Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. [Colossians 2:8-10 (NLT)]
Without a globe, I allowed a random number to decide the nation for which I’d pray this week. Number 19 was Benin and I’m embarrassed to admit knowing nothing about this narrow strip of land in West Africa between Nigeria and Togo. These three nations once were part of the kingdom of Dahomey and it was in Dahomey that the ancient practice of voudon/vodun/vodou (commonly called voodoo) began. Now a republic, Benin is a severely underdeveloped nation, rife with corruption, where the life expectancy for men is just 60! A little over 40% of the population are Christian, nearly 30% Muslim, about 17% practice voodoo, and another 10% follow other indigenous/animistic religions. As a side note, ARDA (The Association for Religion Data Archives) stated that many of those identifying as Christian also practice voodoo.
Since my limited knowledge of voodoo comes from bad movies with zombies, hexes, and pins stuck into dolls, I did some research. The voodoo of movies and fiction bears little resemblance to real voudon beliefs or practices. Rich with proverbs, songs, and folklore, voudon includes belief in a universal energy, many spirits, a soul that can leave the body during dreams, spirit possession, and folk medicine. Nevertheless, even without the gruesome zombies, voodoo (no matter how you spell it) is incompatible with Christianity.
Voudon came to the New World with enslaved West Africans and is the only traditional African religion to survive here. While it’s the primary religion of a little over 2% of the Haitian population, ARDA noted that a much larger number of people identifying themselves as Christian continue to practice it. ARDA also found that a number of Christians in the Dominican Republic secretly practice witchcraft (brujería) or voodoo.
Converting isn’t easy and it’s not just voudon practitioners who have difficulty completely abandoning their culture’s traditions for Christianity. I had a Japanese friend who struggled to find a way to honor her ancestors without praying to them as she’d done for decades before converting.
Back in Paul’s day, the Colossians had difficulty preventing their new faith in Christ from becoming a mixed religion combining Christianity with elements of their Jewish roots and the popular philosophical movement of Gnosticism. What they ended up with were human traditions, circumcision, a requirement to observe both the Sabbath and the annual and monthly Jewish holy days along with dietary laws, the worship of angels, and even self-abasement—none of which were compatible with Christianity.
Rather than voodoo or Gnosticism, it’s belief in things like Kabbalah, tarot reading, astrology, manifesting, reincarnation, the spiritual energy of objects, psychic mediums, channeling, and crystals that have found their way into American Christians. Often called “new age,” there’s nothing new about them. While they may seem “spiritual” or self-affirming, they cut us off from God’s divine sovereignty, power, and purpose. Nevertheless, in 2018, Pew Research found that 61% of Americans identifying as Christian also believed in at least one of these things: reincarnation, astrology, psychics, or that spiritual energy can be in physical things.
Christianity doesn’t come with an ala carte menu. We don’t get to pick and choose individual dishes according to our preferences, make substitutions, or add a few extra sides because they’re intriguing, trendy, or promise earthly rewards. Christianity comes with a table d’hôte or prix fixe menu. Additions or substitutions aren’t allowed because the menu was set by God and Christ is all-sufficient.
Salvation is offered to everyone but, in Matthew 7, Jesus warned us that God’s gate isn’t wide enough for the addition of other beliefs! He continued with his caution when He said that some who expected to enter the Kingdom wouldn’t be allowed entrance; a similar warning is found in Luke 13. Those who identify as Christian but also follow voodoo or other non-Scriptural beliefs probably expect to enter through that narrow gate. I suspect they are mistaken and will find it shut tight.
As I prayed for Benin, I also prayed for all people who’ve combined false doctrine or pagan practices with their belief in Jesus. May they know and understand that the broad road leading to the wide gate is the road to destruction!
Devotions of the Heart 