The Loud Spirit
"One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!'
She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!' And the spirit left her at that very moment."
Consider this story from the perspective of the spirit. You are going along, doing what you do, you have a girl you have partnered up with. Suddenly you see these men and just know: they are messengers of salvation, THE salvation! You see it clearly unfolding and are overwhelmed and overjoyed; you cannot help but cry from the rooftops available to you- the bullhorn of your partner's lips- letting everyone around know that these men represent the way to salvation. I am picturing this spirit in a child like state here, for who else cries out so consistently and persistently about something they are excited about, and with so little understanding of how others feel about their delivery of said message? Not only that, but the spirit was actually helping the men spread the word of God because the people in the area knew the girl and knew she spoke with a divining spirit, so they were more likely to listen to the men.
Then, without warning, one of the men you have been supporting with everything you have turns to you and banishes you, using the same power you have been heralding that they have to all who will listen. Now I do not know for certain where spirits go when banished like this, but from Jesus' interactions with them, it does not seem good. Suddenly you are alone, the men you thought were your friends, gone, your partner, gone, no one there. I imagine it would seem that the message of salvation you had spoken of so clearly only moments before was only meant for others, and despite your best efforts was not meant for you.
I cannot help but picture this spirit wailing like a child abandoned there, alone in the dark. "Why would they do that? Why would they do this to me?" Why would they do that? Why did they do that to this spirit? I have heard this story touted by Christians with proud hearts, saying that it is an excellent example that Jesus has power over all spirits; but the message I cannot help but hear is that those speaking in this way of this story feel like the are spiritually invincible, and beyond any regulation or commandment of mercy and beyond even needing to possess basic empathy. I see it as a prime example of the fact that even those walking in faith fail. Anger gets the best of even the most devout, giving way to sin, in this case harming what appears to be an innocent spirit trying desperately to help them. In fact, I think Paul knew he had failed, which is why the story is written as it is, demonstrating clearly what the spirit said, and including the descriptor "aggravated" regarding Paul, to indicate that it was not his finest moment or some divine inspiration that had him cast out that spirit, but his own inability to tolerate its joyful assistance.
This story also does clearly demonstrate Jesus' power, and his loyalty to the faithful, but I believe it shows that he will support you even when you fail and sin, not an example of how we should strive to be. Where is mercy in this story? Where is love? Where is even wisdom, considering the result was losing their best promoter and instead becoming enemies of the town? Additionally, what spirit was being cast out?
1 John 4:2
"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,"
While one might make the argument here that this is not exactly what this spirit was proclaiming, I feel that the technicalities in the Bible one leans on to support their own personal beliefs are the materials their house of faith is made of (referenced by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15), the house that will be tested with fire. My materials are threaded with as much love as I can find; I feel that Jesus would support that architectural decision, and I regret nothing in this choice.
The silver lining here is that I guarantee that spirit was rescued, most likely directly by Jesus. I will use the following verse as a kind of support of this claim:
Matthew 10:32 "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven."
Technically the spirit did not acknowledge Jesus', but rather "The Most High God" and "the way of salvation" so I could see the argument being made that this might not be applicable, but one could also argue that Jesus being the way to salvation may have been a direct acknowledgement, technically. I still say guarantee, however, because if Jesus is not doing it, I will. A tragedy such as this spirit being left in the dark will not stand on my watch. When I have my freedom to move about I will go find this spirit myself and bring them back, because this is a terrible example of how power in fallible hands can result in awful things, but even then salvation can still be attained.
I imagine it something like this:
*sniff* "I was only trying to help."
"I know, it's okay, people can be cruel sometimes. It will be okay. Let me show you."
Comments
Post a Comment