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Can a Christian have a demon?

not being a victim
A couple of days ago, a blog reader raised a good question: “Can a Christian have a demon?” My quick and dirty response: Hey, Christians can have just about anything they want! If they want to invite demons to hang around and whisper suggestions, they can do that, just like they can invite them …
By Seth Barnes

A couple of days ago, a blog reader raised a good question: “Can a Christian have a demon?” My quick and dirty response: Hey, Christians can have just about anything they
want! If they want to invite demons to hang around and whisper suggestions, they can do that, just like they can invite them to go to hell.

The problem with the way this question is often answered is that the answer may have nothing to do with either what the Bible says or any actual experience. I’ve heard Christians who wouldn’t have the first clue about what to do with a demonized person give categorical answers (see my earlier blog). “No, Christians can’t have demons,” they assert.

Well, what does that mean? Can they be tempted? Yes. Can they be seduced and lied to? Yes. Can they be troubled and tormented?

Yes. That’s what demons do to people. The real question is, “Can a demon control a Christian’s behavior like a puppet?” That’s what people usually mean and the word they associate with that behavior, it is “possession” – the point of reference being the movie “The Exorcist.”

M. Scott Peck has written some great stuff on the subject, beginning with the classic overview of the problem of a personal evil, People of the Lie and concluding with Glimpses of the Devil, which looks at the issue of possession. If you’re really interested in the subject, I’d begin there.

It’s probably best to look at the issue as one of degree of influence. Rather than getting caught up in a conversation about semantics, recognize that we are all influenced to one degree or another by demonic activity. Demons whisper lies and people listen to them – that’s part of the natural order of things. The more we dally in realms controlled by demons: drugs, criminal activity, pornography, and violent video games for starters, the more we give them permission to influence us. Check out 2 Peter 2 for a great description of where all this leads.

Ratchet up the time you spend in any of these areas and you’ll open yourself to greater demonic influence. Pornography, for example. On a 100-point scale, you may start out at a 15 on the scale of demonic influence as a good Christian adolescent. Yes, you’re regularly tempted, but you usually resist. Then as a college student, hanging around your fraternity as a senior, you find yourself daily looking at your friends’ Hustler magazine – you’ve jumped to a 50 on the scale. It gets worse, after college, you regularly frequent the nearby “Adults Only” store and unwittingly you’ve given a demon of lust and his buddies significant access to your life – you’re at a 74 on the scale. The demon doesn’t even have to whisper anymore, he just nudges you and you feel helpless to resist.

At that point you “have” a demon in same sense that you’d have a good friend. And to the degree that you’re easy prey for the demon, maybe it’s more accurate to say he has you. Do you as a Jesus-follower also have the Holy Spirit and the power to resist evil? Absolutely. But demonic temptation is a fact of life for Christians as well as non-Christians. You’re never completely out of the woods.

Also, check out the article “Sons of Sceva: Wielding true spiritual authority” for more on  what demons can do to Christians and people who think using the right words is all they need to do.

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