How should Christians respond to spiritual darkness – Ephesians 6:10-13, Preview

Tomorrow is October 1st, and the pumpkins and Halloween decorations are popping up all over my local community here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Kids are talking about costumes and trick-or-treating.  Among the princesses and super heroes we’ll see little ghouls, goblins, ghosts and gremlins walking around our neighborhoods.

My personal opinion is that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the ideas of costumes, candy and the way that trick-or-treating brings communities out of their homes and connecting with one another.  Halloween is a natural cultural opportunity to build relationships.  But not all Christians have felt so positive about Halloween.

Perhaps you and your family feel very cautious about the potential connection between Halloween and spiritual darkness.  We are wise to be cautious about spiritual darkness.

Often I have heard people forbid their children from consuming media that depicts spiritual darkness. My wife, for example, was not allowed to watch Star Wars growing up because the story features a mystical, invisible, yet powerful Force, which has both a light and dark side.  Throughout the years, I’ve talked with parents who were concerned that famous fictional stories of witchcraft would negatively influence their children.  Not to mention horror movies, which are frequently released in October to align with Halloween. Are these kinds of prohibitions necessary?

What is a proper Christian response to spiritual darkness?  Is spiritual warfare real?  What about Satan and his demons?  What does the Bible have to say?  This coming week we begin a new blog series on The Armor of God, which is described in Ephesians 6:10-20.  The Armor of God is one of the foremost biblical teachings about how Christians can respond to spiritual darkness.  We’ll be studying this passage through the months of October and November, learning how we Christians can and should respond to spiritual darkness.

Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash