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 The Law of Attraction, for those who haven't heard of it, is based on the belief that our thoughts and words have the power to affect our reality. If we think and speak negative words, we might bring negative things into our lives. If we only speak positive words, then good things come to us. This isn't a new concept, but it has recently exploded into popular culture and society's collective conscience. This Law of Attraction is one of the biggest spiritual cons of our time; a fake that has permeated not only the culture around us, but also the inner circles of our Christian communities. In order to prove this, let's examine this teaching in the light of the four components of any good con: truth, value, low cost, and a sneaky lie.
Truth: Watch The Secret, read The Power of Positive Thinking, or listen to Oprah in her New World series, and you will quickly realize that much of this idea rings true. Unquestionably, a negative outlook on life hurts us in many ways. It is also true that a positive attitude not only makes people want to be around us, but it is healthy and good. God told us this thousands of years ago:
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
Luke 12:29
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
These passages, and others like them, tell us that we should not worry, that we should be positive, that we should give thanks in everything and that everything will be OK in the end. So in this sense there is a lot of truth incorporated into the Law of Attraction.
That being said however, we need to be careful when looking for scripture to support ideas like these. In a previous article, The Secret (see sidebar), we demonstrated how some of the favorite scriptures used by proponents of the Law of Attraction have been twisted and taken out of context in order to “prove” this teaching. In fact, when these and other scriptures are carefully read in context, it is clear that the Bible never teaches that our thoughts and words have the power to affect our future reality. The Law of Attraction, while containing elements supported in the Bible, is, as a whole, contrary to what the Bible teaches. Please read The Secret article on www.faith21.org for more details.
Value: The Law of Attraction is all about living a good, happy and fulfilling life. What could be wrong with that? Even Jesus said that He came to bring us life in abundance. Nobody would argue with the fact that good health, strong friendships and abundant possessions can make our lives better. What price can we put on good health? How much would you sell your life-long friends for? These things have true value and if there is a way of bringing these good things into your life, why wouldn't you? It is easy to see that the Law of Attraction offers us a lot of value.
Low Cost: Proponents of the Law of Attraction say even Jesus spoke of giving us a good life. It is true that Jesus promises life, but He also speaks of hardship (Mark 10:30, John 16:33). Suffering hardship is the cost that Jesus puts on the life He offers. Many teachers today, however, seem to believe that the life Jesus spoke of is a life of ease, success in our careers and, ultimately, prosperity. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The folly of this belief is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Jesus' own life, the very life He promises us, was probably the hardest life ever lived. Life to the full in John 10:10 surely didn't mean prosperity or worldly success to the Man who did not have a home, the Man who never married, the Man who died owning just the clothes on his back.
This life to the full that Jesus offers will make us happy. Jesus was joyful despite everything he went through. (Hebrews 12:2) Paul experienced this joy as well, and his life wasn't exactly cushy. (Philippians 4:12) The world offers a different type of happiness than what we see in Jesus and Paul. It offers a happiness that depends on health, wealth, influence, fame, friends and other temporary things. These good things can undoubtedly satisfy us for a time, but the longer we live the more we see the problem that this happiness hides: it is only temporary. We are faced with the realization that, even though the Law of Attraction offers us life at a low cost, it may not be what we really need.
A Sneaky Lie: The lie hidden in the promise of The Law of Attraction is that the good things in life will satisfy us and make us happy. In fact, this con is so good that it tries to convince us of this lie by warning us of the short-lived pleasures of bad things. It tells us that drugs, alcohol, crime, or sex out of marriage won't make us happy, and offers the alternative of hard work and living a good life. Make no mistake, working hard and living a good, clean life are very good things all of us should do, but these things in themselves will not provide lasting happiness. In the end, we need something much deeper to satisfy our heart's God-given desire for happiness and contentment. This desire can only be truly satisfied with this Life to the Full offered by Jesus. The very real danger with anything that makes us happy temporarily is that we may be lulled to sleep and fail to pursue the real life that is available through Jesus. It was Jesus who said that we cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:19-24)
In summary, the Law of Attraction does contain some truth and does offer happiness, which is valuable. However, it offers this happiness without the problems that Jesus promised and in the end only provides temporary satisfaction while swindling you out of the true Life to the Full that Jesus offers. Why waste your life pursuing the success and happiness that the Law of Attraction promises if you know it is not the Life to the Full that Jesus offers? You only have time for one focus in life. None of us have time for a do-over.
CONCLUSION: DO WE BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL GOD?
Why is it that the Law of Attraction holds authority with people to the point where many never even question its truth? The Law of Attraction could be accurately described as a worldview. Just as every religion offers an explanation, or back-story, to why things happen in life, the Law of Attraction gives us an easy-to-understand explanation of life's mysteries. It explains life's difficulties, in a way that is not only logical, but also empowering. It promises all of us a fairly easy way to change our current situation and rise to a level of happiness and contentment we did not think possible.
