Most Christians Misunderstand Spiritual Warfare
Tarot, “spiritual but not religious,” self-medication, therapy culture. Why are people chasing spiritual answers everywhere except the Church? We dig into the hunger underneath it all.
Spiritual warfare gets weird fast if we only talk about the most extreme cases. We wanted to bring it back to real life: the battle you feel in temptation, shame, anxiety, isolation, and that quiet voice that says, “You are on your own.” From our new studio setup, we (Jeremy Jeremiah, Michael, James St. Simon, and Mario Andrew on keys) dig into what spiritual warfare meant to us as Protestants and how that understanding changed after becoming Orthodox Christians.
• Protestant instincts toward “just pray and read” when suffering persists
• Orthodoxy framing spiritual warfare through theosis and holiness
• Fasting as training that pushes us into the arena
• Demonic influence showing up in ordinary temptations and discouragement
• Psychology and therapy having a place without replacing spiritual diagnosis
• Confession, spiritual fatherhood, Eucharist, almsgiving as practical remedies
• Isolation as a tactic that makes addiction and shame worse
• Secular culture offering self-medication and “you can do it alone” narratives
• Occult and “spiritual but not religious” as substitutes for Christian spirituality
• Love as action and the Church as the place we experience Christ’s care
We keep coming back to the Orthodox framework of theosis, union with Christ, where the goal is not just “surviving attacks” but moving toward holiness with the support of the Church. We talk about why fasting can feel like stepping into an arena, how confession and a spiritual father break the trap of isolation, and why the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, aren’t symbolism but medicine for the soul and body. We also wrestle with the everyday nature of the fight: habits, intrusive thoughts, passions, and the moments where it gets hardest exactly when you try to be faithful.
Ever notice fasting gets hardest when you try to be faithful? We talk theosis, confession, Eucharist, and why you are not meant to “white-knuckle” your way through spiritual warfare.
We also look outward at modern replacements for spiritual care: therapy culture, self-medication, pharmacies on every corner, and the promise that you can fix yourself alone. Then we connect that to the rise of tarot and “spiritual but not religious,” including the backlash when a tarot creator turns to Christ. People are hungry for the spiritual, and we believe the Church actually has what many are searching for, but it comes with a cost: love expressed in action.
Spiritual warfare is not just Hollywood exorcisms. What if the real battle is isolation, temptation, and despair, and the Church gives actual tools to fight?
Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review if it helps you, then tell us: where do you see the real front lines of spiritual warfare today?
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