Introduction:
Strange and ridiculous as this title appears, believe me it is a reality. Your initial reaction may probably be due to a limited understanding of what the words “Church” and “witchcraft” mean. This is why I think the first thing to do in this article that is sure to be in series is to explain the possible meanings of church and witchcraft.
Depending on the context, church can mean one of six things; some of these meanings correctly reflect the biblical definition and some do not, they are only just common sayings. In the Bible, (i) the word church is from the Greek word ecclesia, which means a called out company or assembly (ii) it also mean the body of Christ, (iii) or the universal group of all people who have trusted Christ through the ages. (iv) sometimes people call the building in which believers gather a church (v) and others call church the gathering in a building of a mix multitude of people professing to be Christians (vi) some denominations see themselves as church and may even claim they are the true and only church. It is “Church” in the context of the last two meaning that I refer to in this article.
Isaac Bonewits tracks the origins of the word witch in his work “A Very Brief History of Witchcraft 1.0”. Etymologically, the word “witchcraft” is supposed to have been derived from an original mother tongue called by linguist “Proto-Indo-European” (or “PIE” for short). Old English, Old Norse, Old Irish, Old Dutch, Latin and a few other tongues, are all members of the Western branch of the Indo-European languages which in turn is an outgrowth of the original mother tongue PIE. In that original tongue, “witch” means to bend, twist, weave or bind. In all cases, it refers to certain kinds of trees and the artifacts woven or twisted out of them. The development of primary interest for the origin of “witch” was that of the Anglo-Saxon wic-, meaning “to turn, twist or bend.” This root also later grew into “weak,” “wicker” and “wicked,” all based on the idea of something bendable or twisted. In Old English, wiccecræft a compound of “wicce” (“witch”) and “cræft” (“craft”) was a concept extended in a specifically magical direction.
However, witchcraft can be applied in many ways depending on which person you ask or the circumstances involved. In the Bible it could mean the use of magical powers, invocation of spirits or the casting of spell to seduce people in order to make them act foolishly. Other words associated with witchcraft in this case include; idolatry, sorcery, black magic, the black arts, occultism, wizardry, witching, necromancy, juju, voodooism, divination, wicca, white magic, natural magic, familiar spirit, warlock, demons. In several passages in the Bible these acts are usually grouped together, condemned and forbidden (Deut. 18:10-11, 2Chro. 33:6).
Again, witchcraft could mean the power of the devil to twist and bend the truth of God’s words and will by his employing; deception, control, manipulation, oppression, intimidation, influence and affliction of persons, places and things; he is call the deceiver, a liar and father of liars for a reason. In this instance, witchcraft spirit is to the devil what the Holy Spirit is to God. I say this knowing that the entire things God wishes to accomplish in humans and on earth He does through the working of the Holy Spirit, the devil too does all his operations through the workings of witchcraft spirit. Both God and the devil are spirits; the former is the creator and the later the created. If you believe in the existence of God who created everything perfectly and good in the beginning, you must logically accept the reality of the devil because the struggle and conflicts mankind have experienced since the times of Adam and Eve are fundamentally based on this duality. Paul, the apostle writing to the Galatians asked “who hath bewitched you”. There was something going on in that church that was making them reason contrary to the truth earlier preached to them; a kind of deception or seduction had crept in and was luring them away.
Therefore, ridiculous as it may sound, witchcraft in the church are the practices that suggests true believers may be under evil influence or that there are natural or canal Christians possessed by evil spirits and thus working against the will of the Holy Spirit in people. Judas Iscariot for instance was a disciple of Jesus who allowed an evil spirit to enter into him to betray his master (Luke 22:2-4). He was not the first to be so influence by the devil in the “church of Jesus”, others too had been; Peter was in Matt 16:23, so was the mother of James and John in Matt 22:20-24. The difference in Judas’s case was that the demonic influence went on for a longer time and the betrayal was only the climax. Before the betrayal, he had on one other occasion been critical of Jesus and was known to be unfaithful with the handling of the group’s money (John 12:4-6). All these certainly fit into the definition of witchcraft as evil influence, manipulation and deception. It is important to pay attention to the terms influence and possess. An undiscerning true believer may be influenced by demonic spirits but cannot be possessed by it. But a natural man or a canal believer; one who is yet to have genuine encounter and relationship with the spirit of Christ may easily be possessed and used in the Church.
From the beginning of his ministry on earth, Satan try to manipulate Jesus and his disciples to do his will but failed; however, he never stopped trying but kept looking for opportunities and people to use from within the group. No wonder Jesus made a profound statement in Matt 16:18b “…and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. As if taking up that challenge, Satan went to work, first by trying to influence Peter, the very foremost of Jesus’s disciples. He gets the impression Satan has organized his kingdom in battle against the church from Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. This we will presume is the gates of hell that Christ spoke about in Matt 16:18 (note it is called “gates” meaning they are more than one).