In a way, it offers us the chance to be gods. Most people use phrases like “it is in God’s hands now” or “we’ve done all we can do; now it is up to God” or “an act of God.” These phrases are a way of stating that we can work at things and do our best, but we often are powerless to control the outcome of situations. The Law of Attraction attempts to change this long-standing belief and offers us hope that we can affect not only our immediate circumstances, but also those things we previously thought were out of our control! In effect, it offers us to become like God, which might remind us of an offering made by a snake in a long-forgotten garden. It is easy to see why many people would be enticed by the opportunity to control their own lives.
The thing that defines Christians, however, is that we have made Jesus Lord of our lives. So, if this Law of Attraction is not only false, but also against our core decision, why have so many Christians taken it in? Why would somebody with a Biblical worldview toss it aside to pick up a belief like this? The answer could be that many Christians do not have a spiritually mature view of life. The Bible teaches that not even a hair falls to the ground without God being aware of it and working it into His plan for our good. Even so, instead of a strong belief that God is active in every little situation in life, some Christians believe that God loves them but may not be so sure of His involvement in their every moment. To some Christians God might just let bad things happen for some unknown reason. They may doubt He has their best interest in mind.
Let's illustrate the point with an example: Johnny gets up one day feeling a bit sick, not too bad, just that stomach pain again. He had a late night and so is drowsy as he stumbles towards the general direction of the bathroom. Ouch! He stubs his toe in the dark and mutters a low "dang it!" He cannot find the right tie in the dark, and to make things worse, his wife is cross with him when he turns on the light to search for it. Nothing good to eat in the fridge and no time for any real time with God, he gets in the car only to discover he is low on gas. As he pulls out he has to screech to a halt for some little old granny who shouldn't be driving anyway ... you get the idea.
As Johnny drives down the highway he thinks of his difficulties that morning. Based on his worldview, his thoughts would be very different. First of all, if he is a Christian but has a worldview that centers on a distant God, he might think something like this:
"Man, what a lousy morning. Actually, my whole life is lousy and it isn't getting any better. I'm sick all the time and nothing helps. Can't get any sleep, can't get food... NOTHING ever goes right! I should pray about it, but what good does that do? God is punishing me for my failures and won't even listen when I pray. I've tried it before, doesn't help. Maybe I need a change…"
Now, if Johnny were presented with the Law of Attraction as an alternative worldview, a way to understand his life, he might gladly accept it as a way out of his negative thinking. Once he had adopted this new worldview, his thought process might be something like this:
"Man, what a lousy morning. Actually, my whole life is lousy and it isn't getting any better. Whoa! Those are negative thoughts. Of course my morning has been hard, I've been so negative! From the moment I woke up I've just been attracting negative things into my life. I need to think positive thoughts... Johnny, you are not a failure, you are powerful. You are in control of your destiny – keep your goals in mind, you will achieve them. Maybe you should speak these positive thoughts out loud..."
Johnny has just gone from being a victim of a nameless negative force to being in control and responsible for his world. Humanly speaking, this is a very desirable thing. The problem is not that this worldview isn't good; the problem is that this worldview is a lie. It simply isn't true. (Matthew 6:27, Job 5:12, Proverbs 16:9, 19:21)
Instead, consider what Johnny would think if he were to hold firmly to the belief God is intimately connected to every aspect of his life, and that everything, every little detail, happens for a reason:
"Man, what a lousy morning. Actually, my whole life is lousy and it isn't getting any better. Wait a minute, why is this happening to me? I know God loves me and only allows hard things in life in order to train me to be more like His Son. I wonder what He is trying to teach me. Hmmm, first of all, I have a rotten attitude, no patience and what a whiner I am! Lord, please forgive me and help me to grow in these areas. I wonder if I should start getting to bed earlier and start eating better? You know, I should probably get groceries on the way home, and I'd better get a card for my wife, waking her this morning was mean ..."
While the worldview of someone who believes in the Law of Attraction is empowering and more constructive than that of a person who believes in a distant God, how much better would it be to believe what God says is true? What if we could all believe that every detail in our lives, for those of us who love Him, is carefully orchestrated by a loving and all-knowing God? Do we have the faith to believe that pain and difficulty in this life is actually for a purpose? Not just the big pain, like the death of a loved one, but also the disappointment in not catching a green light or in your husband forgetting to close the toilet lid. Now THAT takes faith!
"Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. For God, in his foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his Son, that he might be the eldest of a family of many brothers."
Paul, circa AD 57 (Phillips)
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Very well written article with great points made.