Acts 8:18-24 is one of today’s liturgical readings. In this passage, Simon offers to pay the apostles money if they will show him how to get the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit for himself.
As Dr. Craig Keener notes, “Sorcerers could buy magical formulas; no one could buy the Spirit” (IVP Bible Background Commentary).
It seems to me that an attitude of ‘magical thinking’ is still a concern today.
At first glance, they seem particularly prevalent in prosperity and charismatic circles.
For instance, ‘seed faith’ teachings, where a prosperity preacher promises that if you make a ‘seed gift’, he (or she) has an anointing with God that will multiply what you get in a return.
In some circles, there are spiritual warfare packages. One website offers holy oil, a shofar, and a prayer shawl that will help “protect your family form (sp) spiritual attacks.”
Other variants include prophetic consultations, spiritual impartation conferences, and some schools of ministry that make it sound like they are training spiritual Navy SEALS.
But while these claims strike me as outlandish, and in some cases, to be schemes run by con artists, I think that magical thinking is part of the default approach of the human heart.
We can believe that if we read enough books, we will unlock the secret knowledge contained within them, and be able to rightly interact with God. Of course, this is true, to a point!
Or we could think that if we have daily devotionals, then we are entitled to God’s blessings. We might hang up a cross in our car to protect us from accidents. We can try to find the ‘right’ sequence of spiritual disciplines that keep us on God’s good side.
At the heart of this is a transactional approach to God’s power. “If I give God this, then he’ll give me that.”
John Polhill comments, “…one can never manipulate the Spirit; he is always God’s “gift” (v. 20) and never subject to the human will” (New American Commentary).
As I reflect on these verses, I confess my need for the work of the Holy Spirit in my heart. May God stifle the desire to gain spiritual power that I might impress, serve, or take advantage of others. Instead, may I be a humble recipient of God’s work, that I might serve others.