This week there has been a major reaction to an interview between Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson and Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience”. In this interview, Mel Gibson describes his encounter with what he called a “Chi Gong master”.
Here is the full audio clip about his encounter with the Chi Gong master. I’m not editing this so that you can clearly watch everything in the context of what Mel Gibson says to Joe Rogan while being interviewed.
Most Christians are well aware of the spiritual dangers associated with esoteric energies or forces. So it’s best to be sceptical and wary of such practices. Also, as a Christian practitioner of both Tai Chi and Chi Gong, I’m not aware of this kind of Chi Gong as described in the interview and a related documentary on the Chi Gong master, and neither our school nor our associated secular school practices it or teaches it.
That’s not surprising. After doing more research on this it turns out that this version of Chi Gong is not Chinese in origin, it’s Indonesian. Also, without actually practising it or knowing more about it I’m going to have to agree with Sam for now that this is not a kind of Chi Gong that I’d recommend. I’d be happy to engage with someone who practices this form of Chi Gong and who believes that it’s being misrepresented here. And certainly, Sam is generally misinformed about Chi Gong. But on the surface, looking at what are reported to be the roots of this style of Chi Gong, I’d suggest that it’s not something that Christians should be practising.
That said, let’s look at this reaction from Christian apologist, Sam Shamoun. I’ve watched quite a few of Sam’s videos and what is clear is that he knows his bible. So to Sam’s credit, he is extremely knowledgeable about the bible and religious law, especially at the intersection of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
What worries me about Sam’s approach is that he doesn’t always seem to interact with others in the most loving or Christ-like way. It’s great that he is right on so many subjects, but it would appear to me that at times he tends to wield his extraordinary Biblical knowledge a bit like a blunt instrument. As the saying goes: “You may not remember what someone says, but you will always remember the way that they made you feel”.
On top of that, as we go through Sam’s video, it becomes clear that while he may be an expert on the Bible, the same cannot be said for his knowledge of the Chinese people, their history, their culture or their religions.
This is a shame, because most of the time, Sam comes across as someone who values Truth. But in this case, he’s just defaulted to that standard reaction that something that you know little about and don’t understand must automatically be evil.
My argument is that not all Chi Gong is the same. You can practice a more secular Chi Gong that involves just breathing exercises and stretching. You can also now practice an overtly Christian style of Chi Gong. And there is at least some evidence to suggest that the early Christians in China around the mid-600s during the Tang dynasty integrated well with Taoism. What is probably the first Christian monastery in China it actually housed within a major Taoist complex. Side by side, early Christians will have exposed their faith to Taoists and vice versa.
First off, Sam says that the Chi Gong master was into holistic medicine. This is true, but he does not mention what Mel Gibson says – which is that he was a fully trained allopathic doctor first – being able to “write prescriptions”. He only got involved with Chi Gong as an alternative healing practice afterwards.
Was this just an honest mistake? Let’s give Sam the benefit of the doubt.
But note that if your intention is to run a hit piece of someone’s character to a Western audience, you would not mention their credentials as a doctor – because our culture automatically respects the opinions of a medical doctor – but not an alternative therapist.
Note that Sam also says that the Chi Gong expert pointed at him and he levitated some inches off the ground. Okay, so he says feet initially, but later corrects himself. But that’s not actually what happened. What happened is that he was pointing at Mel Gibson and he shouted at his liver. Did you hear what Mel Gibson said? It sounded like “get out”. Was the Chi Gong expert rebuking either Mel Gibson’s liver or perhaps he was rebuking whatever illness was causing a problem with his liver? It was only then that he was lifted off the ground.
Here is that section again:
If you follow any of the catholic exorcist channels you will find out that apparently, levitation is quite common during exorcism.
Do a bit of role reversal and let’s say that our Chi Gong master is also a priest or pastor in a church. They do an altar call and someone comes up who is unwell. The priest looks them up and down, points and them, and rebukes an illness or a sickly body part. They then levitate a few inches off the floor and are then healed. Everyone is happy, right? The people who see this are amazed by the work of God, the sickly person is healed and the evil spirit causing the problem lifts them off the floor, but is presumably forced out and sent back to wherever it came from.
Nobody in this situation will accuse the priest or the pastor of being demonic because the person who responded to the altar call was lifted off the ground. But that’s not what happens here. Everyone is really quick to demonise the Chi Gong master, even if they know nothing about Chi Gong, its root origins or its history.
