny the deity of Jesus Christ.⁶

            Trinity is actively denied by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, and Unification Church, etc.

            7. No Hell: Seventh Day Adventists believe that hell is not infinite torture. An article in Christianity.com states, “Adventists believe that hell is not an eternity of suffering and torture. They believe God is just but also merciful and it’s not in the nature of God to torture the unrighteous for eternity. Instead, sinners and unbelievers will ultimately die for eternity.

            Most Adventists believe some variant of annihilationism, which says that after final judgment, all unbelievers will be destroyed rather than suffering in hell. In this belief, the Old Testament and New Testament say that the final end for nonbelievers is total extinction. For example, in Romans, Paul describes hell as a final punishment, where the wicked die, perish or are destroyed.”⁷

            Annihilationism proposes a lack of hell. Those who subscribe to annihilationism believe that the wicked will die once and for all, thereby escaping the horror of hellfire. 

            8. No Grace, But Hyper-Grace: Hyper-grace teachers abuse God’s grace and teach people that our sins are forgiven once and for all (past, present, and future). Hence, there is no need to confess and repent our sins to God. “In short, hyper-grace teachers “pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 1:4) and flirt with antinomianism…Hyper-grace preachers also claim the Holy Spirit will never convict Christians of their sin. Mature Christians should recognize this fallacy right away. Every disciple of Christ has felt the overwhelming conviction of the Holy Spirit when he or she has sinned. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth” (John 15:26). Truth, by its very definition, will not tolerate anything false. When the Spirit of Truth abides in a believing heart (1 Corinthians 6:19), He brings conviction about anything that is not truth,” says Gotquestions.org.⁸

            The Lord Jesus said, ““But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea…” (Matthew 18:6, NET). Hence, if hyper-grace teachers teach people that sinning is acceptable in the presence of God, they negate the Bible.

            9. No Grace, Yes Works: “Teaching that adds human religious works to Christ’s finished work on the cross as necessary ingredients for salvation. This teaching may pay lip service to salvation by faith alone but insists that a religious ritual (such as water baptism) is salvific. Some groups even legislate hairstyles, clothing options, and food consumption. Romans 11:6 warns against attempts to mix grace with works. Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by the grace of God, through faith, and nothing we do can add to or take away from it. Galatians 1:6–9 pronounces a curse on anyone who changes the good news of salvation by grace,”⁹ says Gotquestions.org.

            The Bible does not say that Christians should not do good works. Doing good works, for a Christian, is a logical corollary/consequence to his/her salvation. This verse in the Bible sums it up well, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10, NIV).

            Major religions emphasize doing good works (e.g. Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.). Only Historic Christianity teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be saved, “…because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10, NET).

            10. No Historic Christianity, Yes New Age: If you wonder why many churches around the world adopt yoga, then you need to keep the New Age Movement in your radar. Yoga is a Hindu salvific exercise.

            In an earlier blog of mine entitled “Should Christians Practice Yoga,” I stated the false teachings prevalent in the churches:¹⁰

False Teaching In Christianity To Encourage Yoga

Some false teachers within Christianity who encourage yoga⁸ emphasize that the yogic codes such as Yamas and Niyamas can strengthen our appreciation towards the Christian teachings. They maintain that the yogic codes resonate with the Christian moral teachings.

“Ahimsa” (non-violence) is one of the “yamas” (restraints) of the yoga sutras of Patanjali (an Indian sage - considered to be an incarnation of the mythical serpent Anantha, as some believe). It seems Ahimsa resonates with the Christian moral teaching “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Similarly, one of the “Niyamas” (observances) of Patanjali’s yoga sutras is “Saucha” (Cleanliness or purity). Saucha teaches the necessity of purity or cleanliness in body and mind so to attain union with God. Apparently, Saucha resonates with the cleanliness teaching of Matthew 15: 16-20, and prayer, fasting and Scripture reading that focuses on the cleanliness of the heart.

Exposing The False Teaching

At the heart of the false teaching that yogic codes are essential to appreciate Christianity is the notion that all religions should converge, and truth (from various disparate worldviews) is always convergent.

This is Syncretism (fusion of divergent religions) in full force. Syncretism presupposes an inadequacy of any single religion to comprehend the divine on its own.

But every Christian should understand that God can be adequately understood from HIS Holy Word – The Bible. Christianity does not require Hinduism or one of its practices, namely yoga, to help understand and believe in God and HIS Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the significance of these similarities between Patanjali's Yamas and Niyamas with the Bible? None! There is absolutely no significance! So what if two worldviews teach similarly? Does similarity in teaching syncretize religions? No!

Hinduism and Christianity are two fundamentally different religions (Godhead, salvation etc). Certain points of interconnect in the teachings of these religions will certainly not harmonize these religions. 

