Because Sometimes You have to be Right

It happened in Sunday school in a class with the deacon, the worship leader, the assistant pastor, the senior pastor, a friend of mine for years, his son, and me. The assistant pastor is the class leader, which means he serves as referee, and this particular morning he must have been feeling something between courageous and insane because he picked the topic of Halloween for the discussion.

Being the vocal female, I stayed quiet. This is not a good topic for me, and I know it. I am very opinionated on this issue, and sometimes opinions become a battlefield to die on, and it was not a good day to die...for me or anyone else in the room.

Then it happened. One comment led to another, and someone said something else, and I tossed in a quick thought and tried to step back, but the young man said it, “It’s just about candy.”

 

And that line of thinking kills.

“NO! It’s not!”

 

It is not about candy or costumes. It is about satan and hell and agreeing with demons, and haven’t you ever read the history?!

And my opinion gives way to passion, and my passion refuses to lose this battle. The calm demeanor disintegrates, and I am shocked at what the church finds acceptable if it is just presented in the right wrapper, and I am honestly hoping this young man simply doesn’t know, but if he doesn’t, he needs to. Then the long-time friend who is the father throws in, “I realize you are a woman, and most of you think you are always right.”

His words slam hard because there are times I did have to be right, and having to be right can sometimes make things all wrong, and I question.

Do I really believe I am always right…or are there topics in which you have to be right always?

There are times we cannot afford to be wrong.

When we are dealing with satan and his minions and their determination to steal, kill, and destroy all we are and all we love, we cannot afford to be wrong. And that is what Halloween is.

Halloween is about heaven and hell and inviting hell into your house wrapped in a piece of chocolate or dressed in a princess costume.

Halloween is about agreeing with an enemy who wants nothing more than to kill, steal, and destroy, and to give him an inch is to risk giving him everything.

It is NOT about candy. It is about your kids and your marriage and your lineage. It is about saying you will not entertain evil, not even evil that feels good or tastes good or lies and says it is good.

Halloween is about standing your ground and holding fast and knowing to agree with any part of hell tells them you accept them all because they don’t want your taste buds.They want a way in because they want it all, and a house isn’t taken down with an A-bomb but a million tiny cracks in the foundation where the water and the termites and the enemy seeps in.

If a member of Al Qaida steps onto your front yard and holds out a piece of candy, will you let him or her into your house? No. If you are in Texas you will grab your gun and kill them where they stand before a second step could be taken because you know they don't want to come in for tea and a chat about Duck Dynasty. They want to destroy your way of life and kill you and all those you love. You will NEVER let that into your home. They are evil, pure evil, and you will kill them or die trying before you let them near you or your loved ones.

 

The fact is the same evil that runs that operative is the same evil that is celebrated and worshipped at Halloween. The same evil that kidnaps children, sexually molests them, and kills them is the same evil celebrated and worshipped at Halloween. The same evil that will destroy your marriage, turn your child prodigal, and make you put a gun to your head because it is all pointless anyway is the very same evil worshipped and celebrated on Halloween.

If you were to show sympathy to that Al Qaida operative, he/she would think you were sympathetic to their cause, to who they are, to what they stand for. If you decide one part of evil is acceptable, you decide it all is. Satan doesn’t care if you just want candy. He wants your soul, and if he has to wrap his evil in candy to get to you, he will.

I don’t care if it is Halloween or yoga or some other demonic rooted activity or mindset or philosophy wrapped in a pretty wrapper. Satan will not give up what his inherently his, and some things cannot be redeemed, and God expects His children to have the sense to see the fruit and walk away.

We tell our kids not to take candy from strangers because the strangers might be out to hurt or kill their bodies, but every Halloween Christians encourage their kids to take it by the bag fulls from satan who is out to destroy their souls.

Why? Because we don’t want to give up the traditions? Because we want our kids to have the great childhood memories? Because we are afraid of looking like freaks who don’t do what the culture does? Because this is what we’ve always done, and we are determined to be right?

Just remember. You can be determined to be right and be completely wrong. And when that happens, sometimes the consequences just sting. Sometimes there is hell to pay.

 

There are times when wrong cannot be an option. You simply have to be right…even if you have to buy your own candy.