Watch this old video of preacher Derick Prince describing his deliverance from a demonic entity that was causing him cancer.
My question is: Is it possible that the Chi Gong master performed something like a medical exorcism on Mel Gibson based on some kind of healing knowledge passed down from generation to generation that we simply know nothing about? That perhaps not everything you know nothing about should automatically be tossed into a box labelled “demonic”.
Listen to this section of Sam’s commentary. Did you also pick this up when watching the video?
As you can hear, he says: “Do you see how demonic this guy was”. He does not say: “See how badly demonically influenced he is” or “Look at how diabolical this situation is” – no Sam outright judges him personally of being demonic. Even if the Chi Gong master is working with demonic forces it is not Sam Shamoun’s right to judge him as demonic. Judge the demonic forces as demonic, certainly – just not individual people, nor their culture.
Matthew 7:1-5 reads – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Out of nowhere I once prayed for a man who manifested in the demonic right in front of me. I was a new Christian and had experienced the immense power of the Holy Spirit only a week before. For some reason, this man, who was a bartender, had asked what I thought of God.
I professed my faith as: “Believing in the Lord God almighty, creator and heaven and earth and all things good” because I was genuinely too terrified to use the name of Jesus. When the man manifested in the demonic his face contorted, his voice changed and he reeled backwards – like he had to get away from the Holy Spirit that was moving through me. It was late and it was only the bartender, myself and a girlfriend at the time who were in the bar.
It was clear that this demonic entity was petrified of the Holy Spirit, but all I could feel was God’s immense love for this lost man. I felt God ask if He could use me to speak to him, and I agreed. It was a long time ago, but I remember the words that came out of my mouth were something like: “Why do you run from me my child, when I love you so much.” It was pure love for that man who was afflicted by the demon. Not judgment nor condemnation.
As best as I can, I now try to use that Holy Spirit encounter as the standard by which my own judgment should be measured. If you love people the way Jesus does, it soon becomes apparent that it’s only Pharisees and demons that judge and condemn. Scripture is meant to set people free – not be used as an instrument to beat them to death. When you do that you are no longer operating out of God’s corner. It is more likely that it is you who has aligned with the demonic.
[As a side note, Pharisees are often critical of personal anecdotes and miraculous testimonies of the Holy Spirit working on a personal level. This is because for all of their biblical knowledge, Christ does not work in their lives. He has “spat them out”. Miraculous works of Christ are inextricably linked to a personal relationship with Him. At TCFC Tai Chi for Christians, our goal is to try to listen to what Christ is saying to us on a personal level – not impose our interpretation of biblical scripture upon He who inspired the writing of it.]
My personal lived experience as a Christian Chi Gong and Tai Chi practitioner clearly differs very much from Sam’s interpretation of meditation. My experience of meditation through Christ-based Chi Gong and related breathing and stretching exercises is that of the old story with the onion. By inviting Christ to participate in the breathing and stretching exercises, I find that He is able to gently remove what I’ve come to call the “masks”.
The masks are lies that we believe about ourselves that we have absorbed over the years. It’s the self-limiting beliefs, our thought idols, that are holding us back. I’ve found that by practising Christian-based Tai Chi, Christ gently and one by one removes these masks.
The epiphany occurs when He removes the last mask and you get down to your core and what do you find? Well, you find Christ living in there. Since you accepted Him as your lord and saviour, what did you think you would find? Of course, it’s Him – it’s been Him living at your core the moment you accepted Him or aligned with His will!
From this point, there is no need for the masks. You don’t need to project anything to anyone – because who you are is not just good enough. It’s more than good enough – it’s wonderful. It’s Christ living in you.
For me, this is what it means to mediate down to nothing.
It’s not easy – because we humans are intensely self-critical and we seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time and energy running away from both Christ and our true selves. But the goal is to become completely aligned with Christ – body, mind and spirit. In so doing you can truly say: “Here I am Father, let your will be done in me”.
Good spirituality is always about giving up control. Not the taking of control. See how Christ points to this in the Lord’s prayer – Your will be done. And then eats that frog by dying on the cross for us. Those who bother to look at some other faith systems with an open mind will often find similarities there too – especially in Taoism.
Have you piled what equates to little more than years and years of religious garbage on top of yourself in order to hide your sins from Christ? Or have you invited him to shine his life-giving perfect healing light into every part of yourself? Do you still have some “skeletons in the closet” festering away and poisoning your life or have you been able to bring all of the lies to him and stand before Him and honestly say: “Take me as I am Lord?”
