Boo!
I really didn’t want to write this one.
God stirred me last year to write about the activities surrounding the month of October (but not limited to this month). I’m not talking about black kitty cats poking out of pumpkins, hay rides, or sweet trick-or-treaters. But rather, I am referring to this twisted trio of blood, sexual content, and the occult rolled into shows featuring vampires, zombies, and downright evil people.
But I wimped out last year. I desperately always want to be obedient to His voice without coming across as judgmental. So please know this comes from a heart stirred by God and confirmed to me through some very obvious signs even today.
I have always been a scared-y cat when it comes to spooks and monsters. Our elementary school had a spook house every year in the back of our lunchroom manned with creepy middle school students. I remember crying before I ever walked in. The first scare was putting our hand in a bucket of peeled grapes that felt like eyeballs!
Another Halloween, my older brother had dressed up as a werewolf and came in my bedroom after I had gone to sleep. He got right next to my face and woke me up. Now that about sent me over the edge.
There are a lot of different opinions about Halloween…from “it’s a harmless day to dress up and get some candy” to “trick or treating is straight from the pits of hell”. But that’s not even what I want to discuss.
The spirit world is a very real world. I do believe we walk awful close to the line, especially this time of year when we tend to be more “open” to being scared by a horror movie or a haunted house.
Historically, reruns of movies like “Friday the 13th” (will Jason ever die) or “Nightmare on Elm Street” play this time of year. More recent horror movies portray a trio of the occult, sex, and violence that have gone to a whole new level of evil imagination. Some may think these movies have no impact on us…but they do. Just as with any other exposure to media, it can bring about progressive addictions. So the desire to watch increasingly violent images grows over time.
And even though it is not your mind creating the violent images, you have to know someone’s mind went to a very dark place to get that movie on a screen or to create a haunted house that is a bit too realistic. Romans 1 holds nothing back in describing people who crossed over to the dark side. Paul says “God gave them over to a depraved mind” in 1:28. Then a few verses later, Paul lists some examples depraved minds, one being “inventors of evil” (Romans 1:30).
Romans 1:32 then includes something that makes me shiver a bit. Paul addresses the people who “give hearty approval to those who practice such things.” So even though we didn’t invent the evil, by our participation in the form of buying tickets or watching the movie, we are giving our approval.
I want to give you a bone-chilling example of “inventors of evil”. A couple of years ago, a horrible murder happened in our area. A young woman was murdered and then dismembered. Then, the tools used for the dismemberment were used as props in a popular haunted house. Now folks, if that isn’t inventing evil, I don’t know what is.
So what is my message? It’s not necessarily to say stay away from haunted houses and horror movies. But I do extend a gentle warning not to dabble too near the line. Filling our heads with violent images and experiences could lead to a hardened conscience and a curiosity to go a bit further…perhaps further then you ever intended to go.
As the availability of scary movies and experiences grow during this fall season, keep these verses in mind…
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…2Corinthians 10:5
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:12-13
I would love to hear some of your thoughts concerning this topic. What do you think about our media trends (vampires, zombies, True Blood, etc…)?
Sex, the occult and harmless elf on a shelf are out of control. Do we really want our children to be desensitized to the chopping off of heads even if it is attached yo a zombie? Do we want our daughter to think that bondage and abuse are an acceptable way for women to be treated or worse yet romantic? I think you are spot on! Some trick or treating okay? I don’t know. But if American spent as much time on Jesus as in the elf on the shelf then we would have a different place to live. And a better place. Thanks for your candor, Shelly I too have issues with the Holidays and our desensitized culture.
Thanks for your comments Pam. Desensitized is the exact right word.
I totally agree with you, Shelly. I certainly think many Christians don’t take demons and all activities associated with them seriously enough. Anne (from Windswept) has seen firsthand evidence of demonic activity on the reservation. It is real. We need not to play with it!
It is real! Scary that we can take it so lightly at times.
Shelly,
I am right there with you. I am always glad for October to end. Thanks for your post!
Hey Miss Beth! Now I am all about some candy corn and harvest activities, but I will leave the scariness behind!
Shelly,
Thank you for your obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I totally agree with you. But I would take it a step further. Our youth and young adults who are seeking something concrete to anchor their lives to are falling prey to a culture led by those who advocate an “anything goes” mentality. I see kids every day dressing and behaving in ways that were considered Halloween costumes and behaviors when I was growing up.
Several years ago, we hosted a wonderful missionary couple in our home who had given their lives to the people of Uruguay in South America for over 35 years. After the services that night as we sat around the dining room table, Bro. Paul asked my husband what he thought of the younger generation. My husband said he thought it was the directly impacted by the Hollywood culture and the music they listened to every waking moment. Bro. Paul then told of his own personal experiences in a South American culture embroiled in witchcraft and demonic worship. He told us of performing an exorcism on the wife of one of his new converts. His account was very similar to that of Jesus’s when He cast the demons into the herd of swine. The most startling thing he shared that night was that when he and his wife landed at JFK in New York, they were immediately aware of the similarities in the demonic culture they lived in down there with the North American culture. They hadn’t been to the States in quite a few years, but he said they could sense the presence of evil–a presence that was so oppressing that it was almost tangible. That was in the early 1990’s. He has since gone home to be with The Lord. If he were still living today, what would he think? Truly, “we’ve come a long way, baby”–in the wrong direction. I pray that a great revival sweeps into the hearts of believers around our country, and we can reach the lost before it’s too late for them to be reached.
Love you!
Wow, it is amazing what that missionary could sense. Yes, revive us God!
Good Word! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Amy!