QUESTION: Some people use traditional medicine for healing when they are sick, and
some go to a medicine man to put curses on people. Is it right for a Christian to go to
a medicine man for healing or is it wrong? Since becoming a Christian I have gone for
healing because our family needed help to live, but I prayed for the Lord to forgive
me if it is wrong.

ANSWER: Your question is one that, to answer it as thoroughly as possible, would take the whole
of this newspaper and more. There's a lot packaged in the question and, unfortunately, we are
offered only a limited amount of space to respond. I will try and do my best but need to do so with
very concise statements to help give the best response your great question deserves.
First, due to the spirituality of Native traditional ways, the medicine man must be seen as different
than a medical doctor in a hospital type situation. The doctors in the modern medical world
apply science as the foundation for their treatment of the sick and infirmed. The medicine man
applies the supernatural in their healing practices. The word that describes the spirituality of
Indigenous people is the word "Animism." Part of that word's definition includes the
following: Scholars have correctly called animism a medical system, whereby the followers
depend upon the spirit world in their battle with sickness and disease.

For the believer, the Scriptures must always be where we go to find answers to living for Christ in
the context of our Indigenous cultures and communities. It alone provides the guidelines for all
Christian faith and practice. So, what do the Scriptures have to say about delving into the old
supernatural ways for any part of our new life in Christ? The bottom line is, no, we should not go
back to anyone who practices the healing arts who depends upon the supernatural world for the
treatment of sicknesses and diseases.

The Bible tells us that the God of the Bible is the Creator of all things, including every spiritual
being found in heaven or on earth. Heaven was filled with angelic beings (it still is), but at a point
in time, Lucifer, the most beautiful of all angelic beings, rebelled against God, fell, and took one
third of the other angels with him in that rebellion. He is now known as Satan, himself (Is. 14:12,
Rev. 12:3–4).

The two thirds of the angelic realm still in heaven are referred to as holy angels while the one third
who were cast down to earth are called unclean spirits or demons (e.g. Mark 9:25). It is these fallen,
unclean spirits that every human culture's pursuit of the supernatural has access to. They are more
than happy to come along side shamans, medicine men and any seeker of the supernatural and
manifest their presence and power. So, we must be clear, when a medicine man conjures up
spiritual powers, they are not inviting the holy angelic realm to manifest their power. They deal
with the only spiritual beings they have access to, in their fallen human state. And that is -the
unclean spirits that inhabit the lands.

That's why before we come to Christ and seek the supernatural in our lost human cultures, demonic
powers are the only options available. But when we come to Christ, we now have access to not only
the holy angelic beings who serve the God of heaven and earth, but more importantly, we have the
resurrected Son of the Living God we can come to with not only our spiritual needs, but our physical
needs as well.

When you read the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ, which are found in the New Testament,
you learn that much of Christ's earthly life and ministry involved the healing of hurting bodies. He
also commissioned His Church to be the place where followers of Christ who are sick, infirmed,
and diseased are to go to for prayer and anointing even to this day (James 5:13-15).
But also, there are times when, in God's sovereign plan for some of His followers, He allows pain
and suffering to not only come, but to remain. It is there where God offers a deeper work of His
grace in our lives, enabling us to live what I've come to experience, His Divine Health instead of
His Divine Healing.

That's what Paul's letter to the Romans says about the effect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the grave. Romans 8:11 says, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His
Spirit who dwells in you (NKJV).

God allows the Christian to seek the science based medical help of the medical profession as well
in our healing journeys. God allowed a beloved physician, Dr. Luke, to not only be one of His
followers, but to author two books of the New Testament-Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He
surely wouldn't have had him in such a high, honored position to be a scribe of two biblical books
had he opposed his medical background and experience as unacceptable.

Which leads me to end my response by telling you I am responding to your question from my
wheelchair. I am a survivor of an "un-survivable" auto accident thirteen years ago. I've had almost
fifty surgical procedures since then. I'm alive today by God's divine healing and He continues to
sustain me through His divine health. Yes, I do rely on the medical community in my ongoing
physical challenges, but my trust is in Christ alone for my earthly existence as much as I trust Him
for my eternal life. That's the life Christ offers every Indigenous person seeking answers to life's
complicated questions. I trust and pray you'll seek Him and Him alone in your healing journey.

Compiled by
—Craig Stephen Smith, Chippewa, is licensed as a Christian and Missionary Alliance National
evangelist and serves as president of Tribal Rescue Ministries.
— Mario Swampy has served as Pastor for the Louis Bull All Nations Church in Maskwacis Alberta since 2014, and on Chief and Council for the Samson Cree Nation since 2011.
— Randy Jackson is Plains Cree From Goodfish Lake, Alberta, now residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife,
Evangeline. Randy is a renowned gospel musician, songwriter, recording artist, Bible teacher, and lawyer.
Written in INTERTRIBAL LIFE Magazine - September 26 2022. Republished with permission from InterTribal Life.

This article was written by: Craig Stephen Smith, Randy Jackson & Mario Swampy