Casting Out Demons
Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash
Demons Need Receptive Ears To Have Power
by Eric Elkin
Do you believe demons exist? Do you think demons can possess people? Scripture is full of stories about Jesus casting out demons. Yet, in all my years of ministry, I cannot remember when someone asked me to cast out a demon. This kind of thing only happens in scary movies.
In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis argued the most important job of a demon was to convince people they do not exist. An article in USA Today last year said that 43% of Americans believe there are demons. However, the report did cite a decline in believers from an earlier survey done in 2019.
An internet search produced an article on the JSTOR website titled "Demon Influence: The Negative Mental Health Effects of Belief in Demons." It is essential to pay attention to prepositions in a sentence. I am asking whether you believe there are demons, not in them. To believe in something involves worship and receiving guidance.
I believe there are demons in the world. Demons have the power to seduce good people into doing terrible things. How can we ever understand the Holocaust, Stalinism, and Apartheid without a belief that demons exist? I also believe we need to silence the voices of the demonic.
Demons like to speak. They usually appoint a charismatic speaker who can charm even the most intelligent person. Demons also like to solicit manipulators. These voices work behind the scenes. You will not hear them speaking on television. They prefer diners and bars—places where casual conversations can charm unsuspecting souls.
The story of Ernest Lundeen provides a beautiful case study of how demons speak and seduce good people into horrible actions. Lundeen was drawn in by Hitler and recruited by a Nazi agent. They got him to use his position as a U.S. Senator to promote the German cause in the days leading up to World War II. He died in a plane crash while two FBI agents followed him. His last known words were, "I've gone too far to turn back."
The truth is "demon" is a fancy name we give to a more fundamental human condition called hatred. While only 43% of U.S. citizens believe there are demons, I bet 100% would think hatred is present and active in the world. Demons provide a more colorful way of describing how hatred seduces us away from life into death.
Jesus possessed extraordinary powers, yet, all of us can cast out demons. The casting out process begins with ourselves. We need to evaluate the voices speaking to us. Are these voices nurturing a sense of hatred or love? Demons need a receptive audience to have power. If you refuse to listen to them, you can cast them out of yourself and others. The more we listen to words of love, the easier it is to hear the idiocy of hatred.
Click to read Mark 1: 29-39
Reflection Questions:
Do you believe there are demons? Why or why not?
What is the difference between hatred and demons?
What does the Bible mean by Jesus casting out demons? How do you understand this activity?
How can we explain good people doing bad things?