What Paul really means has been subjected to all manners of theological conjectures and opinions diverse among various schools of thought. One school of thought is that of prayers and especially spiritual warfare and which have tried over the years to explain and contextualize Ephesian 6:12. One of the most widely accepted terms and concept is that of Peter Wagner in his book “What the Bible Says about Spiritual Warfare” which says that spiritual warfare occurs on three levels; the ground-level, occult-level and strategic-level spiritual warfare. Some have even expanded it to four levels, sometimes starting with personal level or ending with cosmic level warfare. Again the point of emphasis may differ from one user to another.
For the purpose of explaining how witchcraft operates in the church, I will adopt a three term concept and my emphasis may be completely different from that of others, but certainly not contradictory in the bigger picture of things. It is even possible for some others not to agree with the concept of spiritual warfare. But whether or not you agree with these conjectures of well-respected Bible scholars is a different matter beside my point in this article.
(i) The term ground level gate, includes the activities of demonic entities that influence people in other to hinder the works of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the church (Mark 1:21-23) (iii) the occult level include local occult powers, diviners, occult temples, temples of false religions, secret cults and altars which directly or indirectly militate against the establishment and growth of the church. (iv) There can also be the cosmic level gate; these are demonic powers that rule over peoples, cities, territories, nations and kingdoms through evil temples of worship, false religions, cultures and traditions-Acts 19:27-29.
The Ground Level gate
Ground level imply forces that are the boots on ground in their operation; they are the foot soldiers like the infantry of an army. In this level I will include natural men and canal Christians operating under the influence of demonic forces. This is actually the level at which witchcraft operation is most manifest in the church. They are in church anytime the Children of God are gathered as evil spies or the “fifth column” in the army of God (Job 1:6). They are in the church not because they love Christ or want to be part of his Kingdom but for other ulterior motives (Acts 8:8-13, 18-19). They are in church to do wicked works on behalf of their master the devil (Psalm 74:3, 4, 7, Jer.5:26). They are also in church to defile and desecrate the sanctuary of God (Rev 2:14, 20).
Why witchcraft in the church of all places?
Why will hell want to prevail over the church according to the prophetic word of Jesus? It is because: (i) the church is it which represents the Kingdom of God on earth, (ii) the church is the only power given the mandate to bring people into the kingdom of God, (iii) Satan as the master of hell is a sworn enemy of the Kingdom of God and so of the church, (iv) the Church is the only power that can stop Satan sending people to hell, (v) if the church can be weakened, then people can perish, (vi) It is to destroy the testimony, the credibility and the power of Jesus Christ.
How does witchcraft operate in the church?
- Through the Leaders
Witchcraft influences and manipulates leaders to act in ways that defile the altar of the church (1Sam 2:22). It seduces men and women of God to compromise their preaching, teaching and cause them to practice falsehood (Rev 2:20). It is the power and inspiration behind false prophesy and divination in the church. It causes some unsecure leaders in the church to intimidate and threaten others to submission through lies and blackmails (1Kings 21:5-10), other times; it influences some to intimidate and threaten spiritual leaders (1Kings 19:1-2). It seduces and hunts for men and women in leadership of the church. It influences men and women of God to appoint wrong people into positions of leadership. Witchcraft sows seed of discord and disunity among the leadership. It makes people to seek to gain (if possible by bribery and gifts) access to leadership especially the eldership, worship team and the prayer ministries. That way it influences people to want control or influence over leadership decisions in evil ways. It influences them to waste the time of the leadership by making them engage in fruitless activities, arguments and settling of silly quarrels; that way their energy is so sapped and their spirits grieved that they cannot pray, meditate or preach well.
On members
Person under the influence of witchcraft in the church sow seeds of discord among members by being busy bodies, gossips, rumors mongers and fractional (I am for Apollos and for Paul). They manipulate and divert genuine believers from a church that is a place of power and blessings to a place of destruction. They scare members away using false and evil prophesies and generating negative testimonies about the church. They seek to destroy the prayer life of members by making them give priority to non-spiritual activities. Some in the church, especially those who had been involved in occultism or idolatry in the past and who are not converted for the right reasons as was the case of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9-13, 18-19) may continue to consciously cooperate with witchcraft spirits to recruit other gullible and weak members especially children into witchcraft practices through friendship, food and gifts.
Such people are the bearers of bad news in the church. They seek to control the life of others and when that is not achievable, they maliciously destroy their victims. These are the ones that when prayer is going on, they are busy cursing and casting spells on others. They seek to prevent testimonies in the church but rather afflict members with poverty, infirmities, and marital distress. The ultimate aim is to stop people from worshipping God or from church fellowship. Ironically, while they work tirelessly to discourage and send genuine members out of the church or out of the leadership, they do everything possible to stay within the church in order to perpetuate their evil assignments either in the leadership or as members.
To be continued.
