One of the many hallmarks of the church of our generation is the adjudication of spiritual rectitude by the availability of the supernatural. By implication, men of God are considered authentic, true, and even great by the amount of purported miracles they have done and/or are doing.
Gotten from a combination of two words, “Super” and “Natural,” supernatural in context is anything, action, or exhibition that is beyond the scope of understanding through the lenses of nature or science. Worthy of note is the fact that the word “supernatural” is not an exclusive Christian lingua. Long before the existence of Jesus and Christianity, the supernatural had existed and had been effectively witnessed.
A lot of biblical texts admit the existence of supernatural manifestations that are not necessarily sourced from God, who, by the way, is the epicenter of everything in Christianity. As far back as Genesis chapter 12, the scripture records that Abraham was called to leave his father’s house and his kindred — what we would call a village in our contemporary diction — and the name of this village was Ur of the Chaldeans. It is important to note that, historically, Ur of the Chaldea was a place popular for the worship of the moon god Nanna and the Great Ziggurat. This means that this village had a religion supposedly characterized by the supernatural prior to God summoning Abram out from among them.
Subsequently, among others, the biblical story of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt through Moses by God in the Book of Exodus constantly depicts how, at various points, Moses and Aaron would perform the signs that God had instructed Moses to perform, and the Egyptian Pharaoh would summon his magicians to perform the very same things, indicating that it was only a matter of source, but the supernatural was not new to them. Truly, Egypt was one of the prominent centers for the exhibition of the supernatural in those days. After the story of Egypt and Israel, we arrive at several other stories like that of Babylon, where they literally had a department of spiritism in their governmental structure, which is evident in the Book of Daniel.
Contemporarily, research suggests that there are about 4,200 distinct religions, sects, and denominations in the world, with the vast majority of them involving some form of supernatural belief. This figure illustrates the massive diversity of human supernatural belief systems and sources of supernatural acts and experiences.
One will naturally wonder how men arrive at supernatural exploits outside God, but one tiny detail we all seem to overlook is the fact that Satan is against anything God. The motive of Satan from the beginning, as depicted in Isaiah chapter 14, was to set a parallel government that would run concurrently with that of God. Furthermore, the scripture in Revelation 12:12 indicates that Satan was cast out of Heaven unto the earth, having his full powers. This is a being that was able to control one-third of the angels in Heaven and wage war against God. He was cast out, but his power was not taken. The implication of this is that Satan became the second very potent source of the supernatural in a world governed by natural laws.
In essence, the supernatural stopped being — or perhaps never was — a litmus test to know a man of God or his rectitude because it can be sourced from anti-God forces. This was buttressed in the statement of Jesus in the New Testament Book of Matthew, where He said that many would come in His name and perform miracles, but that they were not from Him. Paul further said in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light and will deceive many. If we properly analyze this scripture, it would mean that even many of our so-called men of God do not even know that they are puppets of the devil because he might have appeared to them as an angel of light.
Until we move away from the point where we adjudge spiritual rectitude and authenticity through the lens of supernatural acts, we will never get it right in Christianity. We will keep praising and honoring warlocks and magicians in the name of God. We must arrive at the place where we are able to discern the source of a thing independent of its supernatural nature. Selfish and wicked men are progressing on our exalted altars and are being defended by sincere members of the pew — who, by the way, are their victims — because they have supernatural acts to show. Little wonder the statement, “You can’t argue with proof,” has become popular in our time.
Albeit, scriptural truth indicates that one could argue with anything, including proof. This is why the Bible admonishes in the Book of 1 John 4:1–3 that we should test all spirits. It means that the test a believer is expected to carry out on things is not the test of the availability of the supernatural, but a test of the spirit behind that supernatural. Even Satan can raise men from wheelchairs, heal the sick, and even raise the dead, but the difference will always be in who takes the glory, what motivates the act, and what was intended to be achieved.
You are not a rebel because you are asking questions about the soundness of the doctrine and character of the man on the pulpit. The most potent test of the spirit powering a man is his character and disposition. You cannot be of God and not reflect the character of God, which is clearly stated in Galatians 5:22–23. We cannot look at you and call you a man of God if, by all standards, the fruits surrounding your life are those of the flesh.
While it is beautiful to follow a man with the evidence of the supernatural, it is even more important to follow a man grounded in the timeless doctrines of God’s Word and whose life can be a beam of light in a world governed by darkness. We must arrive at that place where we can successfully separate magic from miracle for the preservation of the truth that the early apostles handed down to us.
I will end with the admonition of Apostle Paul to the Galatian church in Galatians 1:8–9:
“But even if we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
Let him that has an ear hear.