HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS HANDLE ASTROLOGY, MANIFESTATION & OTHER WORLDLY SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS?
KEY POINTS
- All worldly spiritual concepts should be avoided by all costs.
- We are called to be lead by the Holy Spirit, not other spirits, despite the fact they have been branded an innocent by culture. "We can all serve one master..." Matthew 6:24.
Of course, the most immediate and obvious answer to the question “How should Christians handle Astrology, Manifestation, and other worldly spiritual concepts?” is, “You should avoid it like the plague!”
Holy Spirit filled followers of Christ should not even dabble in the “other spirit” world as there is no room for both the Spirit and the spirits. “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). It is either one or the other. Just as you cannot serve God and mammon – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24) – you cannot give yourself to the Holy Spirit and the worldly spirits. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Deception is the modus operandi of the other spirit world. A big part of the deception is to present itself as “innocent” or “humanitarian driven” or “from God Himself.” Indeed, Satan is a deceiver and so, “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Astrology, for example, may be perceived by some in these ways:
1. “Oh come on, it’s just a fun thing that is kind of interesting.”
2. “It is a way for us to help ourselves and help each other.”
3. “It is one of the ways God can guide us.”
Ah yes, there is the issue. “What is wrong with a little bit of fun? It’s not like Satan comes out of my closet with his horns on fire every time I read my horoscope in the newspaper. It is just innocent. It helps me consider my plans. I receive guidance.” The deception is that you start looking to the stars (God’s creation) for guidance instead of to the Creator of those stars. That type of “retail” relationship with God is no relationship at all. The Christian walk is a “wholesale” walk. God is pleased when we come to Him and seek Him directly (Hebrews 11:6).
In animistic cultures – these, for example, include most “tribal” cultures in which the overarching worldview revolves around the belief that spirits reside in all things – the recognition of the reality of the spirit world is more readily embraced. For animists, then, the interaction between the Holy Spirit and other spirits is more about a spiritual “power struggle.” Whatever spirit is stronger wins their allegiance. Alternatively, in most materialistic Western cultures like ours, truth is defined according to the tangible, physical environment. As in naturalism, nothing supernatural really exists. This may set us up for deception in a greater way as “dabbling” in the spirit world may be said to just be fun or simply be seen as a make believe diversion. “There really is not anything to it. It’s just kind of cool. It’s entertaining. And if it turns out that there is something to it, then it will be very intriguing.”
Spiritism can be the result of such a progression. Truth is obtained through contact and communion with spirits. Communication with the spirit world is very important, but only when that communication is subordinate to the Word of God; that is, only when the communication is with the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it is condemned (Deuteronomy 18:10-11; 1 Chronicles 10:13).
Looking to Astrology points to the essence of the spiritual power struggle. Who or what is going to be Lord? Who or what is your provider, your protector, and your informer? Is it the stars or Him who made the stars? Will you worship the creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25)? This is always – whether in the more “in the raw” form that is animism or in the more discreet intellectual form that is in materialism – the issue in the embracing of worldly spiritual concepts; that is, it is a Lordship issue. You cannot serve two Lords. You cannot gain your guidance or direction from two Lords. Either God is Lord or what God has created is Lord.
To know what Christians should do with Astrology or how they should treat it, understanding the practice of Superstition can be informative. Just think about what you are doing when you engage in superstition. “Hey, don’t sit in that chair or the Eagles will lose. I always wear my same shirt backwards so the Phillies will win. I don’t do anything with the Flyers. They are hopeless (even my superstitions can’t help).” Do you really think you are that powerful? Ah, herein lies the issue. The Lordship issue is the power struggle between God and you. When you think you control things, when you think you make things happen, and when you and the things you do or don’t do are the most influential things that all else hinges on, then you are competing with God. Lordship is the issue. Who really is the Controller, the Puzzle maker, and the Influencer? God is God. Whether you sit in the right chair for the Eagles game or not does not make you God.
The pantheistic practice of Manifestation is that you can create your own reality by thinking positively. This is linked to the New Age concept of the Law of Attraction (related to Hinduism’s Karma, Daoism’s Te and Chi, and Hinduism and Buddhism’s Realization) which is the spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life. As all pantheistic religions do, by definition, Manifestation (which has become a sort of Western application of Eastern mysticism) pushes people into themselves. Self is deified. The inevitable result is spiritualized narcissism which looks to self as creator or at least controller.
Does any of this sound familiar? Has Western Christianity been vulnerable to this in any way? How about the Positive Confession movement that champions the idea that your words, in and of themselves, can create or cause or control. My words create my reality. This misinterpretation of Scripture rooted in the culture of postmodernism has left some Christians wallowing in the dregs of their own gross overemphasis on man’s free will. The result is a deception that pits their abilities and responsibilities against God’s. Power struggle!
The Positive Confession movement can be traced back to Norman Vincent Peale and his 1952 blockbuster book (on the N.Y. Times bestseller list for 186 weeks), The Power of Positive Thinking. One interesting note here: it was a teenage Donald Trump who was one of Peale’s disciples! One website opines, “The Power of Positive Thinking is one of the world’s most influential books. Today, Peale’s message remains popular among everyone from churchgoers to New Age seekers.”
