A Million American Witches Need Jesus

"For the LORD has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers . . ." - The prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 2:6 NLT).

Isaiah was talking about Judah 2,700 years ago. But he could have been talking about the situation in the United States in 2019.

A plethora of recent articles and blog posts discuss the growth of occult activity in America. Several of these state that there may be more than a million witches in the US at this time! (For example see here, here, here, and here. Some of these are more cautious with their wording.) Another article, which itself has been quoted extensively by several more articles, investigates and explains the disturbing relationship between dark occult activity and the political progressive movement. The final paragraph of that article comes to a sobering conclusion that is backed up by the rest of the well-researched article:

Back in 1992, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson warned of the dangers of feminism, predicting that it would induce “women to leave their husbands. . . .practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” Many of today’s witches would happily agree. (Tara Isabella Burton, The Rise of Progressive Occultism)

As Christians, what should we think about this?

Is it true?

As far as I can tell, the specific claim that there are over a million witches is based on a detailed Pew Religious survey conducted in 2014. On page 21 of that survey, you can see that 0.3% of the adult US population identified either Pagan or Wiccan as their religion. If you add in “Other New Age” you get to 0.4%. Multiply 0.004 by the adult population of the US of 244.8 million (see footnote 8 on the bottom of page 7 of the study) and you get just a tiny bit under a million. Of course, I suppose some witches don’t self-identify as either Wiccan or Pagan (there are apparently a lot of types of witches). So, the claim of over a million witches does have some support. It took me a while to figure out where the claim of over a million witches originated. There may be other sources, but this was the most specific thing I could find, and the Pew Study was referenced by some of the other articles.

We probably can’t say for certain that there are over a million witches in the US. It will largely depend on how one defines “witch.” But before you breathe a sigh of relief, what does seem clear, from surveys and from numerous articles on the topic, is that occult activity is growing rampantly in the US. Whether or not there are a million witches, this is a serious problem. Framing the problem in terms of occult activity is probably more useful than framing it in terms of witches. In fact, since occult activity is found among many who would not identify as witches, the problem is far broader and much deeper than even a title about a million witches suggests.

What is occult activity?

Occult activity may be broadly defined as any attempt to seek help, guidance, protection, or power from a supernatural source other than God.

Here are some examples:

 Ouija boards

Astrology (horoscopes)

Fortune telling

Tarot cards

Palm reading

Magic spells

Witchcraft (Wicca and other)

Good luck charms

Protection or power amulets

Séances

Consulting a psychic

Spirit guides

Many New Age practices

Seeking help from, or contact with, or messages from the dead

Voodoo

Satan worship

A few notes about this list. First, the above list is nowhere near complete. It is only intended to give enough examples to illustrate what we are talking about. Second, I chose examples that are well known here in the US. When we lived in Indonesia, we saw many other types of occult practices. Also, some non-Christian religions are saturated in occult practices. Hinduism would be an example. We should also recognize that while all occult practices are sinful and dangerous, not all are equally sinful and dangerous. A person who reads their horoscope looking for guidance or insight is sinning. But the nature of the sin and the likely damage of the sin may not be as great as for someone who is deeply into dark magic, voodoo, and things like spirit guides. In this way, occult practice is like other sin categories.

How big a problem is occult practice in the US compared to other sins?

There is no exact way to measure the seriousness of one sin category compared to others. I feel we can make one of two errors when reading about the growth of occult activity in the US. One error would be to imagine that occult activity is the “real problem,” or “the main problem,” and to become overly focused on this one area. My gut feeling is that right now the more “normal” sins of pornography, other types of sexual immorality, greed and materialism, and substance abuse are doing more damage than occult activity in the US. But, like I said, these things are hard to measure and evil works in the dark. Even if my gut feeling is correct,  it would be another type of error to think that occult activity is not really a serious issue and that it isn’t really doing any harm. It is serious. It is doing harm.

Why is occult activity wrong and dangerous?

First, occult activity is wrong because it is forbidden by God. That alone tells us it is wrong and dangerous. Here is one clear example:

CSB Deuteronomy 18:9 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.

 10 No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery,

 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead.

 12 Everyone who does these acts is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable acts.

Throughout the rest of the Bible God continues to condemn all occult activity. This topic is more common in the Bible than you may realize. Here is a small sample of relevant passages: Exodus 8:7, Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:6, 2 Kings 23:24, 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Isaiah 2:6 (I am preaching a series from Isaiah, and this is the verse that God used to prompt me to look into this topic), Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 47:8-15, Jeremiah 27:9, Daniel 2:27, Malachi 3:5, Acts 8:9-13, Acts 13:8-13, Acts 16:16, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and Revelation 21:8.

