1 Corinthians 5:6-13 “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (7) Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. … (11) But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. (12) For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? (13) But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "Put away from yourselves the evil person.”
The Holy Spirit teaches us in the passage quoted above that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. He is specifically talking about sin in believers being able to impact the lives of fellow believers. This can happen because we are all from the same lump, as we are all part of the body of Christ. Unbelievers are not part of our lump, so to speak, and therefore their sin cannot affect us. Notice that the Holy Spirit counsels us to cut ties with these believers and not even share a meal with them. He says this because sin can be likened to a virus, and that virus can spread in the body unless it is quarantined. If we are not to share meals with believers who are practicing sin, then we certainly should not lay hands on them to bless them either. Clearly, we are to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's admonition in scripture and not lay hands hastily on anyone.
Nevertheless, some churches and ministries encourage people in the congregation to lay hands on one another for the express purpose of imparting some form of anointing to each other. Other churches and ministries have taken the practice of laying on of hands to an unscriptural extreme by having so-called "tunnels" formed by the congregation and then instructing people to walk through these tunnels while everyone lays hands on the individual as they pass through, so they can receive multiple anointings. It is practices like these, which are completely against the word of God, that expose the saints to things our Lord does not want His sheep exposed to. The shepherds of those churches and ministries will have to give an account to the Chief Shepherd.
It is normally in these churches and ministries that demonic manifestations take place through the laying on of hands because they practice this doctrine contrary to biblical principles. The normative practice in scripture is for elders to lay hands on lay members, while it is the exception for lay members to lay hands on fellow lay members. There is a reason for this: elders are meant to lead exemplary lifestyles (1 Timothy 3:1-7), thus making it far less likely for lay members to become contaminated with any sin through the laying on of hands. And as already mentioned, elders are counselled by the Holy Spirit to deal with any unrepentant sin in individuals before laying hands on them.
Numbers 22:12-22 “And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." … (21) So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. (22) Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.”
Another reason why it is unscriptural to arbitrarily lay hands on people is that we may be opposing God's will. In the above example, the exact scenario of trying to impart blessing contrary to God's will took place, only in reverse. The context of this passage is that the prophet Balaam was trying to curse the children of Israel, even after the Lord had told him not to do so, because the Lord had blessed them. Balaam, however, stubbornly went ahead in trying to curse Israel because of his love of money, for the people who hired him had offered him great reward if he would curse Israel. In continuing to try to curse those whom God had blessed, Balaam found himself in direct opposition to the Lord, and it almost cost him his life. We all know the account of how Balaam's donkey saved him from the angel's sword and certain death. Again, this account was written for our instruction: it is not wise for us to go against God by trying to curse those whom He has blessed. Similarly, it is not wise for us to go against God by trying to bless those whom He has judged.
2 John 1:9-11 “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. (10) If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; (11) for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle John, warns believers not to invite certain people into their homes or even greet them. In context, the people the Holy Spirit is referring to are those who are known to preach false doctrine. The Lord tells us that if we go ahead and invite these people into our homes or even greet them, we become partakers in their evil deeds. To share in their deeds implies that we will incur the same judgment that our Lord has pronounced on these individuals. Therefore, how much more will the believer be judged who lays hands on such people to try to bless them? We should not be naive but rather be aware of the people we lay hands on. There are certain churches and ministries, however, that make a practice of laying hands indiscriminately on anyone and everyone in their meetings, and nearly all who have hands laid on them display some form of supernatural manifestation. Unfortunately, because this practice is contrary to scripture, the impartation that they receive in these meetings is normally not from the Lord.
Michael E.B. Maher
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