Because this is what it is to mediate down to nothing.
The truth is that the roots of Chi Gong are not in Hinduism. That’s either plain ignorance or an intentional outright lie.
It is my observation that those who wish to demonise the martial arts and Tai Chi and Chi Gong in particular are always keen to highlight Hindu influences, no matter how insignificant they may be. I’m going to suggest that the reason for this is that anyone who honestly looks at a belief system like Taoism is going to be immediately struck by the similarities between this philosophy and the core concepts and teachings of Jesus.
If you align Tai Chi and Chi Gong more towards Hinduism which is clearly and openly polytheistic, it’s far easier to demonise these practices to someone with a classical Christian mindset.
At this point, their goal is not to tell the truth. It is to manipulate people into passing the sin of judgment on people and their cultures. This is the worst kind of witchcraft. Because not only is it a lie, but it seeks to make Christ a willing participant in deceit and the judgement of men.
The reality is that Tai Chi and Chi Gong are no more Hindu than Christianity is pagan Roman or Greek. Tai Chi is predominantly Taoist although Chi Gong is often practised by both Taosits and Buddhists. But there is some Hindu influence in Chinese culture, just like there is Pagan Roman and Greek influence in Christianity and Western culture.
The role of Plato, Aristotle and other great Greek philosophers on the West and Western Christianity is undeniable. Stoicism has made a bit of a comeback over the past few years and it’s become extremely popular online and on social media. Imagine labelling Marcus Aurelius as demonic and those who want to implement the philosophy of stoicism in their lives as demon-possessed. That would be ridiculous, right? But if that rings true for ideas and concepts that come from a time of Western paganism, so too that must be true for many ideas from Confucianism and Taoism.
Does anyone demonise the wedding ring, white wedding dresses, the throwing of confetti, the bridal veil, carrying the bride over a threshold, the bouquet and garter toss, tombstones and grave markers, funeral processions, wearing black when mourning, halos in Christian art, Christmas trees, Easter eggs, or the Easter bunny – to say nothing of the days of the week?
Each one of these cultural beliefs and practices has its origin in some form of polytheistic paganism.
The good news is that Christ can “clean the shirt” of both Western and Eastern cultures. Often, there is no need to throw your cultural shirt away – but rather to bring it to Him and let it be cleaned by the His blood that He shed for you, your family and I’d wager for your culture too.
If Christ can clean and accept pagan wedding rings and Christmas trees, the Maori Haka war dance here in New Zealand and integrate with other cultural practices of dubious origin from other countries and cultures from around the world – then surely it is within His power to do the same with Tai Chi and Chi Gong.
The research I’ve done so far indicates that Chi Gong is an ancient stretching and breathing exercise that predates both Taoism and Buddhism – back to at least around 1600BC and quite likely even further. At this time, the Chinese worshipped a monotheistic God called Shang Di.
Some researchers and many Christians in China assert that Shang Di is directly analogous to the Hebrew God Yahweh. Shang Di was worshipped as the “most high” God and was seen as a just ruler who rewarded righteousness and punished evil, similar to Yahweh’s role as a moral lawgiver in the Bible.
The early Chinese kings offered animal sacrifices to Shang Di, just like in the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, particularly in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Many contemporary Christian scholars and especially those in China, argue that Shang Di is quite literally the the ancient Chinese version of the Hebrew Yahweh.
For reference, this is similar to how most theologians interpret the Greek “Unknown God” in Acts 17:23 as a reference to Yahweh.
Furthermore, when Jesuit missionaries arrived in China in around 1552, they used “Shang Di” to translate “God” in the Bible, believing that the ancient Chinese had worshipped the true God but later deviated from Him.
Notice that it’s specifically the Jesuit order that arrived in China. Note that it was a Jesuit priest who counselled Mel Gibson on his experiences with the Chi Gong master.
Is it possible that as a consequence, the Jesuits know just a bit more about China, the Chinese culture, their religions and the possible root origins of Chi Gong than the rest of us? Unlike almost everyone else, the Jesiut did not knee-jerk react to the Chi Gong master’s abilities. Instead, he asked what the consequences of the experience were. No doubt, we would have asked not just about the healing, but any other spiritual consequences of these actions.
If this is not enough, read this direct translation of The Gospel of John, Chapter 1 as it was published in China in 1911 by the American Bible Society:
In the beginning was the Tao,
And the Tao was with God,
And the Tao was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him;
And without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness comprehended it not . . .
