Steve was desperate. Starting with marijuana almost twenty years earlier, he had gone on to try all sorts of drugs, including cocaine. He thought he was a user, not an addict-he always felt he was in control.
Now, however, he was smoking crack cocaine, and he knew it was controlling him. He had exhausted thousands of dollars in savings, pawned everything of value, spent every cent he earned, and started writing bad checks.
But mostly he was concerned about his 11-year-old daughter. He felt guilty having his drug-using friends around her, and he knew if his lifestyle didn't change soon, he would lose custody of her.
One of Steve's friends asked me if I could help. I invited him to my home to see what I could do, hoping to get him into some kind of treatment program.
It didn't take long to realize my counseling skills couldn't help Steve. Together we sought God with intense, desperate prayer. Finally I commanded any demonic spirits oppressing Steve to leave.
I didn't hear any voices or see any demons, but something dramatic happened.
The following Sunday Steve testified that God had set him free from drugs. He began to save money and pay off bills. He cleaned up his mobile home, and his daughter showed signs of better care.
Steve even approached law enforcement officers about helping snare drug dealers. Several months after his deliverance, I interviewed him on radio about his experience with drugs, and he told about the difference God's power had made in his life.
Steve had been delivered from demonic power.
Rethinking deliverance
When I began my most recent pastorate, I had a healthy skepticism about "deliverance" ministry. (I use the term deliverance to describe the spiritual power to break demonic influence.) I knew demons were real, but I was also convinced the devil got more credit than he deserved.
I had seen a few purported demonic manifestations and exorcisms, but most of them could be explained psychologically. I was particularly skeptical about the idea that some believers needed demons cast out of them.
But some in my congregation appeared to think deliverance was the cure for almost any spiritual, mental, or physical malady. Then others I respected shared their personal experiences of deliverances.
I cautiously began to rethink my position. Perhaps God was telling me to be more open toward a ministry of discernment and deliverance. Subsequent experiences have continued to shape my thinking about deliverance in pastoral ministry.
Encounters with powers
Greg became involved in Satanism while in the Marine Corps. Although that was past, he and his girlfriend still did drugs, and he played in a rock band. At her parents' insistence, they came to me for premarital counseling.
I talked to them about building a Christian foundation for marriage, and they committed themselves to Christ. Greg also acknowledged his need to be free from demonic influence associated with his Satanism and drug involvement. During my prayer for his deliverance, Greg responded emotionally. A smile appeared on his face, and he told me several times: "That felt great. I've never gotten a rush from drugs that was any better than when you prayed for me." I wasn't sure what to think of that, but the prayer seemed to help move him in God's direction.
Another example was Howard. Hospitalized for depression, Howard had encountered a series of crises-marital conflict, adultery, multiple divorces, violence, and financial instability. Rejection, occultism, and violence went back generations in his family. Just released from the hospital, Howard now faced bankruptcy.
Two people in our congregation joined me in prayer for Howard's deliverance. He was eager to gain control over his temper and be free from spiritual bondage.
Nothing spectacular happened, but Howard said he felt a physical sensation and a spiritual release when I laid my hands on him during the prayer. Although his circumstances did not change significantly, he began to respond more appropriately to trouble. Things at home seemed to calm down, and he could function on the job.
Still another example was Billy. He was only 7, but he continually left our children's workers exhausted and frustrated. Billy was belligerent, defiant, uncooperative, and generally out of control.
One Sunday morning when Billy was particularly disruptive, my wife, Zelda, went into the children's service. He was kicking, throwing chairs, and screaming, "I hate you. Leave me alone!"
Two deacons helped Zelda escort Billy outside and left her with him. She tried encouraging, pleading, and threatening, but nothing calmed him down.
Finally, in desperation, she put her arms around him and said, "Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. Leave this boy alone."
Billy quieted down at once, pushed Zelda away, and said, "Okay."
"Okay what?" she responded, startled by the sudden change.
"I be good," Billy said.
Zelda took him back to the children's service, where the workers accepted him reluctantly. They reported later that, to their amazement, he had behaved perfectly through the rest of the activities.
