Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead

Ghost hunting has become popular on TV in recent years. Just about all of us are
curious about those things that are unknown, mysterious, and frightening and we
think maybe even a little dangerous. Some people believe in ghosts and some do
not. The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost when they saw Jesus walking
on the water - Matt. 14:26, Mark 6:49 – but that may have been simply because
they felt there was no other way of accounting for what their eyes were seeing.

Be that as it may and no matter how great the bravado there are many places we
would prefer to not spend the night alone no matter who we are. Most of us have
no interest in spending the night in a morgue, in an abandoned asylum, in a dark
country cemetery away from civilization. There are just places we would rather not
be given a choice. No, there is nothing to fear and I am not implying there is but I
am saying I think it is in most people’s nature to feel ill at ease in certain situations
despite themselves.

It is little wonder that some of these shows on TV have become quite popular. They
have quite a bit in common with horror movies that have been popular in the movie
industry for years. We kind of like to be scared provided we are safe while doing so.

My subject for this article deals with whether or not these types of shows are
suitable for viewing. Not everything on TV is fit to watch or merely simple innocent
entertainment. With Pay Per View one can have access to even XXX rated videos
which I am sure all Christians would agree is sinful to view. Even without Pay Per
View many of the movie channels are guilty of much the same kind of
programming.

Then there are some of the cartoon animation type programs where all kinds of
vulgarity of speech, obscenities, and cursing run rampant. A parent that would
allow his child to be exposed to this sort of thing can expect to reap what he has
sown in due time.

Even comedy shows are often a problem today. Stand up comedians tell off color
jokes, use language that is coarse and crude even to cursing and the situation or
sitcom comedies are often as bad or worse. Casual sex, better known in Bible terms
as fornication, is played up as though it is something every normal person that is
unmarried ought to engage in as just a normal part of life. Seinfeld is a good
example of that kind of show.

Well, how about ghost hunting shows? Are they just clean innocent TV
entertainment? I am fairly certain most of us would at first, without thinking it
through, say yes – just like watching a horror show or something like that we would
say. I thought that way myself when the shows first came on. In fact, I never gave
it a thought at first but as time went by and I did begin to think about it I have
changed my mind for the simple reason that I did begin to consider some of the
things they were doing on the shows in light of the scriptures.

In just about everyone of these shows it is not just a matter of walking through a
building and seeing what happens but it always, sooner or later, comes down to an
attempt to make contact with the dead and that is where the problem comes in.
Why? Because of what God has said.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter
pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a
spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an
abomination to the Lord.” (Deut. 18:10-12 NKJV)

The phrase “calls up the dead” is in the old King James Version the word
“necromancer” which means, according to Albert Barnes the well known
commentator, “one who interrogates the dead.” In fact, he says that is the literal
rendering of the Hebrew if I understand him correctly and I am satisfied I do. This is
exactly what is done when people try and talk to the dead on these shows asking
the dead questions and hoping for an answer while the viewer sets on the edge of
his chair anxiously waiting to see if they receive a response.

Mediums are also quite common on these shows. The word translated “medium” in
verse 11 in modern translations is in the old King James Version “a consulter with
familiar spirits.” God has said, “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do
not seek after them, to be defiled by them.” (Lev. 19:31 NKJV) The Bible is very
clear that it is a sin to try and contact the dead. As you well know people will go to
mediums today, pay them money, in hopes of making contact with departed loved
ones. This is sinful. A person should never in their grief try and consult anyone on
the other side in the spirit world other than God himself and that through prayer.
“Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the
living?” (Isa. 8:19 NKJV) Part of Manasseh’s sin was that he consulted mediums (2
Chron. 33:6 NKJV).

We might say well that is the people on the show that are doing these things, we
are only watching. Yes, watching and enjoying them while they are committing this
sin and with that being the case what is the difference between that and watching a
triple X rated video? Are we to take pleasure in others sinning? We are to “seek
good and not evil…hate evil, love good.” (Amos 5:14-15 NKJV) “You who love the
Lord, hate evil!” (Psalms 97:10 NKJV) It kind of becomes a matter of the heart does
it not?

I close this by saying I am not the TV police. There are probably not a lot of shows
on TV that are not objectionable one way or another. I even heard a ballplayer
curse taking God’s name in vain on the basketball court as the two teams I was
watching played this past evening. I do not always know where to draw the line (do
you?). But, the bottom line is we need to think about what we watch and listen to
on TV, we need to give it more thought than we do. If you object to what I have
said you are free to do so. I think we will all agree, however, that we all need to be
a little more discerning than we probably are.

(Unfortunately, the days of good clean family entertainment on TV with shows like
The Honeymooners, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, Family Matters, The Beverly
Hillbillies, and a host of others - good clean entertainment – are now pretty much a
matter of history except for reruns.)