“Asking Jesus Into Your Heart”—and Other Mystical Things Evangelicals Say While Condemning Mysticism

Many evangelicals are mystics. They just don’t know it. And that's the big problem with it.

The Mystics Who Don’t Know They’re Mystics

The Language of Intimacy

“Ask Jesus into your heart.”
“Have a personal relationship with Jesus.”
“The Holy Spirit spoke to me…”

This type of language is everywhere in the broader evangelical world.

For many, this is the gospel:

You, Jesus, and a very private, very personal connection that lives somewhere in your chest. God isn’t just real. God is close. God is in you. Talking to you. Comforting you. Convicting you.

And that’s a form of mysticism.

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The Unnamed Mystics

Many evangelicals are mystics.
They just don’t know it.

They talk to Jesus.
They hear from the Spirit.
They get “prompted,” “led,” “convicted,” “nudged,” or “spoken to” during prayer.

That’s not rationalist theology. That’s not Bible-only faith.
That’s mystical. Experiential. Interior. Emotional.
It’s not all that different from what contemplatives and even ancient Christian mystics describe.

But the difference is—those traditions usually name it as mysticism.
They acknowledge subjectivity. And often celebrate it.
They recognize that personal spiritual experience will vary from person to person.

Most evangelical traditions don’t.

Many evangelicals believe their experience of God is what it means to know God.
So if you don’t hear what they hear…
If you don’t feel what they feel…
If your faith doesn’t “work” like theirs…
They don’t just say you’re different.
They question whether you’re a Christian at all.

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What Jesus and Paul Actually Preached

Let’s be clear:

This language—“ask Jesus into your heart” or “have a personal relationship with Jesus”—doesn’t come from Jesus.
It’s not what Paul preached either.

Both Jesus and Paul were mystics, yes. They spoke in parables, had visions, practiced solitude, and talked about union with God. But neither of them described the gospel as “invite me into your emotional center so we can hang out one-on-one.”

That framing came later.

Jesus preached a kingdom—a social, communal reality breaking into the world.

What we call a “personal relationship with Jesus” today is a modern invention.
It’s understandable how it evolved to that. But it’s not the primary message of Jesus.

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When Mysticism Pretends to Be Certainty

And here is where things get dangerous.

When mysticism masquerades as certainty, it becomes a weapon.

You end up with people saying things like:

“If you really knew Jesus, you wouldn’t think that.”
“If the Holy Spirit lived in you, you wouldn’t feel that way.”
“No true Christian would believe what you believe.”

That’s not just disagreement.
That’s emotional gatekeeping—based primarily on an undefinable spiritual vibe.

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The Irony of It All

And here’s where the irony gets thick.

Evangelicals are obsessed with biblical authority.
The Bible becomes the center of everything.
Literalism is treated as faithfulness.
Mysticism is treated as a red flag—dangerous, unbiblical, emotional, even demonic.

And yet—these same folks believe God lives in their chest, speaks directly to their spirit, and leads them to the best parking spot at Target.

That’s not rationalism. That’s mysticism.
It’s just unnamed mysticism—wrapped in certainty and baptized in selective proof-texts.

And that disconnect—between what is said and what is done—is part of what makes evangelical spirituality so confusing to deconstruct.

Because the system critiques mysticism on the surface, but underneath, it’s built entirely on subjective mystical experience.

And it calls what is individual and subjective the “full truth.”

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Let’s Say It Clearly

Mysticism isn’t the problem.
The problem is when people practice mysticism and pretend it’s certainty.
When they mistake their emotional experience for universal truth.
When they assume that how they feel about Jesus must be how everyone should feel if they’re truly saved.

That’s spiritual narcissism.

And it’s the kind that breeds the No True Scotsman fallacy almost automatically.
Because if your emotions are the test of faith, then anyone who feels differently must not be “real.”

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A New Kind of Mystic

If you’re somewhere in the middle of this, I want to tell you something important:

You may not necessarily be “walking away from God” because your mystical connection faded. You are likely just waking up to the fact that faith isn’t one-size-fits-all.

I now identify as a mystic.

As I always say, I don’t want to try to make you what I am.
But, like me, you may choose to hold onto a form of mysticism as you reconstruct.

You can still listen.
Still wonder.
Still feel the presence of the divine.

But now you get to do it without pretending it has to look like someone else’s version.

Because a mystic is just someone who believes in Mystery.
And chooses to explore it.

And it’s not Mystery in the first place if anyone can tell you exactly what it is.

So, you’re free to explore it.

Or not.

It’s your journey.