I did some light reading on a following of people who call themselves Christian Witches. They have a decree, which basically says that they recognize that their finite powers are given by an infinite God with ultimate power. It sounded really nice because it said really great things about the power of God. I continued to read about how to build an altar in your home for the spells that meet your specific needs. You must have a rug for this altar, a specific dish for your spells, and a wand to direct your magical energies. One of these Christian Witches had a Pinterest page devoted to these altars, spells, and special magical Christian prayers, and this page had over 7,000 followers. In the scheme of the internet world, that’s not actually a great number of people. It still made my jaw drop.
I want to ask these people how they reconcile the Christian Scripture with their witchcraft belief system. There is an abundance of Scripture that shows witchcraft and astrology as capital offenses, and in Galatians, it is even stated that people who practice these things have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. There is PLENTY of Scripture to point out how these things are wrong.
As I put away my device from which I was reading, I asked God how in the world people could live so ignorantly. Maybe those are strong words, so I’ll also admit that I often ask God to help me in my own felt ignorance. This is how He has responded. Is this so very different from anything else that we see in the life of many Christians today? One of these articles was entitled, “Can I love Jesus AND practice witchcraft?” Many Christians boil their belief down to that same statement, “I love Jesus AND…”. We attribute loving Jesus as a feeling, and treat Him like a “friend with benefits”. We love Him with our feelings in order to get the promises that we feel are deserved. Because we have misunderstood the concept of Biblical love and what it truly means to be a committed follower of Jesus, we easily add things to our belief. We feel love for Jesus, but still do things our own way. We continue to make up our own rules, and look for a Scripture somewhere that at face value justifies our belief.
This is more widespread than believing that Christian can be witches. There are many who believe that Christians can practice homosexuality. I once talked to a girl who asked why she can’t be a Christian who lives with her boyfriend when she sees so many other “Christians” doing it. That question broke my heart. I know Christians who don’t practice witchcraft, but they are superstitious and hold some value to the daily horrorscope. Let’s not forget the group of people who defend their entertainment choices by saying, “It’s ok to watch it as long as I don’t do it.” What is going on?
In reviewing over my previous posts on The Vine and the Branches found in John 15, we learned that the word “remain” or “abide” is used repetitively, and it means to continue on the same attitude as when you start. When we confess to Jesus that we are going to live for Him or give our heart to Him, we are SURRENDERING. This is something that only happens in an attitude of humility as we recognize that living life according to the Creator’s rules is the only way to truly live. To continue on in that same attitude, we are daily, moment by moment, asking Jesus what HIS way is. To continue in an attitude of surrender means that we adjust our way of living according to the Holy Scriptures rather than adjusting His written Word to our own beliefs.
Let’s continue on to verses 6-8.
6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
John 15:6-8
In this ongoing metaphor, a branch is a person who has surrendered and is living dependent upon the vine, or Jesus. A branch cannot be cut off and thrown away if it was never a branch to begin with. Therefore, Jesus is talking about people who were once truly Christians who decided to stop surrendering to Jesus. These people think that they can be a branch while still living for themselves in some “small” way. Maybe these people say that they love Jesus, and decide that lovers of Jesus can still gratify their own flesh with worldly pleasures.
“It’s ok to (fill in the blank) because I still love God, and God is love.”
Jesus, looking at His disciples before His departure, warned them that branches can be cut off and thrown away into a fire. This means that people even as devoted as the first apostles can walk away from Jesus by choosing to include Jesus in a list of self-gratifying ways of life. To stop surrendering means to stop being a Christian. To ignore Scripture saying that we can still love Jesus AND our sin is an action that removes us from the Vine. If we stop surrendering in the big ways and the small ways, we CAN be cut off. We CAN lose our salvation, not because His grace isn’t sufficient, but because we are elevating our sin to the same level as His grace.
I know and God knows that we will make mistakes. It takes humility to recognize that we have made a mistake, and we bow our pride when we come to God once again in an act of repentance. It is the repentant heart that stays connected. It is when we willfully decide that what we are doing is not a sin, though Scripture plainly states it as so, that we are cut off. This is an act of pride.
It is humility to recognize that we cannot do anything apart from God, and we choose to act in obedience.
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
John 14:15
To truly love is to obey. To be disobedient is to be unloving.
When we are truly surrendered to the Lord, soaking in His words into the core of our being, THEN we can ask for ANYTHING! When we are abiding in Him, our desires will align with His. We will want what He wants. Then, we can have anything that we ask for, and we are promised to have it. TALK ABOUT BENEFITS! Treating God as a friend with benefits will only give us a counterfeit version of happiness. When we are truly devoted to God, we can have the REAL THING. Happiness. Fruitfulness. Impact. Legacy. A Father in Heaven who swells with pride over His own child. His own. HIS.
Forget witchcraft. Forget all of it. Take my house. Take my car. Take everything that I have away. To hear the God of the universe tell me that I am HIS… that is enough for me.
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This is your best writing yet. This truly makes me want to draw closer to Jesus. I want to stay connected to the vine.