Chapter Three: Identity of the Durban Christian Centre
3.7 Spiritual warfare
According to Wessels (1997:360-374), the charismatic worldview "locates the causes for good and evil almost exclusively in the spiritual reality" (1997:363).
Thus a person with sickness or poverty or practising infidelity would be described as having "a spirit of infirmity", "spirit of poverty" or "a spirit of lust or lasciviousness".
These spirits need to be discerned, diagnosed, assessed and then "cast out" or
"prayed out or against", "rebuked" or "bound". It is not uncommon to hear commands for evil spirits to "come out" of a person during a DCC worship or healing service. The list of spirits85 is ever-increasing as more and more conditions are attributed to a spiritual diagnosis including addiction, fear, depression and insanity.
Spiritual discernment, according to Heidler (1998:99) in Experiencing the Spirit, is the empowerment of a person who has received the Holy Spirit. This empowerment enables the person to "gain discernment and perception of the Spiritual realm" (1998:99). This discernment is like the opening of the eyes of the blind. There is a sudden awareness of an "unseen level of spiritual reality"
85 The other "spirits" include: Spirits of lust, pride, death, sexual perversion, sensuality, violence, torment, greed, lethargy, mammon, rebellion, religion, division, apathy, death etc.
(1998:99). In the DCC, spiritual discernment is a tool used by senior pastors to uncover "bondages" in people and pray for their release from these spiritual forces.
The term used for the release of people from evil in spiritual warfare circles is
"binding the strongman", which George Otis Jnr. (1999:247) describes as the neutralising of "the deceptive hold or enchantment that demonic powers have achieved over given human subjects so that the latter can process truth at a heart level".
The nature and scope of the spiritual warfare movement has become global, organised and theoretical. This has occurred since an agglomeration of big name American brands has flooded the international market with books and other forms of media and communication on the matter of intercession and spiritual warfare. Major names associated with this phenomenon are Dutch Sheets, author of Intercessory Prayer (1996), Wagner, described as a leading authority in spiritual warfare, evangelism, church growth and the author of
Warfare Prayer (1992) and Breaking Strongholds in your City (1993). Cindy Jacobs and Peter Lundell, among others, have also published books on the same subject and are considered experts on this topic. South Africans have easy access to these books since they are available at Christian bookshops in most city malls.
Spiritual warfare, as described by Wagner (1993:130) is "a powerful weapon when used as an integral part of evangelism". The attributed biblical basis for spiritual warfare is found in Ephesians 6:12, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against powers, against rulers of darkness of the age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" and 2 Corinthians 10:4, "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds".
Spiritual discernment and warfare are necessary, in the view of the charismatic movement, because it is often said "the carnal mind cannot apprehend the things of the Spirit". Prayer is not only a one-dimensional communication with God. A charismatic Christian can pray "for" a job, pray "to" God, pray "against"
evil, pray "in", or call forth or call for the return of blessings, unfaithful spouses, and pray "out" strife, troublesome business partners, or evil spirits.
Spiritual warfare is "praying against evil forces", together with "praying in or calling forth blessings, and the presence of God". The example of Daniel's encounter with the archangel who told him that he was being obstructed by the Prince of Persia, who tried to prevent his prayers from being answered, found in Daniel 10, is often used to explain how spiritual forces battle for control in the spiritual realm. Christian victories depend on the ability to "war in the spirit"
against obstructionist forces. Only when these forces are removed can prayers be answered and victories attained.
The emphasis on spiritual discernment and spiritual warfare and the constant reference to the works of the flesh as opposed to the spirit, the carnal mind and the spiritual mind, the worldly person and the spiritual person further entrench the dualistic nature of the charismatic worldview in general.
The worldview of the DCC is typified by the sermons preached at the DCC, for example, "What do you see?" (18/09/04 at the DCC Dome Sunday morning service) which dealt with the tension between spirit and flesh, and the need for people to see their situations through "the eyes of the spirit". Another sermon that brought up a crucial element of the DCC worldview is "Jezebel must die"
(31/10/04 at the DCC Berea Sunday morning service). This sermon was introduced as a "hard word" by preacher John Torrens. A "hard word" means that the contents of the sermon are meant to be thought provoking, uncomfortable to hear and penetrating. Using the Old Testament story of Queen Jezebel and King Ahab found in 2 Kings, Torrens described "the spirit of Jezebel" as a spirit which could inhabit a man or woman and cause her or him
to become controlling, intimidating, manipulating and dominating. It is also described as a seductive spirit whose main aim is to silence and intimidate the people of God (as Queen Jezebel tried to silence and intimidate the prophet Elijah). Torrens went on to warn about the "Ahab Spirit", which he suggests refers to the "Christian who abdicates their responsibilities" (since King Ahab was obedient to his wife Jezebel who controlled his decisions and emotions).
Torrens explained that many Christian men had the "spirit of Ahab" caused by this spirit; they become bound and subsequently abdicate their responsibilities.
The preacher linked this abdication of responsibility to the present behaviour of many fathers by graphically stating, "if you're man enough to push seed into that woman, you must be man enough to take care of the children". Torrens implored the fathers in the congregation to take responsibility for their children and not to desert them.
This sermon style and the use of biblical texts is common charismatic practise.
Biblical events and individuals are spiritualised in order to convey a contemporary relevance. This style of spiritual allegorising most often exerts a great influence on the listeners. In the case of the sermon above, many people in the congregation displayed signs of having heard something that was important and life-changing as shouts of "amen" and "preach it" reverberated across the congregation.
The next aspect of the charismatic worldview described by Wessels (1997:365) is its apocalyptic nature. The apocalyptic worldview, according to Wessels, is the conviction that the present world is bound for destruction and that Christ's return is imminent, owing to world events, including widespread reports of natural occurrences such as earthquakes, flooding, droughts and tsunamis; that have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the world, political instability, wars and insurgencies claim their own harrowing death toll, while HIV, tuberculosis and other viruses and diseases each take many more lives. It is in this context that the Pentecostals/Charismatics are returning to unprecedented discussions of the end times.
Well known charismatic figures, for example, Oral Roberts, Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, all assert the imminent return of Christ. At the DCC, in a sermon (preached on the 8th August 2005) the preacher outlined the prophecies that he believed to have already been fulfilled before the return of Christ. He urged the congregation to play their role to usher in the coming of Christ, by being sincere, dedicated Christians and evangelising all those who are not "believers".
Finally, Wessels (1997:365-366) describes the charismatic worldview as being pessimistic, because he believes that the charismatic view of the world is negative, and that Charismatics reject the present world for that, which is to come. In the case of the DCC, his description of the charismatic worldview would be both true and false. On one hand, the DCC does possess a pessimistic view of the world, because of its reference to heaven and the world to come as being a place of good health, no tiredness, and the end of hardships and suffering. On the other hand, the DCC would appear to fit Balcomb's (2001:7) description of the independent churches which is the "move away from the pessimistic world denying premillenialism that characterizes classical Pentecostalism to a more positive form of world-affirming post millennialism..."