A “Heavenly” Conversation?

Did you know there is a Ouija, or spirit, board for Christians? Yep, that’s right. It was brought to my attention a few days ago. This board is called the “Holy Spirit Board” and it promises to connect you straight to Heaven so you can chat with Jesus. It also promises it will not contact demons or anything else that’s evil. Suuuure.

When I first heard about it, I wanted to cry. Then I read the reviews. It saddened me even more. Several of the reviewers claimed to have spoken directly with Jesus when using this board, and that He had answered their prayers.

Some of you may be asking what’s wrong with the board, which is a good question. To begin with, let’s look at the name and description of the board. Again, it’s called the Holy Spirit Board and in the description it says it’s a “Christian Religious Talking Board for Séance.” Ugh. Okay, let’s break this down. The makers of the board promise to connect you to Jesus. Like the Ouija Board, this board has letters and a planchette that “Jesus” supposedly moves across the board to spell out his message to you (the planchette is cross-shaped, by the way). Then, at the bottom of the board, there’s a “Goodbye Jesus” space, where I guess you can move the planchette there to end your conversation with Jesus. After all, you wouldn’t want to be rude.

Since the purpose of the board is to connect with Jesus, it breaks the Third Commandment: “You shall not take the name of your Lord God in vain.” Jesus is not speaking to you through the board. Whoever is moving the planchette (either the user or something nefarious) is claiming to be Jesus and is putting words in the mouth of Christ that He never spoke. That’s taking His name in vain.

This is also idolatry. You are using occult materials to try to talk with Jesus. These materials put into practice things He has called an abomination, by the way. This is not how we connect with Him.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 gives a list of practices the LORD considers abominable in His sight. Some of those practices include divination (“seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means” Oxford English Dictionary), fortune-telling, reading signs and omens, sorcery, talking to the dead, and so on. The original intent of the Ouija board was to contact the dead. Though one could argue you’re not trying to connect with the dead, you’re connecting with Jesus, it’s still divination because you are going outside the parameters the LORD set for us. Also, you’re not connecting with Jesus.

Now, some of you may be thinking that Jesus could reclaim this occult practice and redeem it. He won’t. He doesn’t need to reclaim this practice and redeem it. Also, why would He want to reclaim it if He calls it an abomination?

Look at the following from 1 Corinthians 10:14-22:

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 1 Corinthians 10:14–22.

Though the spirit board is not food sacrificed to idols, it is something that has its origins in the occult – something that opens the door to the demonic. Paul told his readers that he didn’t want them to be participants with demons. His warning still applies to us today.

Finally, why would Jesus need to redeem the board if He’s already provided a way to communicate with Him?

When we accept Jesus Christ as our LORD and Savior, we are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning the Spirit of God lives within us. Why do we need a board to contact the Holy Spirit when He lives in us? Also, because of Jesus, we now have a restored relationship with God our Father, and we can take our requests to Him directly. In those times when we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf with “groanings too deep for words,” (Romans 8:26). Also, Jesus is our High Priest, our Mediator in Heaven (see 1 Timothy 2:5) who intercedes on our behalf with God. So, to summarize, we can pray directly to our Heavenly Father and present our requests to Him. We also have the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ interceding for us. Again I ask, why would Jesus need to redeem a spirit board if we already have a perfect, God-given way to communicate with the LORD?   

I realize this is the second time I’ve written about something that claims to connect you to Jesus (click here for my previous post). There’s a reason for that. My heart is for you to have a true and genuine relationship with the real Jesus Christ – the Christ of the Bible. When I see things like this, it angers me because it’s not just a distraction, but an outright lie. Amazingly, in a bad way, elements of the occult and New Age are making their way into churches as believers embrace these movements without giving them much thought.

Many people fall for this because they don’t know the Word of God. Others are quick to abandon His Word to embrace something made by man and steeped in the occult hoping to reach some kind of heavenly experience. Paul warned Timothy about this in his letter to him, and again, it still applies today,

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2 Timothy 4:3–4.

This is yet another reason why I’m always encouraging you to study His Word. When you know His Word, it will help you know right from wrong, and the truth from a lie. You will know what pleases the LORD and what displeases Him. It will be harder for you to fall for these kinds of things when you know His Word and walk closely with Him.

_{Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash}