“You probably should kill yourself.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. An adult woman encouraging a teenage girl to commit suicide? What would possess someone to suggest such a horrible act? One word: worldview.
Last month, I led a group of sixty high school students on a New Age worldview mission trip to northern Arizona. The students had completed fourteen weeks of training in worldview and apologetics. They were ready, equipped to converse with others about Christianity and truth.
Part of the trip involved having a shaman, a New Age clairvoyant, and an atheist present their beliefs to the students, with the students asking questions afterwards.
Both the shaman and the New Age clairvoyant shared a shocking core belief. The human mind is a trickster, they said, and can’t be trusted. Our minds overthink things, which only leads to trouble. Instead, always follow your heart. “If your heart is telling you to do something, do it,” the clairvoyant said. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Follow your heart” was the instruction we repeatedly heard from our New Age friends, but it’s the complete opposite of what Scripture teaches. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jesus himself had this to say about the evil of the human heart.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. (Mark 7:21–23)
According to Scripture, human beings are broken because of sin, and our evil desires, inclinations, and appetites must be restrained. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit given to help us master our fallen hearts.
How can humans gain control over their faulty desires? Not by following their hearts and surrendering to their appetites. Instead, human beings need to have their minds renewed to see reality for what it is. As Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
The Christian worldview teaches that the heart is deceitfully wicked and that transformation happens when our minds are conformed to the truth. According to the New Age worldview, the mind is a trickster, so we should follow our hearts. This is a complete inversion of the truth. The New Age teaches the opposite of Christianity on this.
Our students saw the absurdity of this view and exposed it by asking good questions. One asked, “What if my heart is urging me to kill someone, should I do it?”
Taken aback, the clairvoyant said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“But I’m not supposed to follow my mind, my ideas; I’m supposed to follow my heart.”
The clairvoyant looked puzzled, pondered the statement a moment, and then said, “Well, maybe you need to learn a lesson. So, yes, you should follow your heart and kill that person.”
Another asked, “What if I’m depressed, and my heart is telling me to end my life? Should I follow my heart?”
“You don’t want to do that,” the clairvoyant responded, “because when you are reincarnated, that will set you further back from advancing.”
“But you said not to listen to my mind,” the student said, “but to always follow my heart.” That’s when the clairvoyant, forced to be consistent with her worldview, said, “You may need to learn a lesson, too, so you should probably kill yourself.”
The enemy is clever. He convinces people that wrong is right, down is up, and God’s ways are harmful. Yet the real harm comes when humans believe lies and live in a false reality.
There is nothing new about the New Age worldview. “Follow your heart” is a lie going back to the serpent’s words to Eve. Her mind knew what God had said, but she chose to follow her heart.
Here’s my advice: Don’t make the same mistake. Follow the truth, not your heart. Renew your mind according to God’s Word so you may prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect (Rom. 12:2).