How to engage people who claim to be Christian, but seek out Mediums

Q: I need to know if I’m in the wrong here… overlooking something I want to do the right thing because I truly care for others and making sure they’re guided down the right path, when I feel lead by God to.

Growing up I understood about spiritual warfare and blindness, and what could happen when dabbling in demonic thjngs such as mediums or witchcraft. I had thought was okay at the time because my mom was dabbling in it. I turned from that years ago.

I engaged a woman in a local town group forum, about a post asking for recommendations for the best mediums. 

I quoted 3 scriptures in the Bible. 2 from Leviticus and another from Isaiah. (figured that was enough, I could have kept going) Leviticus 19:31 , Leviticus 20:6 and Isaiah 8:19, to encourage her away from doing such things.

I was thrown off by a response I got by commenting that. A person commented and was berating, rude and gaslighting in her response. All were questions asking me if I do a-z in the eyes of the Lord, (side note: her post was later edited and she removed a lot of sentences in her paragraph)

[“So do you follow ALL of Levticus or just the convenient ones? Do you cut the hair on the side of your head? Have any tattoos? Do you eat meat that isn't 100% well done? Eat any split hooved animals like pigs? (Bacon, ham...) I presume you observe the Sabbath. TV off, no phone, just worshipping. How about not eating any animals without fins or scales? Better put down those crabs, oysters and clams.”

(Was confused and wondered what this had to do with anything)]

Her response to another person that was teaching/expressing what I’m thinking during that time)-> (“it was a rebuttal. If one is going to base their actions and beliefs on Levticus, then you can't pick and choose. She was suggesting that I ignore my beliefs based on hers.”)

Majorly confused after this one because nothing was said to her yet other than the 3 scriptures she already responded to.

At that point I couldn’t tell if this women was a Christian or not. I could tell this person knew a lot of information pertaining the Bible but the way it came across I was extremely unsure whether they dabbled with Mediums/ witchcraft or if she was a Christian. She later said was Christian and doesn’t judge people, she’s baptized and believes in god. She further stated that I was judging her and trying to get her to believe what I believe. But if we’re both Christian’s, shouldn’t we be on the same page? I then said all I did was quote 3 scriptures but that her response was anger filled, rude and quite confusing (because I questioned what beliefs she was siding on). 

I told her that she can and it’s fine to be baptized and believe in the Word. But needs to ensure that it’s true conviction from the Holy Spirit and having a relationship with Jesus/ God. But her belief was coming across as confusing and it seems she was okay with "both" and I stated you cannot do both of those at the same time because it’s a rebellion against God. I told her that all I wanted was to bring the light forward through scripture in the Bible. Ezekiel 3:18. “When I say to a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.  

*Which means - It appears in the context of the responsibility to warn the wicked to turn from their ways. 

 

Could I have handled this better? Could I have said something different to understand what’s going on? Am I misunderstanding/ misinterpreting what she’s saying? Am I not allowed to quote scripture that’s in different parts/story’s of the Bible? 

I feel if I don’t help guide people (I don’t randomly do unless I feel is necessary to help) then am I truly living for God? Would god rather me care or not to care and if so, would I have blood on my hands?

A:

First praise God you boldly lovingly encouraged her. Its not your fault if she's not a true Christian, or a weak new one. But any believer would be a Berean and kill any sin that they were doing wrongly. Its not a good sign idmf she uses those non believer objections cuz its red flags. 

Yes we are to judge one another in righteousness, we are to correct, call to repentance and holy living. 

There are all kinds of people who claim to be Christian. Many are idolatrous moralist pew sitters, others are in false religions and also are idolators, many today embrace newagism and new thought, or other false teachings. Many in religions that claim to be Christian do participate in mysticism, and they embrace tarot cards, mediums and other witchcraft demonicism. God is not in them, even if they claim to be a believer.

Baptism doesn't save, believing in God doesn't save; even the demons believe and tremble. 

Its hard online to ask someone's religious background or what "church" they go to, as it will further help you get an idea who they are. If it's a false church, then you already know they are 99% likely to be unsaved and they wont give ear to what you say, for they live in sin and chase after the darkness. 

Its good to have some context when you post so it doesn't come across passive aggressive. You could say 

"I can't recommend one as a Christian, [verses] but I can pray for you, my hope is that you will seek to trust God, and not dabble in the darkness. Instead of seeking a medium, can I as a Christian pray 🙏for you instead, [and then you can leave it in God's hands]?". 

And then if she comes back with "I am a Christian" then you can respond:

"[Kindly] God has told us believers in Scripture that we are not to have anything to do with the darkness where Satan and demons are, & mediums, witchcraft, the occult and such are part of the satanic system we are to avoid. Scripture also calls us to righteously judge, to call each other to correction and help encourage one another to walk the righteous path of holy living. If we profess to believe, but are living in ways that show we are not doing that, then we are to examine ourselves to see if we really are saved. If you aren't a believer [or arent really sure your saved], then I encourage you to come to know God through Jesus so you can be set free from sin & death, and the coming judgment, & truly begin a personal relationship with Him. See needGod.com.✝️"

This way it's not sounding like your judging her, which she will claim, and doesnt give her room to throw out objections, but instead gives off more of a caring vibe, and still proclaims truth to her and all who read the comments. 😊

You can ask your pastor or evangelism leader more about how to handle those kinds of situations in the future, so you have an idea of how to word something, but its good you want to address the issues well and lead her into truth. Many times we need to be careful not to cast pearls before swine and dust our feet off. But the Word of God won't return void; it will convict her & perhaps lead her to correction or salvation, or heap coals on her head. Do pray for her.

Hope that helps 😊.

On a side note, there are clear red flags on someones salvation when they throw out objections that are basically saying "Why do you only follow some things in the Bible and not everything?!" And the answer to that is that...

Christians have the righteousness of Christ. We are now living with spiritual life [as God originally designed us to (though in sanctification since we are sin stained and not perfect)], so that means we as image bearers of God are living out the Communicable Attributes of God as seen by the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians. These are what are considered as morality (examples seen in the 10 Commandments), which reflects God's perfect moral nature and attributes. We don't need to follow religious rules that were temporarily given to Israel for particular purposes for that Nation. They failed to be the light to the world to draw men to God, instead Christians are now the ones given that tast under the new covenant and the Great Commission. The Scriptures tell us who God is, who man was, what happened, the restoration plan God had, and how He through Jesus completed that work for man's salvation. Those who obey the Gospel are born again by God and put back in right relationship to Him, love Him, live for Him and are progressively growing in righteousness (until Jesus perfects us when we leave this body for eternity; eternal life). If you want to be right with God and recieve Christ as your Savior too, needGod.com can tell you how. 

* feel free to save that info into a cloud notes app for future use

God bless

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