On Demonic Activity and the Charlie Charlie Challenge

As you may have heard, there is a current buzz on the internet around a game in which participants evoke a demon in order to answer questions. The game is called the Charlie Charlie Challenge and it is spreading under the hashtag #charliecharliechallenge. To begin with, it should not come as news that such practices are against Christian discipleship. For a good summary of why that is the case, check out a great article over at the Agggie Catholic Blog http://www.aggiecatholicblog.org/2015/05/the-charlie-challenge-is-it-just-harmless-fun/.

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style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;">RALEIGH, NC - With that in mind, I think this makes for a good opportunity to discuss the larger issue of demonic activity and particularly how it relates to the Christian's quest to participate in the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Many claim that 'games' such as the Charlie Charlie Challenge represent harmless fun that has no lasting consequences. Implicit in such an argument is an empirical fact: most people who engage in the Charlie Charlie Challenge are not going to be instantaneously "possessed" by a demon.

To understand the limits of this position, we must first realize that many people have a very limited notion on what constitutes demonic activity. For many people, demonic influence is reduced to the spectacular, whereby people look to movies such as The Exorcist and fail to notice the daily working of evil in the world. The reality is that the human heart is engaged in a constant conflict between good and evil. Although the power of God is guaranteed to win the battle, the reality is that for the individual, our participation involves a long process of undoing the knots of original sin. For most people, this war between good and evil remains mostly unconscious, and thus for many people it seems like pure superstition to be concerned about the demonic.

The great spiritual masters of Christianity recognize that there are three sources for the content of our interior dialogue. They explain that some inspirations arise from a prompting of the Holy Spirit, some come from our created nature, and others are provocations of demons. The path of interior illumination involves us learning to sift through and recognize what thoughts, feelings, and desires have their origin in God and which do not. This wisdom of discernment would eventually be crystallized in the famous Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The point is that while most people will not be "possessed" in a manner akin to the dramatic presentations of Hollywood, there is a more subtle form of influence whereby the believer turns from the victory offered in Jesus Christ and instead turns in on him or herself. This pulling away from God is the fundamental movement of sin, the assertion of the self over and against the sovereignty of God. When we play with magic and the occult, we tell God that his love is not enough. We "play the harlot" as the Old Testament repeats time and time again, and so flirt with powers that go beyond our calling to be disciples.

In time, such a rebellion ensnares us in patterns of thinking, feeling, and desiring which run contrary to the design of God. Instead of listening to the work of the Holy Spirit, we become trapped in the lies and illusions of the Devil. Such a fate is far worse than the more dramatic example of full demonic possession because in many ways we fail to realize how far we are from our true potential in Christ. 

The good news is that Jesus Christ offers us his victory over the lies and illusions of the enemy. His voice welcomes us into a whole new horizon of faith, hope, and love where instead of seeking to control and manipulate our environment, we learn the art of complete surrender, the pathway of true spiritual freedom and boundless joy in Jesus Christ. Today, let us accept this invitation. 

Deacon Ian VanHeusen will be ordained a Catholic Priest for the Diocese of Raleigh on June 6, 2015. He is set to begin ministry at St. Bernadette's in Fuquay-Varina, NC. He blogs on prayer and meditation at www.contemplatio.us. 

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