Note: Because of the continued popularity of Sarah Young’s best-selling book, Jesus Calling, it is necessary to remind the church how the author and her publisher have altered and manipulated significant parts of her original material. The following is just one example of how after nine years of publication—and in the midst of great controversy—Sarah Young changed the description of her original conversion experience.
Sarah Young’s New Agey Mystical Moonlight Conversion
Warren B. Smith
In the original introduction to Jesus Calling, Sarah Young described how it was a walk in “God’s glorious creation” that led to her mystical moonlight conversion—that her “heart” was “converted” to “Jesus” when she “felt” “enveloped” by the “warm mist” of His “Presence.” Her account is reminiscent of how many of us fell prey to deceptive spiritual experiences rather than heeding warnings from the Word of God about “another Jesus,” “another gospel,” and “another spirit.” (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-7; 1 Timothy 4:1). Note how Young clearly transitions right from “it was God’s glorious creation that helped me open my heart to Him” into her walk in the “snowy mountains” with its “cold moonlit beauty.” It is a continuous flow from one paragraph to the next. Young wrote:
It was the intellectual integrity of Francis Schaeffer’s teaching that had drawn me to that pristine place. Though the quest that had taken me there was a search for truth, it was God’s glorious creation that helped me open my heart to Him.
One night I found myself leaving the warmth of our cozy chalet to walk alone in the snowy mountains. I went into a deeply wooded area, feeling vulnerable and awed by cold, moonlit beauty. The air was crisp and dry, piercing to inhale. Suddenly I felt as if a warm mist enveloped me. I became aware of a lovely Presence, and my involuntary response was to whisper, “Sweet Jesus.” This utterance was totally uncharacteristic of me, and I was shocked to hear myself speaking so tenderly to Jesus. As I pondered this brief communication, I realized it was the response of a converted heart; at that moment I knew I belonged to Him. This was far more than the intellectual answers for which I’d been searching. This was a relationship with the Creator of the universe.1 [emphasis added to indicate what has been removed from the most recent editions of Jesus Calling].
But after nine years of publishing the mystical conversion account above, this original account has been suddenly replaced by a different, more traditional conversion account that Young now claims to have had prior to her moonlight walk. Instead of “God’s glorious creation” transitioning into her mystical moonlight conversion, now it’s her new conversion account that transitions into her considerably toned down walk in the moonlight. The new account reads:
Shortly after I settled into the home I shared with other students, I met a gifted counselor who had come from the Swiss branch of L’Abri to talk with some of us. I went into the room where she was waiting, and she told me to close the door. Before I even had time to sit down, she asked her first question: “Are you a Christian?” I answered that I wasn’t sure; I wanted to be a Christian, but I didn’t really understand why I needed Jesus. I thought that knowing God might be enough. Her second question was: “What can you not forgive yourself for?” This question brought me face-to-face with my sinfulness, and immediately I understood my need for Jesus—to save me from my many sins. Later, when I was alone, I asked Him to forgive all my sins and to be my Savior-God.
One night I found myself leaving the warmth of our cozy chalet to walk alone in the snowy mountains. I went into a deeply wooded area, feeling vulnerable and awed by cold, moonlit beauty. The air was crisp and dry, piercing to inhale. After a while, I came into an open area and I stopped walking. Time seemed to stand still as I gazed around me in wonder—soaking in the beauty of this place. Suddenly I became aware of a lovely Presence with me, and my involuntary response was to whisper, “Sweet Jesus.” This experience of Jesus’ Presence was far more personal than the intellectual answers for which I’d been searching. This was a relationship with the Creator of the universe—the One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6 NKJV)2
This new conversion account immediately begs the question of why Young didn’t include this recent conversion account in her original writing. For nine years she described how her “heart” was “converted” in the “cold moonlit beauty” of “God’s glorious creation.” Now we are being told that her heart was converted previous to her walk in the moonlight after talking with a L’Abri counselor. The skeptical reader might see the author attempting to do some quick damage control—especially in light of the fact that a number of the controversial statements from her original conversion account have been completely deleted from the most recent editions of Jesus Calling. Gone is the original statement that transitioned to her mystical conversion—“it was God’s glorious creation that helped me open my heart to Him.” Gone is the “warm mist” that “enveloped” her. Gone is the “utterance” that was “totally uncharacteristic of me.” Gone is her being “shocked” to hear herself “speaking so tenderly to Jesus.” Gone is her realization that her “response” was that of “a converted heart.” Gone is “at that moment I knew I belonged to Him.” More succinctly—gone is her whole mystical moonlight conversion and gone are the New Age implications of what she actually experienced. Also gone for many of us is any real credibility for an author and publisher who are trying to edit their problems away without any explanation or apology to anyone—much less the millions of readers who read her original version.