Clearly, the Bible teaches us that occult practices are wrong. But why are they wrong? One reason they are wrong is that when help of a supernatural/spiritual nature is being sought from a source other than the true God of the Bible, real evil spirits are often involved. This can clearly be seen in the account of a girl who had a spirit of divination:

CSB Acts 16:16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

Undoubtedly there is a lot of just plain fakery in many occult practices. If a group of kids are foolishly playing with a Ouija board and the table starts to shake, it is far more likely that one of the kids is shaking it with his foot than that an evil spirit is shaking it. But we must not be naïve. The Bible reveals that evil spirits and demons are very real. One of the ways that these evil forces might gain an opportunity to oppress, confuse, harm, or even come into a person is if that person engages in occult activities. If a person asks for a demon, they might actually get one. And this is true even if they are not aware that the spiritual force they are dealing with is demonic. Occult activity is more widespread in Indonesia than in the US. While living there for fourteen years we saw firsthand examples of people suffering from demonic oppression as a result of involvement with occult activity. Demons are active in the US, too. They are real.

Besides the very real problem of demonic deception, oppression, and harm, there are some deep heart issues related to occult activity.

What’s going on in the heart?

Why are people tempted to engage in occult activity? I think the temptation often is rooted in an initial need for some type of help. A person feels vulnerable and desires protection from danger and harm. Or a person wants to prosper in their business. Or someone is looking for human love and intimacy. Or there is a felt need for guidance about what to do. Any of these needs for help can be legitimate.

People often correctly realize that their needs and problems are too big for them and their own human resources to deal with. At this point, the correct response is to seek help from God in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He is powerful enough to help. He cares for us and loves us and is willing to help. But many people do not go to God. Sometimes this is because they do not know about the true God and about salvation through Jesus Christ that brings us into a loving relationship with our Creator. Other people have heard about this, but they reject God and His gospel. Perhaps they want the help on their own terms instead of on God’s. Or perhaps they have (wrong) reasons for not trusting God or not even believing in Him.

When people feel a deep need for help (protection, healing, success, guidance, etc.) from a power greater than themselves, but they do not know about God or they reject Him, it is not surprising that they turn to occult alternatives. Benjamin Fearnow is correct to see a relationship between the decline in Christianity and the simultaneous rise in occultism among millennials:

Witchcraft and other pagan religious practices increased in the U.S. over the past few decades, with millennials turning to astrology and tarot cards as they turn away from Christianity and other traditionally dominant Abrahamic religions. (Benjamin Fearnow, Number of Witches Rises Dramatically Across US as Millennials Reject Christianity, in Newsweek.)

Occult practices claim to offer the supernatural help that people want without requiring one to trust God or to submit to God and His will and His ways. Those of us who know God through Christ understand that His will and His ways are based on His goodness, wisdom, and grace. We are eager to follow Christ in praying, “Not my will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). But people who don’t know or trust God want supernatural help on their own terms. The problem is that such help is a lie. Just as getting drunk may relieve stress for a short time only to cause much bigger problems later, evil spiritual forces may sometimes be able to give a very limited and twisted type of temporary help, or at least the illusion of help. But in the end the help turns into harm. And instead of the freedom to do things on their own terms, the more a person sinks into occultism, the more they lose their freedom and become enslaved to dark forces that will eventually destroy them if they don’t find freedom in Christ. This is very similar to what happens if a person turns to drugs or alcohol for help.

What should we do?

1. Avoid all occult activity. Don’t play with it. Don’t dabble in it.

2. If you have any occult stuff (an old Ouija board or tarot cards, or anything like that), follow the example of the believers in Ephesus and destroy that stuff and get rid of it (see Acts 19:18-20). You may want to ask for help from a pastor or a mature Christian friend in doing this.

3. Repent from any past involvement in occult activity of any kind. If you feel oppressed by evil, ask a Christian pastor or mature Christian friend you trust to pray with you.

4. Pray for protection from evil, for yourself and others (Matthew 6:13).

5. Meditate on God’s Word both for your own benefit and so that you will be ready to help others. Be active in a Christian church so you don’t become lion food (see more on this here: Spiritual Lessons from Elephants and Water Buffalo).

6. Love witches and others who have fallen into occultism. Don’t love what they do, but love them. Don’t judge them. We should gently point out the wrongness and danger of their actions. But we must be very careful not to judge their motives or to judge them as not worthy of Christ’s grace or our time. Listen to their story! Be compassionate! Reach out to them. They are not the enemy (Ephesians 6:12). They are captives of the real enemy. The good news and power and love of Jesus Christ, which He may bring to them through you, can set them free!

7. Trust God! Praise Him! We don’t need occult power. We don’t want it. We have something (or, rather, Someone!) who is so, so much better. Go to Him with all Your needs. You will be blessed and become a blessing to others!

And my God will supply all your needs

according to his riches in glory

in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:19 CSB17)

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

Church Growth: Unity leads to Teamwork leads to Church Growth

When asked to teach a class on church growth at a Bible college, I ordered several books on the topic to study. But by far the most important book on this topic is the Bible itself. One thing the Bible makes clear is that God Himself is the ultimate cause of church growth (1 Corithians 3:6-7). But how does He do this? He works through us.

