Today, there are endless options for sources of spiritual assistance. It has almost become a law of social life that we should not criticise the methods people use for spiritual guidance.

In many countries, people believe that going to spirit mediums, fortune tellers, and participating in seances are equally valid as Christian practices such as going to a prayer meeting. But today's reading harshly prohibits the Lord's people from being involved in occultic activities and ″[listening] to the words″ of occult practitioners (Deuteronomy 13:3).

Sometimes out of ″curiosity″, Christians listen to what people have to say, such as asking them to read their fortunes from their palm. Or when they face a major misfortune (like a serious disease), or when no solution to a problem has emerged after earnest prayer, they may succumb to the invitation of their non-Christian relatives to visit an occult practitioner for help. As occultic forces may have supernatural power, their predictions could come to pass, as Deuteronomy 13:1-2 implies. But Scripture emphatically prohibits us from having anything to do with the occultic (see Galatians 5:20-21; Revelation 21:8). So, like the Bible does, we must regularly warn believers of this danger. Deuteronomy 13:3 says that whether or not one wilts under the lure of occult pressure serves as a ″testing″ of that person's love for God.

In a theocracy like Israel, where the national constitution was based on the Scriptures, the authorities had the jurisdiction to pronounce the death sentence for occult practices and for leading people to another god (vv. 5, 15). This cannot be applied in our secular multireligious societies. But the seriousness of the sentence shows that, within the church, such behaviour must be confronted with utmost severity.

Leaders do not often enforce church discipline when family members or a ″closest friend″ does something seriously wrong. Moses says that tolerating those close to us who lure others to the occult is to be complicit in the act of leading them ″away from the Lord″ (vv. 6, 10). There should be no compromise in meting out appropriate discipline. Anything that acts as a deterrent to one's relationship with God must be attacked like a dangerous poison, even if the source is someone close to us.

What if we do such disciplining in our churches? Some leaders think that such harsh responses to sin would empty their churches. But it is a biblical truth that once the disciplining has done its work, God ″will increase your numbers″ (v. 17). This happened after Ananias and Sapphira died following their lie about their donation to the church: ″more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number″ (Acts 5:14).

Our passage is a stern challenge to us: to uncompromisingly uphold God's truth in our tolerant age.