You’re bound to have heard this preached from pulpits in one form or another: “Unlock God’s blessing upon your life by giving more money to the church.” God’s blessing is seen to be dependent on my actions; the more I give, the more God will bless me. Alternatively, if I don’t give enough, he’ll curse me.

Walking under ladders, seeing a black cat or hearing an owl, breaking a mirror, (un)lucky number 13, horoscopes and magical objects such as water collected from a waterfall or tying string around one’s waist—these are common cultural superstitions. They are seen to bring either good or bad luck. But what do superstitions have to do with Christianity? Surely we chucked them out along with other pagan beliefs? While we may not hold to any of the above superstitions, there are some common ‘Christian superstitions’ that abound in the church. Let’s have a look at just a few.

Responding to an ‘Altar Call’ Makes You a Christian

How many times have you listened to a preacher who whips up the emotions of the congregation, culminating in an ‘altar call’? Those who respond to the call go up to the front and are encouraged to “ask Jesus into their heart.” Once they’ve done this, they’re assured that they are now Christians.

“I Bind You, Satan!”

How many prayer meetings have you been to where some zealous prayer warrior will start with, “I bind you Satan, and every demon in this room”? I’m sure these folks are well-meaning. But we really don’t have any warrant in scripture to do such things. Speaking to demons is called divination in scripture. The Bible expressly forbids this (Leviticus 19:26). It’s odd. We criticise Roman Catholics for praying to Mary and the saints. And we correct others who pray to dead ancestors. Rightly so. Yet we don’t blink an eye when people in our churches pray to Satan!

This common superstition among Christians is based on a misinterpretation of Matthew 16:19, in which Jesus speaks of binding and loosing. Nowhere in that text are Satan or demons mentioned. Instead the text is about church discipline. Those in the church who persist in sin are to be bound (removed from the fellowship); those who repent are to be loosed (restored to the fellowship).

Jesus shows us how we should pray: to our Father in heaven. To him alone. We have no need to bind Satan or his demons. There’s no need to rebuke them from our meetings. We don’t need to even fear them. The good news is that Jesus has already dealt a fatal blow to our enemies at the cross. We’re on the winning team! “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them (the powers of darkness), for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

“Out, You Lying Spirit!”

Has anyone ever “discerned” a spirit of fear, or poverty, over you and then proceeded to drive it out? Yeah, been there, done that. But is it really possible that Christians can have demons in them? It’s clear from scripture that demons exist and they can possess people. We read about Jesus and the apostles driving out demons (Matthew 8:28-34). But were these people believers when they were demon possessed? In every instance we see that this is not the case (Mark 5:1-13). Some believed in Jesus after he had released them from the power of the demons (Mark 5:19-20). But none were believers who were possessed.

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