Do What Jesus Did

Back in the early-to-mid 1980s I was an avid listener of Bob Larson’s “Talk Back” radio show. His format was designed for teenagers to call in and express their opinions on whatever the subject matter was for the day…and he mostly focused on the adverse effects of secular rock music, the occult and, more specifically, the influence of demons in our everyday lives. Being in my early twenties at the time, this radio show made an incredible impression on me. Nowhere could you hear this type of candid talk and it began my road of self-discovery, introspection, and really questioning why I believed what I believed regarding my faith. By the late 1980s he was actually performing exorcisms right on the air. An amazing eye-opener for me and the huge listening audience he had acquired.

Fast-forward thirty years and, yes, Bob Larson is still around and exorcising demons right and left through his Spiritual Freedom Church and his Center for Spiritual Freedom in Phoenix, AZ along with a vast amount of touring across the country. He’s adopted a catch-phrase “DWJD – Do What Jesus Did”, a variant of the popular WWJD “What Would Jesus Do” slogan.

So why am I writing about this? Well, something the other day triggered a memory of those radio days so I went on his website just to see what has been going on with him. Not to go into all the aspects of what I found, one prominent ad/banner stated: “Got demons? Take the Demon Test® to find out!”

Well, all hail to media hype and call me sucked in…I simply had to check it out and, perhaps, even take the test just out of sheer curiosity. After several screens of explanations and warm-up emotion teasers I finally got to the link for the test. Yup…$9.95 just to take the “simple” 21 question survey to determine if I have sufficient cause to move forward with an intervention meeting. Hmmmm??

I realize ministries are a business in one sense, and it’s pretty tough to keep an enterprise going solely on faith. That said, it is very disappointing for me to see the direction Bob Larson’s ministry has taken. Even early on in his “Talk Back” days he had a mastery of asking for financial support and clearly has perfected it over the years.

But back to paying for a “spiritual needs survey”…I certainly don’t read in scripture that Jesus asked for some coin up front before healing, or exorcising, or turning water into wine. The need was there and he provided the solution.

Although I understand the necessity for funding a ministry, it might behoove the ministers of today to do a bit of their own soul-searching and ask themselves “ITWJD - Is This What Jesus Did?”

Greg Morton
© July 1, 2013

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