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him,
And the world knew Him not . . .
And the Tao became flesh,
And dwelt among us,
And we beheld His glory . . .
Now we all know that as the Word in our bibles.
In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.
And you will likely have been taught that the Word is the Bible in this passage. But critically, the Word in this passage is referring to the concept of the Logos – which has its roots in pagan Greek philosophy.
The concept of the Logos is the analogy Paul used to describe Christ to the Greeks. And the Tao, is arguably an even closer analogy to Christ than the Logos.
Now consider also that ancient Chinese records suggest a major cosmic disturbance and the idea of one individual bearing the sins of humanity on a day that occurred in 31AD. Nobody appears to be certain, but scholars agree that Jesus was crucified somewhere between 30 and 33 AD.
Apparently, the “Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu,” states:
“Summer, fourth month, on the day of Ren Wu, the imperial edict reads, ‘Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed. The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under heaven.'”
Additionally, the “Jingjiao Documents,” also known as the “Jesus Sutras,” are a collection of Chinese Christian texts from the 7th century. That’s roughly 700 years after the crucifixion of Christ. These texts blend Christian teachings with Chinese philosophical concepts, including Yin and Yang. While they don’t specifically mention Jesus’ birth in China, they reflect an integration of Christian and Chinese thought.
In other words, there is some evidence to suggest that the Church of the East, which developed during the first centuries in the Persian Empire, eventually spread along the Silk Road into China and flourished for centuries throughout central Asia – and that this presence has largely been forgotten.
And lastly, exactly who were the Magi or the Three Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and worshipped the baby Jesus at his birth? The Bible is vague about where the men came from, other than the East. It is almost certain, however, that these “wise men” were astrologers, but ones with religious and scholarly backgrounds rather than fortune-tellers.
It should be noted that both Frankincense and Myrrh, were both rare and highly valued in ancient China – likely more so than in the Middle East and India where they would have been more readily available.
There is also a really interesting biblical passages in both Mark and Luke that are almost never quoted or spoken about:
Mark 9:38-40 (ESV):
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
40 For the one who is not against us is for us.
and then
Luke 9:49-50 (ESV):
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow with us.”
50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”
The reality is that we do not know what impact early Christianity had on the Chinese people, their culture and their religions such as Taoism. Similarly, we know very little about the Chi Gong master – other than that he followed an ancient Chi Gong tradition that appears to have put honour and morality above fortune and fame.
Even though I’d be wary of this kind of Chi Gong, the master appears to have had to ability to conduct some kind of medical exorcism – one that resulted in a short levitation. There appears to have been no negative results from that interaction and nothing of a demonic nature was claimed either by Mel Gibson or the Jesuit priest who counselled him afterwards.
Again, not all Chi Gong is the same. Just like practising “positive thinking”, praying in the name of Jesus Christ or some other pagan god is all praying of a sort. It’s not the practice of prayer – it’s the intention behind it and what it connects with that is important.
Given the links between Chi Gong and the ancient monotheistic Chinese god, Shang Di and the Hebrew Yahweh, Taosim and the many similarities shared with Christian concepts, especially the Logos as well as the possible influence from the early Eastern Church into Chinese culture, it is unwise to prematurely judge all Chi Gong as demonic?
Our view is that it would be a better approach to find out more, conduct more research and try to gain a better understanding of the relationship between Chi Gong, Yahweh and the ability of Christ to clean all cultural practices and use them for His own good purposes.
Just like Jesus came to straighten the path as the Jewish promised messiah – at TCFC Tai Chi, we believe that He can “clean the shirt” and straighten the path of Chi Gong – Tai Chi and therefore all martial arts with the concept of Chi at its foundational roots.
We believe that Christ wants to use Tai Chi and related Chi-Gong stretching and breathing exercises for His own good purposes. And we’ve come to recognise that our Christian Tai Chi is kryptonite for Pharisees – because there is no talking, just listening.
We’ve experienced how delighted the Holy Spirit of Christ is with the gentle movements inherent in Tai Chi and how His spirit flows in and through them. Our goal is to learn to listen to the “still and quiet voice of God” and to align ourselves to the will of Christ.
If this kind of Christianity resonates with you, please visit us at christiantaichi.co and sign up for a free introductory course in Christian Tai Chi at our online martial arts school. Like Christ, we accept anyone from anywhere – atheists, agnostics, Christians from any denomination and also those from any other faith system.