CONCLUSION
It seems a bit disingenuous for Thomas Nelson Vice President Laura Minchew to deny the various New Age implications of Jesus Calling—even as they are deleting much of the very material that substantiates the New Age implications charge. A rose by any other name is still a rose. Same with the New Age. Like an octopus that shoots ink at its perceived adversaries to cloud the waters, Minchew’s attempt to intimidate critics and to dispel legitimate criticism is not credible. Laura Minchew, Sarah Young, and Thomas Nelson editors must know this or they wouldn’t be removing so much controversial material from their new editions of Jesus Calling.
When the author and her Thomas Nelson team choose to protect their multi-million dollar Jesus Calling industry rather than the truth, they betray the countless readers who have put their trust in Sarah Young’s “Jesus.” Nevertheless, some will still say—“but there is so much truth and so much Scripture, and I was so encouraged by Sarah Young’s book.” Or, “Hey, so what if they changed things. They were just trying to make it right—so what’s the problem? But it is a sad day when avowed Christians find themselves encouraged by a deceptive mix of truth and New Age error. And when an author and a publisher make significant changes to spiritually controversial material, they should provide some kind of explanation as to why those changes were made.
This much is for sure. The true Christ doesn’t mix truth with New Age teachings. This is what a false Christ does. When asked by His disciples what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the world, the true Jesus Christ said that deception would be the sign—that many would come in His name and pretend to be Him (Matthew 24:3-5). And while this might be hard for some people to accept, His warning specifically applies to false Christs like Sarah Young’s “Jesus.”
It seems a bit disingenuous for Thomas Nelson Vice President Laura Minchew to deny the various New Age implications of Jesus Calling—even as they are deleting much of the very material that substantiates the New Age implications charge. A rose by any other name is still a rose. Same with the New Age. Like an octopus that shoots ink at its perceived adversaries to cloud the waters, Minchew’s attempt to intimidate critics and to dispel legitimate criticism is not credible. Laura Minchew, Sarah Young, and Thomas Nelson editors must know this or they wouldn’t be removing so much controversial material from their new editions of Jesus Calling.
When the author and her Thomas Nelson team choose to protect their multi-million dollar Jesus Calling industry rather than the truth, they betray the countless readers who have put their trust in Sarah Young’s “Jesus.” Nevertheless, some will still say—“but there is so much truth and so much Scripture, and I was so encouraged by Sarah Young’s book.” Or, “Hey, so what if they changed things. They were just trying to make it right—so what’s the problem? But it is a sad day when avowed Christians find themselves encouraged by a deceptive mix of truth and New Age error. And when an author and a publisher make significant changes to spiritually controversial material, they should provide some kind of explanation as to why those changes were made.
This much is for sure. The true Christ doesn’t mix truth with New Age teachings. This is what a false Christ does. When asked by His disciples what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the world, the true Jesus Christ said that deception would be the sign—that many would come in His name and pretend to be Him (Matthew 24:3-5). And while this might be hard for some people to accept, His warning specifically applies to false Christs like Sarah Young’s “Jesus.”
[Excerpted from Warren B. Smith’s book Another Jesus Calling: How Sarah Young’s False Christ is Deceiving the Church.]
Endnotes
1. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (original introduction), op. cit., pp. Vll-Vlll.
2. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (revised introduction), (10th Anniversary Edition), op. cit., p. xiv.
1. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (original introduction), op. cit., pp. Vll-Vlll.
2. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (revised introduction), (10th Anniversary Edition), op. cit., p. xiv.