            By now you may wonder why Prosperity Gospel (Health & Wealth Gospel) does not feature in the list above.  I do not think that those lay Christians who subscribe to health & wealth gospel would go to hell because they do not deny any of the essential tenets of Historic Christianity. But their proponents aka the teachers, who twist the Bible to their own benefit, are most certainly treading on dangerous grounds, with respect to their own salvation (cf. Matthew 7: 21-23).

Endnotes:

¹Any teaching that contradicts the Bible is a false teaching or false teaching could be defined as that which denies the essential tenets of Historic Christianity. The essential tenets of Historic Christianity being God’s Triunity, Christ’s Birth, HIS sinlessness, death, burial, bodily resurrection & ascension, Christ’s 2nd coming, the final judgment, heaven & hell, the inspired and the infallible Bible.

²I do not want to sit in the judgment seat, which only belongs to Christ, so I say ‘may not.’ However, the chances of them not being saved are very high.

³http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm

⁴https://www.gotquestions.org/false-doctrine.html

⁵https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-8-beliefs-you-should-know-about-mormons-when-they-knock-at-the-door/

⁶https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-is-the-trinity-an-essential-christian-doctrine/

⁷https://www.christianity.com/church/denominations/10-things-everyone-should-know-about-seventh-day-adventists-and-their-beliefs.html

⁸https://www.gotquestions.org/hyper-grace.html

⁹https://www.gotquestions.org/false-doctrine.html 

¹⁰https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2014/02/should-christians-practice-yoga.html

Websites last accessed on 7^th June 2019.

More Garbage From Oprah Winfrey In “A Wrinkle In Time”

            The movie “A Wrinkle in Time” focuses on girls and it urges them to pursue their passions, “…Tapping into your light. Letting it shine no matter the circumstances.”¹ Oprah Winfrey, who stars in this movie, echoes a similar message.

            How should Christians, especially young Christian girls, absorb this message? Is Oprah making sense? Georgi Boorman’s article in The Federalist addresses this topic.² Read on…   

            “A Wrinkle in Time” is getting panned by critics, but that hasn’t deterred Oprah Winfrey from proselytizing the message of the movie as she sees it.

            A 14-year-old girl asked Oprah for advice for young girls “who want to make a difference in the world.” This girl raised over $50,000 to send other girls to see the movie, which Oprah stars in.

            To answer her, Oprah tapped into the prophetic gift that’s bestowed on all celebrities with the requisite daytime talk shows and book clubs:

            “The highest honor on earth that you will ever have is the honor of being yourself. And your only job in the world is to figure out, that’s what this movie is about — people think your job is to get up and go and raise money and take care of your family — that’s an obligation that you have, but your only true job as a human being is to discover why you came, why you are here.

            And every one of us has an internal guidance, a GPS, an intuition, a heart print, a heartsong that speaks to us. Your only job is to be able to listen and discern when it’s speaking versus when your head and your personality is speaking. And if you follow that, you will be led to the highest good for you. Always.”

            When a sweet pile of word garbage is dumped into your ears like that, you might wonder how the daytime prophetess could possibly have the millions of followers she does. Really, her message isn’t that much different than the typical self-worship your kids hear in Disney movies. “Follow your heart,” and “be yourself” are the proverbs of the age.

            It doesn’t sound as bad when it’s put into a story, because those stories all have happy endings. But when Oprah lays it out like a Sunday morning sermon, it’s easier to see how terrible this advice really is.

            Let’s review, starting with Oprah’s idea of “highest honor.”

            The highest honor on earth is not to be yourself, because you are wretched: You lie and you cheat and you hurt even the people that you love. You break your promises. You are selfish and greedy.

            Sure, you have a few talents, a few crumbs of wisdom, a few bright spots in your totally depraved heart. But are they enough to nominate you for “the highest honor?” No. This is advice from a bubble world devoid of red editing pens and full of participation trophies — the world millennials were raised in, and that our own kids are being raised in.

            Telling someone they’re a double rainbow of awesomeness is not going to encourage them to improve. Actually, studies have shown that most subpar workers believe they’re doing a good job. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect, and we need less of this, not more. But this only comes with honesty about our shortcomings, not the lie that simply “being ourselves” is worthy of the highest honor.

            Maybe what Oprah really means is that we shouldn’t be “fake.” We shouldn’t try to be someone we’re not. Yes, honesty is honorable, but being honest has to include acknowledging how awful we are. And if we acknowledge how awful we are, we quickly realize that being our “authentic selves” shouldn’t earn us any special honors.

            Oprah would have you claim that you are the highest value and set yourself up as a god. Pride is the original sin, and you might remember it didn’t work out so well for the first guy who tried it.

