Following Christ: The Great Divide in African Spirituality

This article is written from a Christian faith perspective as part of Khwalo Production’s conversation about faith and culture. It is not an attack on any person or family; many traditional healers mean well, and many families hold both church and custom. Our aim is to help readers think, pray and choose with understanding.

For many Xhosa families, Sunday belongs to the church and Saturday belongs to the ancestors. Yet for a believer who reads Scripture closely, one question cannot be avoided: can a person follow Christ and also seek guidance from the spirits of the dead? This is the great divide in African spirituality.

What is a familiar spirit?

The Bible speaks of “familiar spirits” (Hebrew ob and yiddeoni): spirits that attach themselves to a person or family, speak through a medium, and seem to know family secrets. Leviticus 19:31 says: “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them.” Many Christians believe that a spirit who appears in dreams claiming to be a grandfather, and who demands rituals, may be exactly this: a spirit familiar with the family, but not the grandfather.

Talking to the dead in Scripture

Deuteronomy 18:10–12 lists practices God calls detestable: divination, sorcery, interpreting omens, witchcraft, casting spells, being a medium and consulting the dead. The clearest story is King Saul and the medium of Endor (1 Samuel 28). Saul, cut off from God, asked a woman to call up the prophet Samuel. The result was judgment, not comfort, and 1 Chronicles 10:13 says Saul died partly because he “asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit.” Isaiah 8:19 asks: “Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?”

Where the divide falls

• Mediator: Traditional belief places the ancestors between the family and uQamata. The New Testament says “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
• Sacrifice: Umsebenzi offers blood to please the ancestors. Hebrews 10 teaches that Christ’s sacrifice was offered once for all.
• Fear: Many rituals are done from fear of misfortune. Scripture says “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Honouring is not consulting

The Bible does not ask us to forget our forebears. We can tell their stories, keep their names, visit their graves, recite our isiduko and live by their good values. The line is crossed when we pray to them, offer to them, or seek direction from them. Remembering is love; consulting is a spiritual act that belongs to God alone.

Counting the cost

Choosing Christ can bring tension. Some relatives fear that a believer who refuses a ritual brings bad luck. Jesus said He came to bring a sword that divides even households (Matthew 10:34–36). Yet many believers attend family ceremonies with respect, help cook, sit with the elders, and quietly decline the parts that conflict with their faith. Gentleness keeps the door open.

Keeping culture, changing allegiance

Following Christ does not mean becoming less Xhosa. Ntsikana sang to God in isiXhosa two hundred years ago. Our language, clan names, beadwork, respect for elders and ubuntu can all be carried into a life of faith. What changes is not our identity but our allegiance: the spirits are tested, and Christ is placed at the centre.

Khwalo! Mzangwa! Ncuthu! Mlanjana! Culture is a gift worth keeping. Our prayer is that we keep what is beautiful – ubuntu, respect, language and family – and test every spirit by the Word (1 John 4:1).