Christian Superstitions
Since my early childhood days, I've discovered lots of superstitions that people use to guide their behaviour. Here are a few examples:
- You should exit a building through the same door by which you entered or you will have bad luck.
- You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck.
- It's bad luck to pick up a coin if it's tails side up. Good luck comes if it's heads up.
- If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
- Bad luck will follow the spilling of salt unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder into the face of the devil waiting there.
- It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head.
But these are not the only things that constitute superstition. Religious people, even those who have a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who claim to have no use for superstition as such, can unconsciously pick up beliefs that are nothing more or less than exactly that. They believe that certain rites or rituals must be done in a certain way at certain times or something bad will happen to them.
In his column called "Magic in Jesus' Name?" in "Faith Today," (November/December 2002 Issue) John Stackhouse Jr. referred to the plethora of religious e-mails which bear a promised blessing or a threat. He notes that, though the Bible condemns such superstition, at least some Christians don't seem to have a big problem with this kind of thing. They happily pass along e-mail messages that suggest that if you forward them to ten friends, you will get a "very pleasant surprise... Very good things will happen to everyone that touches this story."
Stackhouse notes that superstition is "more widespread and more important than many of us realize." He cites studies that show that about 15% of regular church goers believe in things like astrology and good luck charms. Superstition and authentic Christian faith stand in opposition to each other. Superstition attempts to control the universe in a mechanical way. The thought is if I do this, then that will happen. If I avoid that, then this will happen. True faith is rooted in our relationship with God as our Father, not as an impersonal force which can be manipulated.
Part of what raises a flag here for me is the self-centeredness which superstition betrays. All of the superstitions which I’ve encountered have to do with me, my loved ones, and the good or bad fortunes which may befall us. Superstition is supremely selfish.
While our faith in Jesus saves us, it doesn’t stop there. It starts there. We are saved to something and that something is relationship - other-centeredness. We are saved to have an intimate relationship with God who made us for Himself. We are saved to engage in a positive way with our Christian brothers and sisters. We are to love them, serve them, care for them, build them up, admonish them, encourage them and so on. We are also saved to engage the world which needs to hear the same good news we heard.
If our “faith” centres too much on ourselves, we can be sure that something is way out of balance. Remember Paul’s statement about faith in Ephesians 2: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are saved to do things which God prepared for us to do even before we were born.
Check the way you behave and what motivates you. Is there an area of selfishness, even of superstition? Somewhere along the track, you’ve gotten off the rails. Reflect on the reason why God saved you, trust in Him to control the circumstances of your life (not in what you can do to attempt to manipulate outcomes) and get on with what God has set before you to do.
Ron Hughes
© January 2008
