October for many is a season of fear, and truthfully our culture finds a lot of fun in it. Hollywood will distribute it’s most bloody and terrifying movies of the year, while on television old horror classics will be re-run over and over. Haunted houses, scary costumes, and other more sinister events such as séances and the like, will happen as Halloween is celebrated. For many Christians this seasons becomes a time where we regularly violate our conscience and the fundamental reason for this guilt and source of questioning the “season” is found in 2 Timothy 1:7, where Paul writes, “…God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Often times this scripture is misused to say all types of things, but we must let the scripture speak. All fear is not bad, but a “spirit of fear” is clearly not from God and comes from another source. To ride a roller coaster and sky dive or to participate in some other “death defying” act, for some of us, becomes a way we face our fear. But in these cases, we are not perpetuating a “spirit of fear.” In my own life I have examined the movies, television shows, events, and so on that I allow myself and my children to participate in. I do so, not because I want to necessarily shelter my children from culture, but because I look to scripture and realize that God does not impart to His people a “spirit of fear,” and nor should I to my children.
This year, stop and think about the things that you and I are allowing ourselves and our children to participate in. Stop and think about the movies that we see or allow our kids to see. Do they foster a “spirit of fear,” or of love and a sound mind. How about the TV shows? There are so many that clearly violate scriptural teaching (more on this in tomorrow’s blog), and yet many of us continue to watch regularly. Of course our children will be wearing costumes, but in truth, are the costumes we allow them to wear God honoring or do they honor things that scripture clearly speaks out against? Each of us must, as scripture teaches, examine ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to show us areas where we can align our life and our family with the Word of God. Am I telling you that the Bible says not to let your children walk around a collect candy from friendly neighbors? Of course not. But what I am saying that there is a proliferation of a "spirit of fear" that is accepted as normal that we must protect ourselves and our families from.
Tomorrow I will be writing about clear violations of the scripture found in culture, like witches, séances, fortune telling, and several others, which some deem as silly games, but God calls them for what they are…sin.
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Very well said. We were convicted a while back on Halloween. As much as we tried to justify why we were doing what we were doing, the more we were convinced many of our traditions were wrong and it boiled down to what Pastor Jim preached about...having a foot in Egypt and reaching for God. Thanks for saying those things that are hard to say and even harder still, to hear.
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