Fr. Dale Matson
“That
evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with
demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many
who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not
permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” (Portion of Gospel lesson
for Epiphany V from Mark Chapter I)
Why
do the Scriptures spend so much time on demons? Aren’t demons really just a way
people in those days understood things that they couldn’t explain? Weren’t
those who were mentally ill confused with those who were possessed of demons?
When we talk about evil today, aren’t we really saying that someone is
psychopathic not really evil; Not really demon possessed?
As
Christians we are encouraged to invoke the Holy Spirit. As St. Seraphim stated,
“The true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy
Spirit of God.” However, some of what Christians do invokes the presence of other
spirits. Our flesh itself is not sinful but it does make us vulnerable. Our
flesh is the avenue into our souls. Our
sense organs are needed to process our environment and this sustains our very
existence. What we expose ourselves to however is important. What we allow in
front of our eyes, into our ears, mouth, and even our imaginations, we do have
control over. We sin by exposing ourselves to sights and sounds that diminish
and eventually can enslave us.
Whether
we want to admit it or not, our culture embraces evil. If we look at the top
ten music albums of 2011, the top ten songs, the top ten movies, many deal with
unspeakable violence, sexual immorality and demons. One of the most successful performers
and producers today is Kanye West, who In January 2006, appeared on the cover
of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of
thorns. Ryan Gosling played a criminal protagonist in the movie Drive that
is packaged so well that its unforgettable extreme violence is dismissed in the
run for the Oscars. This is on the heels of violent movies such as Fargo,
The Matrix and No Country For
Old Men, to name only a few. Violence is as evil, destructive and
contagious as pornography. Violent video games are the new pornography of
adolescent males. These movies and music
are not any different than the cool aid laced with cyanide served up by the
evil Jim Jones to his cult followers. It may go down easy but it is deadly. Two
of the most successful films Twilight and Harry Potter deal with the
vampires and the occult.
Through our eyes and ears, we are exposing our
souls, the souls that Christ died to save, to the world of demons. Through
our physical senses, we make ourselves vulnerable to the spiritual world. We
are invoking evil in our lives. In the movie True Grit, Rooster Cogburn
the alcoholic marshal is told by Mattie Ross, “Don’t put things in your mouth
that steal your thoughts”. I say this to every substance abuser. “Don’t put
things in your mouth that steal your thoughts.”
When I was
transitioning from construction to the profession of psychology, I took a job
as a psychiatric technician in a Wisconsin county mental hospital. There were
at least two people there that I can remember who appeared to be psychotic but
not in a classical sense. By this I mean, they had a palpable seriousness to
their demeanor and an intense hatred toward anything symbolic of the church.
One male patient saw a photograph of Pope John Paul II on the cover of a Time
magazine lying on a table and immediately flew into a rage and tore up the
magazine. The female said she had made a
pact with Satan for protection. I have never seen an individual, who was once
beautiful, decompensate so rapidly. When I looked into their eyes, there was a
kind of soulless stare barely covering a ready rage.
For those of
you who wonder, “Can a Christian be demon possessed?” Can a demon live inside
of a Christian? My answer is an emphatic no! I would respond with this verse from 1st
John 4:4. “You are from God, little children, and have overcome; because
greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” In your conflicts
with sin, temptation, and error, you, as a Christian, should never despair, for
God will insure you the victory. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in
the world”.
Focus on the positive and you will not
be exposing yourself to this evil. "Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy--think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) Measure your thoughts
by these words of God. Amen
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