Daily Devotional

If you haven’t heard the phrase before, “gospel magic” might strike you as strange. After all, Scripture has strong words against what it calls “sorcery” (Galatians 5:20, Deuteronomy 18:10-11). Whenever magicians or sorcerers appear in Scripture, they are typically in opposition to God and His people (Exodus 8:7, 1 Samuel 28, Acts 13:8-10). It is not my desire in this devotional to wade into debates about what movies, TV shows, or games containing magic are harmless fantasy and which are “witchcraft.” As Paul would say in Romans 14:5, “each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Where Scripture IS clear is that any real-life witchcraft, occult practices, communication with spirits, or other pursuit of supernatural power from a source other than God, is ultimately demonic. So what in the world could be considered “gospel magic?”

As a teen, I spent five years attending a boys’ summer camp in upstate New York called “The Boys JIM Club.” (JIM stands for “Jesus Is Mine.”)  The camp had typical activities like sports and swimming, plus the morning and evening devotions common at most Christian camps. But this camp had a unique focus on “platform material”—equipping boys to share God’s word on a stage. This ranged from memorizing 5-minute sermons and Bible chapters to more unusual forms of presentation:  dramatic monologue, pantomime, juggling routines, and even “gospel magic.”

So what’s gospel magic? It’s ordinary sleight-of-hand illusion tied to a Christian message. A mind-reading illusion becomes a lesson on God’s omniscience. To illustrate the Resurrection, an object representing Jesus disappears and reappears halfway across the stage. My signature trick involved taking three ropes of different lengths and “magically” making them the same length—an illustration of how we might think sins differ in their seriousness, but all sins are equal before God.

I loved gospel magic. I spent weeks learning different tricks and amassed a sizeable collection of materials. Gospel magic, in turn, opened doors for me to share the gospel: I presented at family gatherings, children’s birthday parties, and AWANA events. I even took my “show” overseas and presented at pastoral training conferences in China, Senegal, and Tanzania.

Sadly, it’s been years since I opened the Rubbermaid tub with all of my old gospel magic materials. (Maybe when I finish seminary.) But my brief time as a “gospel magician” taught me that even the strangest things can be tools in the service of Jesus. Too often, I think Christians jump to rejecting things instead of redeeming them: “all Disney movies are bad,” “all rock music is bad,” “all magic is bad.” But Paul quoted pagan poets in his speech in Athens (Acts 17:28). He was a master of matching his appeal to his audience, what he called becoming “all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:22). He explains the underlying principle in his letter to Timothy: “nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). I think the number of things that are “neutral,” that some people use for evil but Christians can use for good (like illusion magic!), greatly outnumber the things that are outright sinful. As Christians, we are called to bring everything in submission to the lordship of Christ. The world needs more Christian filmmakers, Christian singers, and yes, Christian magicians.

You may not be an illusionist, but you probably have other interests, talents, and hobbies. How can you use those to glorify God and advance the cause of the gospel? I think Campus does this well: our ladies’ craft days, pickleball nights, and GLOW outreach are great examples of “becoming all things to all people.” We have so many tools at our disposal to reach the world for Christ, even ones as strange as “gospel magic.”

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."