Welcome @kevin1!
No worries at all, thanks for stepping out and sharing your encouragement, observations, and exhortations!
I absolutely agree that witnessing and caring well for others is so important and it’s such a blessing to be able to have conversations and opportunities to lovingly show the hope of Christ to those around us!
As you share though, the influence of those who do not follow God is something that it is also important to be aware of and at times take action concerning.
I think often discerning when and how to act can be quite difficult.
For example, when it comes to college, I think what you said here is really important.
Two people at the same college can have very different experiences, so it’s the path one is being led down that’s so important. I have seen several who attended Christian institutions that walked away from the faith, speaking of the hypocrisy that they saw (or experienced) or how forced their experiences were. While others have had their faith energized, strengthened, and renewed at the same or similar institutions through the chapel, ministry times, or community. Similarly, my faith grew significantly at the secular institution that I went to as it began to really hit home how much we as Christians truly are ambassadors and representatives of Christ - since I was surrounded by so many who had very few interactions or relationships with Christians. Yet others at that same college, instead of being strengthened by that reality and by the many wonderful campus ministries, fell into habitual sins of drunkenness or sensuality with some eventually leaving Christianity altogether.
So, one institution may be extremely healthy and growing for one individual yet at the same time be unhealthy and destructive for another.
I bring up this difficulty in discernment partly because I am uncertain what you mean when you say the word Occult. On the one hand I have seen the absolute danger of others purposefully working to lure those who don’t know practices or who don’t believe in demons or magic into practicing occult rituals through several different pretexts. I have also seen how some books and/or games have led people to be more susceptible to these influences. And you are right that this influence should be taken seriously, it is so destructive and causes so much pain. Even though most of the few people I know who have practiced the occult eventually found deliverance from the demonic forces that tormented them through Christ, they speak of the time when they had been pulled in with sadness, pain, and a strong desire to protect others who are going down that path from those same experiences. If you know someone who is going down that path now, I am praying that they find the deliverance, protection, healing, and hope of Christ and turn to Him.
On the other hand, clarity concerning what specifically is dangerous can be very important. I remember being told I could not read a particular book series growing up because it encouraged magic. When I was older, however, and eventually read it, the primary theme that I saw was the power of love to overcome, communicated - at least partially I believe - through an allegory to the death and resurrection of Christ. Now I don’t know occult practices well, so it is possible that the book did use the occult and thus could lead some people to become more open to its influence. If that is the case though, I was never told or shown what within it was so dangerous or why the magic in it was unacceptable, but that in the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings was lauded for its Christian allegory.
So, I think having precise reasoning and explanations, alongside thoughtful reflection, can help us to have more clarity in making wise decisions and can help prevent double standards or at least the appearance thereof. More importantly though, by sharing the particular dangers we see, we can help train those we are discipling in discernment, so that when they are on their own they are equipped to make wise decisions themselves. So too, if we make it safe to ask questions about why something is dangerous and encourage those we disciple to talk these decisions over with wise and godly community around them, it can help prepare them to consider decisions carefully and seek godly counsel throughout their walk in life.
So, particularly for those of us who don’t know occult practices, how can we be aware of when the occult is being taught and what within a particular media may be dangerous? And what could a response to content consumption (or that of one’s family) look like? Lastly, how could we help train and strengthen others in their discernment when it comes to watching a particular show so that they can begin to make wise decisions on their own and teach others to do the same?
Another question would be what difference one’s heart posture makes when reading or watching something. Particularly, I am thinking of how Daniel was taught as a Babylonian wiseman and excelled in his studies. Certainly, he was being taught the occult, but he was not practicing it and his learning doesn’t appear to be considered sinful in Daniel 1. Rather, he was a powerful witness for God among the elite in Babylon. I’m also thinking about how we learned about the practices of Babylonian oracles in seminary, so that we could see where the Bible seems to be speaking out against these practices in ways which refer to the actual practices themselves. So too, in my ministry, as I learned what sayings/practices were associated with the occult, I was better able to spot and prevent a student from spreading those practices (to which I had been ignorant previously and thus didn’t know to shut down).
So, at what point does exposure to something become a sin? And is it a person’s heart posture that makes it a sin, their influence, or something else?
@Lakshmi shared a post you might be interested in, Postural Yoga and Christianity, in which she, and many others, shared some very thoughtful reflection in discerning the influences and impact that yoga can have and what may be the best ways to approach it or respond to it.
I think several of the considerations in that conversation can be applied to this one as well. Specifically, how might watching, reading, or playing something weaken one’s Christian testimony to non-Christians who are practicing the occult and how might what one watches, reads, or plays, begin to open themself up to the draw or influence of the occult?
Discernment is always difficult, but it is much harder when you are discipling others and working to lead them in their own discernment and support them in making wise decisions. So, thank you for bringing up the danger these influences can have and beginning a discussion about how to lead others well when we are surrounded by these influences.
I’m excited to hear others’ thoughts and to learn how to better discern how to wisely consider the media we are consuming, particularly concerning the occult, and how to lead others in wisdom in this area too!