Why doesn't deliverance stick?
Experiences such as these with Steve, Greg, Howard, and little Billy helped convince me that there is a place for deliverance ministry in the church. But I've also seen that deliverance is only part of the story.
Steve, who had such a dramatic deliverance from drugs, moved out of town. He's reportedly been growing and using marijuana again.
Greg has moved, too. He left town soon after his girlfriend attacked him with a knife after finding him in bed with another woman.
As far as I know, Howard functions adequately enough, but he still lives from crisis to crisis.
And Billy may not be throwing chairs during children's church, but the last time I saw him, he was angry and defiant once again.
I saw God's power touch each of these people. I believe they were all set free from evil forces. But that initial "power encounter" was not a cure-all for any of them.
Deliverance is a valid, even crucial ministry of the church, but it has built-in limitations and dangers. For example, an overemphasis on deliverance from demons encourages people to avoid their own responsibility. They can blame the Devil for their sins and look for deliverance as the quick fix.
Deliverance from demonic influence is not God's ultimate goal for his children. His higher purpose is that believers become like Christ. One of the most familiar biblical passages on spiritual warfare (Eph. 6) does not emphasize dramatic crisis experiences, but putting on Christian virtues.
Not a one-step journey
Deliverance can get people started in the right direction, but it is not a one-step journey to Christian maturity. If deliverance is to lead to lasting change, it must be accompanied by repentance, responsible action, and reinforcement.
Repentance. People must assume responsibility for their sins. Whatever influence demons may have exerted, at some point they yielded to that influence. They must admit their own role and then turn away from sinful behavior. Without repentance, deliverance cannot last.
Greg wanted to hold onto his sinful pleasures. He did not see his encounter with God as the end of an old way of life and the beginning of a new life. He was looking for one more high, another "fix" to make him feel good.
Responsible action. Spiritual disciplines help a struggling believer replace long-held, false perceptions of self and others with the truth of God's Word. We are not puppets whose strings are pulled by either a demon or God. Rather, we are rational beings with God-given responsibilities.
Our church developed a 10-week, one-on-one discipleship program for new converts. New believers grew in Christ as they met weekly with mature individuals who helped them understand how to live as a Christian.
I arranged more than once for someone to work through the New Life series with Steve, but he kept missing his appointments. He wouldn't take any responsibility for maintaining his deliverance.
Reinforcement. Christian growth should take place in the context of a caring Christian community. Those struggling with life-controlling problems especially need others who will love, accept, challenge, and hold them accountable for their behaviors and attitudes. Various 12-step programs are one way of providing this support.
I tried to get Steve involved in our New Life program to provide this kind of reinforcement. I hoped to see him build relationships with people who could have a positive impact on him. Steve, however, continued to associate with his drug-user friends. He said he wanted to be a good influence on them. Instead, they began to pull him back into their lifestyle.
Billy experienced God's power at church, but then he went home to a dysfunctional family torn apart by violence, incest, and instability. Until the family changes, Billy's problems are likely to continue. Our behavior can be influenced either positively or negatively by others.
A fast start is not enough
A steady diet of disappointments like those with Steve, Greg, Howard, and Billy could devastate a pastor, but other stories tilt the balance the other way.
Greg's former girlfriend has grown as a Christian and enrolled in college. Now she hopes to become involved in full-time ministry.
Sid, who was delivered from alcohol addiction years before I ever met him, is still dry and living for God.
George was a drug addict and professional criminal. For several years now he has headed up an effective prison ministry.
Deliverance is necessary for ministry in a culture permeated with drugs, violence, occultism, and New Ageism. But deliverance is not a panacea. It's not enough to get people started with a bang if I don't help them persevere over the long haul, guiding them through repentance, responsible action, and reinforcement. We must seek to lead people beyond deliverance into spiritual maturity by God's grace, manifested in both the miraculous and the mundane.
-Joe D. Wilmoth
New Life Assembly
Marksville, Louisiana
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
