Demons
CS Lewis said something about if the devil can't get you to ignore him, he'll get you to pay too much attention to him. I've met lots of Christians of both stripes. I heard one preacher say, "We don't teach our people about an actual devil, but that it's a story..." I'm sure demons have a sign outside of town saying, "Demon resort, two miles on the right, first church on the left. Parteee!" Others are so demon-obsessed that they identify everything from the demon of nose picking to fingernail biting. I even heard about a woman who was diagnosed with a demon of dry scalp, which they cast out. She returned the following week with a demon of oily scalp. I recommend a good bottle of Tegrin.
I believe in the devil and demons, because I practiced the occult as a young kid until I was 15, and demon appearances were a common occurrence in the middle of the night long before I knew what they were or why they were trying to choke me. Even my "Caspar the friendly ghost" "Spirit guides" that appeared to me before I was saved showed themselves for what they were - ugly, deadly demons - once I abandoned the occult. I was scared at first. I told a good friend. "You doof", he smiled. "Just tell them to go away in Jesus' Name." I did - it worked - and I've been thoroughly enjoying kicking out the little imps ever since.
I had a ton of problems when I became a Christian. I was a walking emotional blitzkrieg. I could have been a full time project for any therapist. I was filled with hate, and bitterness, and hurt, and rejection, and fear. I was a Freudian encyclopedia.
I talked to an adult from my Bible Study group about a serious emotional problem I had. "I know what you need", he said, and introduced me to Jimmy Scroggs. Jimmy was a terrifying hulk of a guy with a deep Kenneth Copelandesque accent, fiery eyes and a very, very weird name. "I know what you need", he said, and I'm thinking, is he going to take me to someone named Damon Headshrink who also knows what I need? But I had no choice, for Jimmy Scroggs had piled me into his car and at 9:30 P.M., took me to his house, locked all the doors and windows, and sat me down in a chair to cast demons out of me. My teeth were rattling I was so scared. No explanation or nothing - just a sudden barrage of tongues, praises, yelling, spitting and sputtering. He cast out this and cast out that, bound this and loosed that. I was just hoping he'd get his binding and loosing straight so he didn't tie a demon on my brain.
I just sat there sweating, bug-eyed. Spittle flew from his words onto my undeserving face. He had the breath from hell. (All deliverance ministers need a class in dental hygiene and a bottle of scope.)
After a few hours of total frustration, he just got nose to nose with me and screamed, "I COMMAND you to tell me who you are!!!" "Greg Reid!", I screamed back, hoping he wouldn't bite my nose off. "Not you, I'm talking to that FOUL DEMON!" he said, and I said, "I DON'T KNOW!", hoping he wouldn't cast out the Demon of Ignorance. Finally, he just said, "Just name all the problems you have!" So I cried, and I spit out all of my problems. "Fear! Pride! Lust! Anger!", and on it went till I exhausted the list of life controlling hurts and problems I had. And, you guessed it, until 6 A.M., he cast out all my problems. "Are there any more demons there?" he said at about 6:30, and I was willing to say anything, do anything, turn my head 360 degrees and spit up pea soup if it would get me out of there!
Satisfied "they" were all gone, Jimmy Scroggs proceeded to tell me that if I did ANY nasty thing, had any impure thought or indulged any wanton lust of any kind, all the demons would come back 7 times stronger.
I went home and fell to sleep at 7 A.M., and I said, "God, please let it work. Please make all the demons be gone." I slept for an hour and went to school. It didn't take me a day to figure out all the "demons" were still there. I was bitter and angry, and still very, very screwed up. And the next time I did something nasty I was sure all the demons were back at my campground. You see, you can't cast out "self". Tried it once; it lasted for 5 minutes. You can't cast out the flesh. The war and battle not to sin is inherent in our flesh bodies and we have to live with it, overcome it.
Many years went by, and through a steady diet of the Word of God, a very tight intimate walk with Jesus and lots of love from others, I was healed of most of what tormented me and am living a demon-free life.
I do believe in demons. I won't get into the debate as to whether a Christian can have a demon. I like one preacher's answer: "Why would you WANT one?" My "deliverance" ministry is like this: I love people, try to give them God's Word, I pray for them. If a demon comes up as a result, great, we'll kick them out. If not, I'm not going digging for one. That's dangerous and irresponsible. I don't believe in "demon lists" - you know, write down all your sins and we'll cast out the corresponding demon. If it ever works, it's only because of the same principle discovered by scientists: If you sit a monkey at a typewriter long enough, he'll type a word - by accident. I don't see any scripture that lets us go demon digging in people's lives. And always know when someone shouldn't be in "deliverance ministry" - when they enjoy it. Trust me, when you meet a real demon, it's draining, ugly, painful and costly. Whatever they're casting out, if they "enjoy" it, it ain't demons. I'm afraid they think they've got the gift of discernment when it's just the gift of presumption.
Like Jimmy Scroggs, a lot of people mean well. But sometimes I think it's just a poor attempt to "fix" people so we aren't inconvenienced by long term love and care and commitment to truly wounded people.
I don't pay the devil much mind, and neither should you. He's real, and so are demons. But we're not on the Raiders of the Lost Demons crusade. Just live and love like Jesus. Demons can't stand the presence of love, you know. In His Love is all the deliverance power you'll ever need.
