When Jesus Isn’t Enough, We All Reach for a Witch Doctor

Bottom line upfront: We’re quick to shake our heads at syncretism — mixing different religions.  This happens a lot, especially in Africa, where many blend belief in Jesus with traditional witch doctors. But this isn’t just an Africa problem. When faith in Jesus starts to feel thin, most of us reach for a “witch doctor” too. We just give ours a nicer title and a corner office.

I’ve spent more hours than I want to admit lately buried in research on the state of Christianity in Kenya. And what a study. Our own national survey of more than 1,500 Kenyan adults found 86% call themselves Christian making them one of the most outwardly faithful nations on earth. They have churches on every corner and worship that would put most of our Sunday mornings to shame, with high levels of Bible reading to match: a remarkable share of Kenyan believers are in the Word four or more days a week, roughly double the rate we see here in the States.

So I went in expecting a story about strength. Then the numbers turned.

More than half of Kenyan believers (51%)  said they practice Christianity and African traditional religion at the same time. Not instead of Jesus. Alongside Him. So, when life gets hard like with a sick child, or a failing business, a startling number still go consult a witch doctor, just in case. When you look at young adults, those who’ll shape that nation’s church for the next fifty years, the number climbs to two-thirds.

At first, I almost laughed. My mind went straight to that goofy old “Witch Doctor” song sung  by the Chipmunks.  I mean, who doesn't remember that song?

My friend the witch doctor 

He told me what to say,

My friend the witch doctor

He told me what to do

Ooh eee, ooh ah-ah,

Ting tang Walla-walla, bing bang

It felt so cartoonish. Distant. A problem way over there. But I found the reality is far less silly than an old Chipmunks song. Because I turned the question back on myself: When faith in Jesus feels thin for me, what do I reach for?

We don’t have witch doctors in the American church per se. We have far more respectable places to turn to for advice. We have financial planners, retirement accounts, medical specialists, strategic relationships and more. Most of us have a plan for the future that makes us feel safe.

Now hear me out: I’m not against any of those things. But I am against what I sometimes do with them. Last year, when some unexpected major financial pressure hit our Back to the Bible family and it looked like for sure we were going to run out of money, my first move wasn’t prayer. It was pulling up the accounts, running the numbers, and quietly calculating how I could fix it myself. Only later did I realize I had run straight to my “witch doctor” before I’d really run to the Father in prayer.  (In fact, only after I gave it all to Jesus and left it totally with Him did a miracle start to happen).

Your pressure, the thing that drives you to your “witch doctor,” might not be money. It might be the relationship you can’t release, he reputation you protect, or the hustle you trust more than prayer. Whatever it is, we’ve all got something that can drive us to seek out our own “witch doctor” before we turn to Jesus.

The Kenyan believer and the American believer are standing on the same ground. Both of us have quietly decided, somewhere deep down, that Jesus is wonderful, but maybe not quite sufficient. Our study even reaffirms this: among the Kenyan believers who don’t just call themselves Christian, but say plainly that they’re “saved by grace alone,” nearly a third still admit they keep one eye on other spiritual forces, just in case.

We all lean on something when we’re scared. So, what are you leaning on? Proverbs 3:5 tells us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Jesus said it even plainer: “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24).  Not should not. Cannot. The heart doesn’t have room for a Savior and a backup.

So is there a better way? Yes, and it isn’t white-knuckling up more faith. It starts with naming your ”witch doctor” honestly, dragging it into the light. Ask yourself the hard question out loud: In my last real crisis, who did I actually trust? Then hand that problem back, one decision at a time, to the only One worthy of carrying your burdens.

I’d love to hear from you. What’s your “witch doctor”? Email me at arnie.cole@backtothebible.org - I read every one of your messages. I’m wrestling with my own answer right alongside you.

In it to Kingdom win it — Arnie

PS Be sure to join us this week on Spiritually Fit Today where a Flight Nurse joins me to discuss the secret to peace under pressure as well as how to spiritually handle trauma when it lands at our door.