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Mark 1:25,26 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come
out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of
him with a shriek.” We are all subjected to the influence of Satan and even Jesus was tempted in the desert but surprisingly some Christians are sceptical. Conversely, there are some who are obsessed with binding demons but they are likewise not immune. Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to devour (1 Pet 5:8) finding our weaknesses especially if we put our head in the sand and see no evil or are self- righteous with a religious zeal sufficient to crucify Jesus at the Cross. Satan seeks to destroy us, to destroy the GLBT community and to keep it in the closet and under bondage where our basic rights of existence, marriage and equality are taken away. That is the real "gay" aggenda. He is using the church to do so when the church of Jesus Christ should have been preaching God's love, grace and mercy especially to the least rejected by society. But we shall not fear, for Christ will overcome all the wicked plans in due time and season. The notion of a spiritual reality with many spiritual deities and gods really scares us because they are unseen although spoken widely in Christian and Jewish faith traditions. We rather assigned it to the metaphorical. For many the devil is a figment of our imagination rather than something real, even though the concept of the supernatural beings of good and evil is intrinsic in the bible and explains the concepts of the many religions and its worshippers. We can't see through the darkness disguised as the light (2 Cor 11:14). The notion of demonic posession is not new in the
ancient Jewish religious text. In fact, in the worship of Baal, the
worshippers have anal sex with the male temple priests and in doing so
the demon in the priest would also possess the worshiper.
In Christianity, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is
the equivalent where the Holy Spirit fills us. It is different from a
commitment of faith to Jesus Christ. When Jesus approached the man in Capernaum, in the
Jewish synagogue itself, the presence of Jesus made the demon to out
itself, thus confronting Jesus. Jesus did not use a humanistic approach
as some saying that it was psychological or a state of madness but
recognised a separate spiritual force. Evil is not only within, it is
external far stronger that we could imagine that could be in the closet
inside a person attending church or the synagogue. The demon was there
all this while even as the man praised God in the synagogue. How many
devils are there in our churches? Jesus was able to cast of the demon because He was
of a far more powerful spiritual presence being the “Holy one of God”.
Why wasn’t the man not afraid of going to the synagogue where the
presence of God apparently dwells! Because the presence of God was not
significant unlike the temple of God where the Ark resides until the
priests could not stand on his feet. God is not everywhere in a tangible
manner although He could be everywhere, ie His presence is only strongly
manifested as He wills. Is our church full of the presence of Jesus that
demon possessed people are cleansed when they enter our churches? Or do
they stay bound! When Jesus declared “thy kingdom come”, He was not
only declaring that the Kingdom of God is within us, but that the
presence of God be amongst us through the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was
amongst them. A church may
be full of people, yet empty for God was not there despite our
assertions. The Holy Spirit is like a wind, it comes and goes and none
can control it. Is the kingdom of God within the church where the work
of the ministry of Christ is proclaimed to the lost, the outcasts and
the sick? When we are the hands and feet of Jesus, there the Spirit of
God dwells. Jesus did not ignore the man who was demon
possessed, but it is wise for us not to be like Jesus unless we are able
to engage in Spiritual warfare. Jesus was known to the demon, are we
known to the principalities in heaven/hell as a spiritual force. We are
in a spiritual warfare whether we like it or not. The demon possessed
man came into the church and we live in a physical and a spiritual
worlds. The goals of the forces of darkness are to hinder the ministry
of Christ here on earth.
Pastor Derek Hong was not wrong when he said than
Satan was using gays to destroy the church. What he missed out was that
it is the church itself who would self-destruct in deliberate lies and
rhetoric against gays perpetuating harm and injustice hence putting the
church in a position of unrighteousness. The sin and hypocrisy against
gays would be like yeast that would consume the whole church and in time
defines it as unholy and without grace nor mercy. It also sets an
impossible bar of holiness and religious law that the church must adhere
to, ie if we condemn gays then the rest of the OT laws would strictly
apply.
A collection of the anti-gay quotes by the mega pastors in Singapore shows how outrageous and hostile their rethoric can be but also reflects how good people can be a moment of folly and religious indignation can be influenced and open themselves to Satan. What they planted they reaped with a mighty shaking of the churches a few years later where the churches stumbled one after the other, and there were no gay aggenda. The bible teaches us to be merciful, to kind,
gentle, forgiving, slow to criticise, and slow to anger. All this
together with the prayer of a righteous person standing in prayer avails
much. Our righteousness is in Christ. The anti-gay crusade of the
Christian Right doesn’t add to their position in Christ, but it taints
them with the blood of the innocent of the many gays who died as a
result of the deep harm caused. Therefore refrain from harm, do good and
do justice, and let there be no room for the works of Satan in the
church of Jesus Christ. Pray
always and unceasingly, that the Spirit of God may constrain us and give
us strength to be pure and holy.
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