So, what is a spiritual person to do with these “spiritual” matters? Again, avoid them like the plague! Whether it be the deception of Astrology, the powerplay of Manifestation, or the numerous other worldly spiritual fields that one might run in, determine to not dabble in them at all. At the root of our fallen nature is the desire to be God (Genesis 3:5). The answer to this vulnerability is to not want to be God, but to want God. Specifically, with respect to the spirit world, it is to want the Holy Spirit. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Seek the Holy Spirit, not other spirits.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
Holy Spirit filled followers of Christ should not even dabble in the “other spirit” world as there is no room for both the Spirit and the spirits. “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). It is either one or the other. Just as you cannot serve God and mammon – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24) – you cannot give yourself to the Holy Spirit and the worldly spirits. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Deception is the modus operandi of the other spirit world. A big part of the deception is to present itself as “innocent” or “humanitarian driven” or “from God Himself.” Indeed, Satan is a deceiver and so, “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Astrology, for example, may be perceived by some in these ways:
1. “Oh come on, it’s just a fun thing that is kind of interesting.”
2. “It is a way for us to help ourselves and help each other.”
3. “It is one of the ways God can guide us.”
Ah yes, there is the issue. “What is wrong with a little bit of fun? It’s not like Satan comes out of my closet with his horns on fire every time I read my horoscope in the newspaper. It is just innocent. It helps me consider my plans. I receive guidance.” The deception is that you start looking to the stars (God’s creation) for guidance instead of to the Creator of those stars. That type of “retail” relationship with God is no relationship at all. The Christian walk is a “wholesale” walk. God is pleased when we come to Him and seek Him directly (Hebrews 11:6).
In animistic cultures – these, for example, include most “tribal” cultures in which the overarching worldview revolves around the belief that spirits reside in all things – the recognition of the reality of the spirit world is more readily embraced. For animists, then, the interaction between the Holy Spirit and other spirits is more about a spiritual “power struggle.” Whatever spirit is stronger wins their allegiance. Alternatively, in most materialistic Western cultures like ours, truth is defined according to the tangible, physical environment. As in naturalism, nothing supernatural really exists. This may set us up for deception in a greater way as “dabbling” in the spirit world may be said to just be fun or simply be seen as a make believe diversion. “There really is not anything to it. It’s just kind of cool. It’s entertaining. And if it turns out that there is something to it, then it will be very intriguing.”
Spiritism can be the result of such a progression. Truth is obtained through contact and communion with spirits. Communication with the spirit world is very important, but only when that communication is subordinate to the Word of God; that is, only when the communication is with the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it is condemned (Deuteronomy 18:10-11; 1 Chronicles 10:13).
Looking to Astrology points to the essence of the spiritual power struggle. Who or what is going to be Lord? Who or what is your provider, your protector, and your informer? Is it the stars or Him who made the stars? Will you worship the creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25)? This is always – whether in the more “in the raw” form that is animism or in the more discreet intellectual form that is in materialism – the issue in the embracing of worldly spiritual concepts; that is, it is a Lordship issue. You cannot serve two Lords. You cannot gain your guidance or direction from two Lords. Either God is Lord or what God has created is Lord.
To know what Christians should do with Astrology or how they should treat it, understanding the practice of Superstition can be informative. Just think about what you are doing when you engage in superstition. “Hey, don’t sit in that chair or the Eagles will lose. I always wear my same shirt backwards so the Phillies will win. I don’t do anything with the Flyers. They are hopeless (even my superstitions can’t help).” Do you really think you are that powerful? Ah, herein lies the issue. The Lordship issue is the power struggle between God and you. When you think you control things, when you think you make things happen, and when you and the things you do or don’t do are the most influential things that all else hinges on, then you are competing with God. Lordship is the issue. Who really is the Controller, the Puzzle maker, and the Influencer? God is God. Whether you sit in the right chair for the Eagles game or not does not make you God.
The pantheistic practice of Manifestation is that you can create your own reality by thinking positively. This is linked to the New Age concept of the Law of Attraction (related to Hinduism’s Karma, Daoism’s Te and Chi, and Hinduism and Buddhism’s Realization) which is the spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life. As all pantheistic religions do, by definition, Manifestation (which has become a sort of Western application of Eastern mysticism) pushes people into themselves. Self is deified. The inevitable result is spiritualized narcissism which looks to self as creator or at least controller.
Does any of this sound familiar? Has Western Christianity been vulnerable to this in any way? How about the Positive Confession movement that champions the idea that your words, in and of themselves, can create or cause or control. My words create my reality. This misinterpretation of Scripture rooted in the culture of postmodernism has left some Christians wallowing in the dregs of their own gross overemphasis on man’s free will. The result is a deception that pits their abilities and responsibilities against God’s. Power struggle!
The Positive Confession movement can be traced back to Norman Vincent Peale and his 1952 blockbuster book (on the N.Y. Times bestseller list for 186 weeks), The Power of Positive Thinking. One interesting note here: it was a teenage Donald Trump who was one of Peale’s disciples! One website opines, “The Power of Positive Thinking is one of the world’s most influential books. Today, Peale’s message remains popular among everyone from churchgoers to New Age seekers.”
So, what is a spiritual person to do with these “spiritual” matters? Again, avoid them like the plague! Whether it be the deception of Astrology, the powerplay of Manifestation, or the numerous other worldly spiritual fields that one might run in, determine to not dabble in them at all. At the root of our fallen nature is the desire to be God (Genesis 3:5). The answer to this vulnerability is to not want to be God, but to want God. Specifically, with respect to the spirit world, it is to want the Holy Spirit. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Seek the Holy Spirit, not other spirits.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Matthew 6:24
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Deuteronomy 18:10-11
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance... 1 Chronicles 10:13
TRUE NORTH COLLEGE COURSE
Spirit War and World | Ministry Leadership 299
In this study the weapons and armor of the Christian soldier will be considered with respect to engaging in spiritual warfare. Special attention is given to the reality of the spirit world and the Christian’s response to it. Special emphasis will be put on the theology surrounding the identity and activity of angels and demons (angelology and demonology).