Leave it to Fundagelicals to try to take away any pleasure in this world and label it a “call to holiness.” Back in my private Christian school days, being trained up by Fundagelicals, we had a saying, “if it’s fun, it’s against the rules.” This morning I stumbled across a website that has just gone too far. It linked coffee with demonic oppression.
The website is Tears of Joy Ministries. On a webpage devoted to drugs and demons, the page proclaims:
“I say it again, child of GOD, when we take drugs, demons have permission from GOD and the bible to enter you & attack you!”
Followed by:
“This is very VERY SERIOUS!”
I certainly don’t advocate the taking of illicit drugs. I have witnessed first hand the devastation that follows the use of drugs like heroin and meth. However, the website frames it as all drugs. It also suggests that God and the Bible give permission for demons to enter. I searched through the webpage, and while there are numerous verses quoted, not one verse supports this assertion.
This kind of teaching is dangerous. I often encounter it in Pentecostal circles. I don’t deny a spiritual realm, but I don’t think that all of the unknowingly “opening doors” to the demonic can be biblically supported. The website appeals to Derick Prince, a Pentecostal minister now deceased, who popularized deliverance ministries. However, there is still no logical argument or Biblical support offered for the claims.
The idea that Christians can unknowingly open the door to demonic activity in their life leads to a kind of paranoia and legalism in people. When you go to websites, like Charisma, and read the articles, there is an underlying paranoia about what movies to watch, accidentally bringing cursed articles into your home, and any activity that might bring a person pleasure. People who buy into the “opening doors to the demonic” ideas live in fear. If something goes wrong, like losing a job or getting sick, they immediately examine themselves and their daily activities to find out where they let the demon of failure or sickness into their lives.
The people I have encountered that believe in unknowingly opening doors to demonic influence are pious joyless people. They don’t watch television except for certain Christian channels, they don’t listen to music except for approved Christian songs, they don’t play games, and they are quick to warn others who do these things. Their hypervigilance over everyday activities takes away their ability to just relax and enjoy.
Here’s where the article goes too far in my opinion, it states, “Now why is caffeine considered a drug by GOD and myself? Caffeine is a drug that we swallow! Caffeine is an upper……”
Wait, I get caffeine is a drug, I get it is an upper, but we aren’t drinking heroine. Caffeine is considered a drug because it stimulates the central nervous system. There are even withdrawal symptoms when a person stops drinking coffee. What I have a hard time believing is that coffee somehow opens a gateway to hell and allows a demon to come and oppress you.
The website continues with, “Drinking caffeine – Wires us; it makes us anxious; it makes us irritable; it makes us short-tempered, it changes the way we drive our car! Caffeine causes us to be jittery, and it is hard to concentrate when we are high on caffeine! Drinking caffeine can also bring a demon of confusion to us!
Drinking the drug called – Caffeine will most times more than not, allow a demon behind caffeine to enter you!”
That quote is followed by this picture.
I’m wondering if that is a picture of the demon who enters you.
When I read this, I wondered how much caffeine is this person drinking? My two cups of coffee in the morning doesn’t make me anxious; it makes me human. The jitters and the anxiety described by the author are caused by the way too much caffeine. The effects of too much coffee can be explained biologically, and no demons are necessary.
The author explains his experience of being addicted to energy drinks. He says, “One demon was compelling me to buy energy drinks, while a second demon was enslaving me to them!!! Those two form an – Addiction! One compels us, and the other demon enslaves us. The two of them together form an addiction!” So, it wasn’t a physiological or psychological dependence; it was two demons!
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Blaming demons for bad choices and the consequences that follow from those choices prevents us from healthy self-examination and learning from experience. Rather than learning a lesson in moderation, the author learned a lesson in legalism.
Addictions are serious. The consequences of addiction are serious. However, blaming demons is counterproductive. Counseling and medical intervention are needed not some hokey home exorcism.
If you stub your toe, don’t start looking for a demon. You didn’t invite the demon of toe stubs in your life buy buying those cursed shoes from China off Amazon. You just stubbed your toe. If you drink coffee, you won’t become demon-oppressed; you will just wake up in the morning. If you can’t get through the day without thirty cups of coffee, don’t look for demons, look for an addiction specialist.
Let’s put the fear, hypervigilance, and unsupported theology behind us and enjoy a nice cup of joe. Heck, there’s even a cartoon called “Coffee with Jesus.” How bad can this stuff be?
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What cute fluffy demons. I want one.