Originally Posted October 30, 2012

Have you ever watched a scary movie? Did you have trouble falling asleep that night? Were you afraid for your life? Jesus calls his followers with power and authority over the demonic through Him. When Jesus was on earth demons feared him. 2,000 years later, things have changed so much that his followers now fear demons and pay to be afraid. 

Before reading further, remember: You need to pray and read scripture and come to your own conclusion. I will be controversial and I will bring up important scriptures for this topic. If you disagree and you are a Christ-follower, please respond respectfully and provide scripture to back up your claims.

Please open yourself with this prayer:

“Lord, open my eyes and my heart to see and feel your thoughts on Halloween. Reveal the areas I need to improve on, and replace them with your truth and love. Show me how You feel so that I may glorify You in all my ways.”

When I was given the Holy Spirit, I was given the gift of discernment for the demonic. Not only so, but I am able to pick out spiritual implications within movies and TV shows very easily. You can ask my brother, friends and other people who have witnessed it. I sense when something is not right and I become spiritually sick from it. I have also seen the demonic in action. Only rarely do demons manifest themselves physically in America. The sad truth of the matter is they manifest themselves in the spirit world constantly, and we fail to recognize their ugly faces. But the good news is that we have power and authority over these demons and Satan himself. Only through Jesus are we able to overcome our fear of darkness and gain the only true fear for God himself!

Scripture References: Luke 12:5; 1 John 4:18

Jesus teaches in Luke 12:5 not to fear anything other than Yahweh. And let’s be honest, our fear of Yahweh is different than our fear of Paranormal Activity. I would say because we have a lack of fear for God, we are overcome with and like fear of scare houses and scary movies. But should we even watch them? Have you ever heard of the backdoor theory? When you leave your backdoor open, criminals and thieves are liable to sneak in and steal things from your house. Let’s apply this spiritually. If we open ourselves up to things without having Jesus fill those areas (Matthew 12:43-45), we will surely open ourselves to the demonic.

But let me make myself clear, scary movies are not the only demonic movies. Others such as Project X, The Hangover, pornography and others like them portraying rebellion and disrespect for Jesus are also demonic. I’m not saying every movie is inherently evil, and I’m not saying I’m the perfect example, but the Lord and I are dealing with it. On Sunday, my friend Eric Hammond made a great point, “Once you watch something, you can’t un-watch it.” Once again, I do not claim to be perfect and I don’t claim to have not seen awful movies, but I can attest to Eric’s statement.

Why does our culture love to pay to be afraid? Why do Christians pay to be afraid? Is it the adrenaline rush? Is it just because Halloween is that time of the year? When talking with some of the students at church Sunday some said, “Because they’re fun.” One said, “To gain a better perspective on the movie so you can discuss it with people” (though, he agreed that was never his motivation). But Christians every year invest themselves (via their money) into these companies making demonic movies designed to scare people. Yet Jesus not only tells us to not be afraid but he also says we have power and authority over the demonic! So why do we pay to do the very thing Jesus calls us not to do and furthermore have power and authority over?

In other countries, witchcraft, the occult and ghosts/demons are very real issues (This does not mean it doesn’t happen in America, it simply means it’s more prominent in other countries). Americans make fun of these things but forget the reality that some of the movies we see aren’t always fiction.

Deuteronomy 18:10 says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination, or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.”

Likewise, Galatians 5:19-20 says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like….those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

My answer to the question is no, Christians should not watch or expose themselves to horror films. But I also believe horror films are not the only films Christians should not watch.

You decide for yourself. Is it okay for a Christian to watch scary movies? Respond below with respectful answers. If you are a Christian, please support your evidence with scripture.