            This idolatry is just the beginning of Oprah’s bad advice, though. She goes on to claim that our only true job in the world is to “discover who we are, why we’re here.” It’s not wrong to seek answers to those questions. Actually finding that answer, realizing who you are in relation to God, will ultimately lead you to eternal life. But Oprah isn’t preaching the gospel here. She’s already implied that this spiritual journey of sorts is personal, and so everyone’s answer is unique. You only need follow your “internal GPS” to find your “highest good.”

            But your highest good can’t be found by geocaching the depths of your heart. As the prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick — who can understand it?”

            The problem isn’t that Oprah is telling this young woman to find what’s good for her. She should. The problem is that she’s telling her to follow a compass with a false north, and it will lead her in the opposite direction of her “highest good,” or for that matter, the good of everyone her life touches.

            Oprah is perhaps the world’s foremost purveyor of “sola feels” doctrine: the idea that truth is “personal” and subjective, and that feelings should be your ultimate guide in life. But the heart doesn’t lead us to what is good, for us or anyone else — it is ever inclined towards evil. Oprah believes Jesus came to “show us the way of the heart.” Well, here’s what Jesus had to say about the heart: “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.”

            If you make “finding yourself” and “following your heart” your chief priority in life, above family, friends, work, and everything else, it will be your destruction. Sure, Oprah says making money to care for your family is “an obligation,” but what if your heartsong is telling you to abandon your job and your family to become an artist with a live-in lover in Paris? Should you follow your heartsong then?

            There is no “heartsong.” There is no inner voice guiding you toward your highest good, because the “heart” is just a synonym for our feelings. A feeling about something is not enough to make an informed decision on whether a given action is good or bad, and it certainly shouldn’t be the deciding factor in any significant life choices.

            Perhaps that is why so many young people seem directionless — passionless, even. Maybe it’s why they are paralyzed by indecision, drifting from job to job, never quite satisfied with what they’re doing, consistently putting off milestones like marriage and childrearing. Perhaps that is why they take “gap years” to “discover themselves,” as Oprah encourages. If you sit around waiting for your heart to tell you what to do, you’ll be directionless forever.

            And yet, Oprah not only encourages listening to the murmurs of your flighty heart, but prioritizing that murmur above what your head or “your personality” tell you. Essentially, she is telling this young woman to feel instead of think.

            It doesn’t get more “sola feels” than that. Your mind and your personality are going to do a much better job guiding your life and helping you change the world than the whimsical notes of your “heartsong.” Finding work that suits your personality and engages your mind will be far more satisfying than straining to hear the imaginary whispers of your heart. Working hard at that job, whether it’s the job that puts food on your family’s table or not, will do more to change the world than all the feels you could possibly feel.

            Work that suits you won’t always be fun. Even “dream jobs” are grueling at times, and that’s yet another reason not to follow your heart. Your heart wants to be thrilled and fully content all the time, and it will roam from place to place, person to person, looking for that fulfillment until the day you die. Your feelings can prompt you to take ridiculous risks, to break other’s hearts, and to abandon responsibilities.

            So you should do the opposite, as Jordan Peterson suggests, and “take some bloody responsibility.” That is your calling, and your “internal GPS” won’t lead you to it. Do right by your family, your friends, your employers and your community, and you will benefit from it, perhaps more than anyone else. Regardless of whether you find a vocation beyond being a mother, father, provider, or simply a good citizen, responsibility anchors your life when a torrent of deceptive feelings would try to uproot it.

            If there is a “true job,” it’s to take responsibility for your life, for your sins, for the people who depend on you.

            Ultimately, the concept of responsibility, of “obligation,” is what cracks Oprah’s crackpot advice wide open. If our only job is to follow our hearts, how do we know that this traditional “job” of making money and caring for family is an obligation? Isn’t that an idea imposed on us from the outside?

            She even uses the GPS as an analogy for this internal “guidance,” but it seems she doesn’t actually know how a GPS works. The receiver triangulates your position based on the position of at least three satellites orbiting the earth. Precise distances from the satellites must be known for your receiver to tell you where you are. A receiver out of sight of the satellites can’t tell you your location, where your destination is, or how to reach it. You need objective data from above to figure that out. So if Oprah was true to her own analogy, she’d be telling us to turn to objective, external truth, not to our hearts.

            America’s life guru can’t fully adopt her own garbage advice. Reality is poking through from the back of that underutilized mind. Yes, we have obligations imposed on us from society and from God’s law, and those obligations derive from eternal, objective truths. Living by those truths will bring both personal fulfillment and positive change in the world.

            Morality is a blessing no “heartsong” can match, and we’d do well to let it guide us.

Endnotes:

¹http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/wrinkle-time-director-advises-young-girls-light-shine/story?id=53548795

²http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/09/oprahs-advice-to-follow-your-heartsong-is-garbage-heres-why/