Perhaps that seems a silly question. Devil worship is abhorrent, despicable, loathesome, and it's impossible to understand why anyone would do it. Or is it? There can be a certain allure to witchcraft if you want power without responsibility. Devil worship is just going to the top. Satan desperately wanted Jesus to get involved.
When Jesus' 40 days were over in the wilderness, the devil suggested to him that he perform gratuitous miraculous acts, such as turning stones into bread, or amazing, spectacular feats; these could have been great ways of attracting people to himself. However, Jesus would have none of it. Satan, though, wasn't ready to give up and so suggested a bit of straightforward devil worship. It might seem that he was clearly onto a loser, but there was some logic behind it. After all, the kingdoms of the world had indeed been handed over to him by human rebellion against God.
Flashback to Adam and Eve who had been leading brilliant lives with God in the Garden of Eden, but there was something that they weren't allowed. Could they be made to want that above their desire to be with God? Satan eventually managed to persuade them that God didn't really mean what he said and it was OK to eat the one fruit in the Garden that was forbidden to them after all. They decided that they wanted to try out this fruit more than obeying the loving God who had always been good to them and constantly proved reliable. (Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 - 6)
This was a moment of triumph for the devil. Adam and Eve had finally done what he said, rather than being faithful to God. It wasn't just a momentary aberration though. As soon as they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve knew that everything had changed. They didn't have to wait for God to banish them from the Garden (Genesis 3:22-24): they already were very aware that they had fallen in some way and hid from God (Genesis 3:7,8). They might not have been able to articulate it like this at the time, but they had handed over authority in their lives to Satan. Adam and Eve didn't expicitly bow down to the devil and give him reverence, as satanists do, but they obeyed his will. When the rule of God has been rejected, we give the devil authority over our lives, cities and countries. This may be unwitting, but who else is going to take control of the power vacuum when God has been turned away?
Adam and Eve obeyed the devil by disobeying God and caused the human race to fall; Jesus insisted on obeying his Father and won us salvation.
Ever since the first human couple disobeyed God, the devil had effectively had enormous power on Earth because we largely chose to do things his way, rather than God's. So as his last gambit that day in the wilderness the devil said to Jesus that, if he worshipped him, then he would grant him control over the Kingdom of this World (Matthew's Gospel, chapter 4, verses 8 & 9). This was all very subtle. Why go through a life and death of hardship, rejection and suffering to win back the Kingdom of this World, when the devil was offering it freely in return for just bowing down and worshipping him? On the face of it, it was a logical offer. All Jesus had to do was admit that the devil had authority over the Kingdom, which was in fact true, and honour him in that.
Yet there were significant problems with this approach. Firstly, it was the wrong Kingdom. Jesus had come to usher in the Kingdom of God. The intention was to defeat the Kingdom of the World and bring in God's Kingdom instead. The Kingdom of the World was the Kingdom of Satan and if Jesus went along with that, all he would be able to build would be a kingdom based on satanic principles. Jesus would become a puppet ruler, rather than the co-ruler of his own Kingdom with the Father and Holy Spirit.
Perhaps more fundamentally, God was the one who was in control. Satan had been thrown out of Heaven and so came to Earth to mess things up here. However, God wasn't going to let that continue for ever: one way or another, the devil would have been thrown out of Earth as he had been out of Heaven. If Jesus had gone along with devil's suggestion, he would have split the Trinity and ended up on the losing side.
Maybe more importantly, Jesus knew that the way to deal with the devil was not to reason with him, but to tell him how it is: "It is written,'Worship and serve only the Lord your God'" (Matthew 4:10)
Power is often more available to us if we abdicate responsibility. Which do you want more?
Jesus didn't want power without responsibility and told the devil to leave him alone. Do we want power without responsibility though? It's an interesting question. There are many books and films about witchcraft and devil worship, and some have been major best sellers and box office triumphs. The Harry Potter series of books is a case in point. The whole concept of supernatural power that can be wielded without having to surrender our lives to God is seductive and many people are drawn in by it. As with Jesus' temptation, this can be very subtle for us too. What if God is not giving us something that we want? What if we actually know that God doesn't want us to have it - but we really want it badly? What if we find a way of getting it all the same? Who is convincing us that it's OK to by-pass or even oppose God's will? Who is the one who is going to make it possible if God is against it?
What is not in the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom of Light - is in the Kingdom of this World, the Kingdom of Darkness, under the devil's temporary authority. We don't have to bow down and worship him explicitly, but if we don't obey God's voice we are obeying the voice that is tempting us to disobey. And how do we feel when we succeed it getting something or doing something that God doesn't want next time we meet up with him? Isn't it a bit like Adam and Eve having to cover themselves up to feel safe?
Let's not give over that part of our lives to the devil; that's effectively what sin does. Rather, in the words of the writer to the Hebrews, "Let's throw off everything that holds us back and the sin that so easily ties us in knots, instead continuing to run the race ahead of us." (The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1) Joseph Prince once simply put it, "Step up higher!" Let's take the higher way, setting our thoughts on things that are pure, honest, true, just, lovely, and of good report (Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8), counting everything else as rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ and being found in him (Philippians 3:7-9). When we recognise that we've done something wrong and obeyed the wrong voice, then we need to repent straightaway, leave it behind and step back up higher.
Of course, most Christians would stay clear of all overt witchcraft, satanism or other occult practices. If you are a Christian but still involved in such activities as well, the two are completely incompatible. There is no such thing as good witchcraft or other occult practice, whatever the practitioners of these would say. If you are in that position, then you need to renounce all involvement and step away from it, allowing the Holy Spirit to come and fill the parts of your life that were previously taken up with occult practices. I recommend that you find a church leader experienced this to help you through the process.
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