I noticed a principle that is taught in the New Testament. It is perhaps most easily seen in Ephesians 4:1-16. The principle is that maintaining unity leads to teamwork which in turn leads to church growth. Those same three elements (Christian unity, teamwork, and building up the Body of Christ) are found in chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians. Two of the three elements (unity and teamwork) are found in Romans 12:3-18 and 1 Peter 4:8-11. Let’s look at how this works by looking at each of the three elements involved.

1. Maintaining Unity

As Christians we have a strong and deep foundation for unity. Paul lists seven “one’s” that we share.

There is one body and one Spirit

-- just as you were called to one hope at your calling--

one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

(Ephesians 4:4-6 CSB17)

Wow. We should be really unified. However, it turns out that while we should be unified, we often are not. Our sin, and the sin of others, combined with the stress of our world, misunderstandings, differences between us, and the work of the devil, can all disrupt the Christian unity we should have. That’s why Paul tells us that unity is something that takes effort. In fact, it takes a lot of effort. And this truth is repeated throughout the New Testament.

I’m personally convinced that one reason many churches are not growing is that we are not working together as a team as well as we should. We aren’t working together as a team because we don’t have the level of unity we should. We don’t have the level of unity we should because we have not put in the hard work and effort to maintain peace and unity in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead of working hard to maintain unity, many people withdraw or put up barriers as soon as there is any problem. Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)!

Not only does unity require a lot of effort, it requires Christlike character. Before asking us to make every effort to maintain unity is vs. 4, Paul lists four character qualities that promote unity in vs. 2:

. . .  with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, (Eph. 4:2 CSB17)

1. humility

2. gentleness

3. patience

4. bearing with one another in love (we put up with things in other people that irritate us because we love them)

If you think about, it is easy to see how each of these characteristics helps to maintain unity while a lack of any of them can quickly lead to discord and division. A growth in these qualities will lead to more unity, which will lead to better teamwork, which leads to God growing His Church.

Let’s move on to the second major element: teamwork.

2. Teamwork

After urging us to make every effort to maintain unity, Paul talks about teamwork. Specifically, he talks about people with different gifts working together on one team. This same topic is discussed in greater detail in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

The Holy Spirit gives each Christian spiritual gifts. These gifts are skills/abilities that a person can generally do better and more easily than others who don’t have the same gift (sometimes others cannot  do the specific task at all). Many human endeavors succeed only when a group of people with different skills all work together in harmony towards a specific goal. When I served in the Navy, I saw a good example of this in the running of a submarine. We needed electricians, mechanics, reactor operators, chemists, cooks, people skilled in navigation, in radio communication, in sonar operation, men who knew how to steer the submarine, people who maintained its atmosphere, others who operated the various weapon systems, and leaders who coordinated all this activity and more. All these people with a wide variety of skills needed to work together in harmony in order for the submarine to carry out its mission. Some jobs weren’t as “exciting” as others, but every job was important and valuable.

In a similar way, in the church we need people who encourage others, people with skills in music, some who know how to operate sound systems, administrators who keep the bills paid, people who are gifted at working with children, teachers of various types, leaders, evangelists, and much more (see the various lists of gifts in the New Testament as examples, but not as exhaustive lists). When we work together as a team, God uses our joint efforts to grow His Church. When some team members withdraw or don’t do their work, or just don’t show up, the whole church suffers. And the growth of the church is then hindered.

Let’s talk about the growth of the church.

3. Church Growth

There are different types of church growth. In our passage in Ephesians 4, Paul emphasizes growth in Christian maturity. This involves learning God’s truth and becoming more and more like Jesus. In other passages, the Bible talks about numeric growth (Acts 2:41, Acts 2:47, Acts 5:14, Acts 6:1, Acts 6:7, 1 Corinthians 9:19). There is also a type of growth where the church is supporting work that leads to reaching people in new areas. All these types of growth are important and pleasing to God.

While there are seasons of pruning (John 15:2), and painful setbacks due to opposition and sin, in general it is God’s will that we bear fruit for His Kingdom. This requires teamwork, which requires unity. May God strengthen us to do the work of peacekeeping and empower us to work together in harmony to grow His Church for His glory!

In this post, we have focused on one major principle for church growth. There are more biblical principles for church growth, including (but not limited to):

1. Prayer!

2. Being a servant.

3. Bold, clear (but gentle and respectful) gospel proclamation.

4. Contextualization without compromising either gospel truth or biblical ethics.

5. Biblical leadership.

6. Perseverance and faith.

7. Suffering and sacrifice for the gospel.

Remember the promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the ruler of the universe and King of Kings:

“I will build my church”

(Matt. 16:18 CSB17)

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .