Date: 10/19/2022
Questions
Are ghosts real?
- Not in the modern, Hollywood, definition of the meaning.
- Ghost was another way to translate the Greek word for spirit. Thus, in older Bible versions the Holy Spirit is called the Holy Ghost.
Can my house be haunted?
- Again, this is all confusing because we’re using non-biblical terms. Haunted, no.
- Can your house be a place that’s welcome to the demonic? Yes, but the demonic don’t want to be around the light of Christ.
Are ouija boards real?
- Yes. You can buy one.
- Are they “real” like evil/wicked/controlled by the demonic? Who knows. Either way, there’s no reason for a Christian to be involved with one.
How do you know if someone is possessed?
- Are they a Christian? Christians cannot be possessed by the demonic for they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
- Demonic possession is also a very Hollywood idea. Biblically, people are demonically influenced, but the idea of possession isn’t exactly what we find in Scripture.
Are all demons fallen angels that followed Satan? Yes.
What do demons look like?
- They’re spiritual beings, so we don’t know what they look like.
Where does Satan live?
- I have no idea. He’s currently roaming the earth. But he is not God, thus he can only be in one place at a time.
Do demons ever take physical forms?
- Not that we find in Scripture. They are spiritual beings, not physical.
Does a priest/pastor’s blessing remove demons if they exist?
- This, again, is Hollywood influenced and not biblical. The individual must renounce the demonic in their life (just like all other sin).
Do we need to stop supporting Disney because of the new show called ‘Little Demon’?
- I don’t know anything about this show. But I caution against Christians jumping on the cancel culture bandwagon. Why not just not watch the particular show?
As a Christian, what is a healthy boundary with magic-inspired shows/books/movies (such as Harry Potter or Hocus Pocus)?
- Here’s where I want to highlight a huge inconsistency for us Christians. And at least get us to be a bit more honest with ourselves about the things we read and watch.
- First off, there’s Christian literature that uses magic as a key theme.
- The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings – Gandalf is a wizard; Saraumon is an evil wizard; magic is found throughout the book
- The Chronicles of Narnia series – there’s the White Witch who does evil magic
- Second, there’s non-Christian entertainment that Christians seem to be OK with even though they include magic.
- Mary Poppins – I had a Christian once tell me that Mary Poppins was OK because it was white magic and not dark magic. The Bible makes no distinction between the two.
- The Wizard of Oz – Wicked Witch of the West; Glenda, the good witch, from the North
- Many of Disney’s older movies had fairy Godmothers who do magic or have evil witches/queens. Snow White. Cinderella. Etc…
- Third, there’s much in entertainment that we seem to be OK with that celebrates sin.
- Violence, murder, drugs, stealing, lying, sexual sin, and so on.
- I get how hard it is not to be entertained by these things. Yet one of the most convicting statements I’ve ever heard is “We should not be entertained by things Christ had to die for.”
- All that to say, can we admit that we’re not consistent?
- Romans 14 and 15 would seem to put much of entertainment into the category of “to each his own” while also warning us to not trust our own conscience because, just because you’re OK with being entertained by something doesn’t mean that God is OK with you being entertained by it. And just because you’re not OK with being entertained by something doesn’t mean that your conscience is to be God’s conscience on others.
- Regarding the two specific things mentioned:
- I don’t know anything about Hocus Pocus. So I can’t speak to it in any way with any authority.
- Regarding Harry Potter, here’s what I want everyone to hear. JK Rowling, whether she meant to or not, copied the story of the Bible. In fact, all stories of good versus evil, heroes rising to defeat a great enemy, and so on…can’t help but be a poor copy of the greatest story ever told — God’s Story.
- What do I mean that she copied Scripture? So quick comparisons:
- In Scripture, the bad guy of all bad guys — Satan — appeared in the Garden as a what? A snake. In Harry Potter, the bad guy of all bad guys was part of the Slytherin house — represented by a snake —, he has a snake, and he looks like a snake. Hmmm…
- In Scripture, the hero — Jesus — freely gave up his life to save his friends. In Harry Potter — spoiler alert — Harry gives up his life to save his friends. The death of the hero is the salvation for others.
- We can even get into the details like Harry’s scar. Even that’s a copy from Scripture. For Jesus showed the scars on his hands to Thomas who doubted to show that he had a permanent reminder of his defeat of the Enemy.
- Now — having said all that — we’d all do ourselves, this church, and the reputation of Christ some good — if we all leaned towards holiness instead of entertainment. Not so we’re apathetic, depressed, or no fun kind of people, but God has not called us to be entertained — he’s called us to be holy. So if you find yourself not spending time in God’s Word, or in prayer, or in reading good Christian books about the faith that are helping you grow — but do have time to watch shows, read Harry Potter, or watch Hocus Pocus — you’re choosing to spend the most valuable commodity you have — your life — on things in place of spending time with God. And that should be a wake up call to all of God’s people. As my wife loves to say, “We all make time for the things that are important to us.” So what does that say about your relationship with God and your pursuit of holiness? How important are they — really — to you? I find when you have things in their proper place, it’s not that you avoid being entertained, you just aren’t the slave to like so many others. It doesn’t push God out of your life for God in your life pushes entertainment into its proper place.