Should We Expel Demons as a Normal Course of Action?

I'm reading John Wimber's Power Healing and in it, he has a section on the demonic. He notes that the Scripture makes a clear distinction between those suffering physical illness caused by demons and those who were simply sick. In both cases, Jesus healed. But in the cases where the sickness was caused by demons, he expelled the demons. In those where people where just sick, he simply healed them.

Wimber goes on to make some important distinctions about the nature of demonization (the term "demon possessed" is actually a poor translation and is less indicative of the way demons actually work in a human being), ministering to a person who is experiencing demonic influence and some typical indicators that a person may be demonized.

Reading Wimber's comments reminded me of Thomas Merton's account of the Catholic rite of baptism in his excellent The Seven Storey Mountain. During the rite, the priest has the candidate renounce Satan and his works and then blows on the candidate and says "receive the Holy Spirit."

I remember reading Merton's account and it seemed so practical and so earthy. Why not take a proactive approach to exorcism? Reading Wimber, makes me wonder again. Demonization and exorcism happens so rarely in our church today, perhaps it is because we are not more intentional about it?

Rather than deal with demonic manifestation as they appear, perhaps we should include some teaching and some practical application as part of either the class we require people to take before they are baptized or else during one of the basic courses we want everyone in the church to take? Nothing weird or heavy-handed, just some basic teaching on the reality of the demonic, the freedom and authority of the believer and a time of prayer.