During our discussion of demons in class the other day, I thought of a Disney song that I remembered from a show called the “House of Mouse.” In this show, many of the famous Disney characters ran a dinner theater in which they would work to entertain the guest, while showing classic Disney clips throughout the show. The song that I was reminded of was a duet between Mickey Mouse and Daisy Duck called “Me the Mouse and I’m the Duck.” Throughout this song, the two characters playfully argue about the different pronunciations of different words, such as lever (Leave-er versus Le-ver), caramel (car-mull versus care-uh-mell), or Caribbean (care-uh-be-in versus Cur-rib-be-in). Of course, we all know the correct pronunciations of these words; nevertheless this song light-heartedly demonstrated the argument over language that many people get into.
This reminded me of our discussion in class regarding whether Christian’s can be “possessed” or not. All sorts of questions stem from that word, such as the ability, length and targets of demon possession. Some argue that Christian’s can’t be “possessed” but “oppressed.” Whereas others argue that there really is no difference, as the Greek would be better translated into the word “Demonized.” Some would even go further to make a distinction of the ability of a demon to actually own someone’s soul or body, in the sense that God does.
Ultimately, I think many of these distinctions and arguments are quite fruitless. Many of these arguments are language arguments, in the same way that we argue whether it is “tu’mey-tow or tu’maa-tow” (http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/TOMATO). Regardless of whether we call it possession, oppression, demonization, tidily-winks, or whatever, it is clear that demons have a present-day activity influencing the lives of unbelievers and believers. That is why in Ephesians 6:11-12, we are commanded to put on the armor of God to resist the devil, for our Christians lives are a spiritual battle, not an earthly one. Therefore put on your armor and be prepared, instead of arguing whether it is “Care-uh-mell” or “Car-mull.” Especially, because we all know its “Car-Mull”. :P
I absolutely agree with you. I found it interesting to listen to everyone's views on the subject, however there really is no way for us to know for sure what demons are capable of. The Bible only gives us so much information and for my own selfish reasons sometimes I wish it gave us more. After my first theology class at liberty I felt pretty confident that Christians could not be possessed, but the fact of the matter is that I WANT to believe that is true and couldn't give you scriptural evidence of for that belief. The only hold up I have with "Bondage Breaker" is that not every mental or behavioral problem is caused by a demon, and if it is I have NO IDEA how to help someone with that. I guess as counselors we need to do our best with what we've learn and with the resources with have and trust God to take care of the rest.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the you. It is not a difference in terms. Being possessed and being oppressed is very different. To compare it to different ways to say the same word is totally false. To be possessed means to own like that of property. Where as to be oppressed means to burden, to weigh down or to lie heavily upon. As Christians we can not be possessed because we can not be owed by a demon. We are already own by Christ. However, demons would like to slow us down on mission to fulfill the great commission so they seek to oppress us. That way we will be slower at completing our purpose.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Mat. It seems like so many of our heated debates are fruitless if they do not lead to some sort of action or change. For example, we can argue all day long about the difference between possession and demonization, but if we do not get up and start fighting in this spiritual battle, armed with the armor of God, alongside our brothers and sisters, then what is the point of the debate? I am not certain about this whole topic and I have had little exposure to it, but I do know that there is a war being waged for souls right now and it is not going to stop for me to understand the right terminology or concepts.
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