Should We Be Freaking Out?

The article on the “After School Satan” club in our local newspaper is raising quite a stir.* The Satanic Temple wants to start a club in our local elementary school. Should we be freaking out right now? Should we be tearing out our hair in despair, or picketing to get this club banned from schools? 
 

The more America abandons God and the truths of the Bible, the more territory Satan gains. That’s exactly what The Satanic Temple (TST) wants to do. It’s targeting schools where the Good News Club actively shares the hope of Jesus Christ. They offer lessons on evolutionary science and “rational thinking” in clubs led by “caring Satanists.”

If you’ve read the Bible this is no surprise. Jesus said this would happen. He said the world would hate those who love Him; that they would try to discredit the message of Christ and His messengers. Those in the world will do everything they can to wipe out Jesus’ followers, including murder, which is happening more now than ever before in history. Now it’s beginning in our country.

Interestingly enough, TST head Finn Rezz claims they’re a non-theistic group and don’t believe in an actual Satan or actual God. Yet they claim status as a religious club and fight for equal representation in schools. And seek to place their group specifically in schools hosting Good News Club. As Rezz stated, “Nehalem Elementary is the first school TST has reached out to for an After School Satan Club because students have access to a Good News Club” (emphasis mine).

That doesn’t mean we need to panic. This is a wake-up call—to believers and nonbelievers alike—that there is a very real battle going on between good and evil. God jealously desires the hearts of men, because He is our Creator; He loves us and longs to rescue us from the pain and heartache of sin, and offer us eternal life with Him. Satan envies God’s power and seeks to steal the hearts of men to kill and destroy them; he will lure them in by whatever tactics he has at his disposal, including appearing as an angel of light (or enlightenment). 

It’s actually a good thing this is in the news, because it makes people aware of the spiritual struggle. And it should challenge us to pray like never before. Pray without ceasing. Pray specifically for the individuals involved—like Finn Rezz, head of the Portland chapter of TST, or the leaders in your area. We also need to be praying for our school superintendents—(Paul Erlebach in Tillamook), as well as the principals, teachers, and parents who feel caught between allowing what they feel is wrong and what government seems to be dictating. For, if they ban this religious group, they must ban all religious groups from the schools. 

Most of all, we need to pray for our children, who are easily attracted by snacks, seemingly kind and caring leaders, fun games, and teaching that promises intellectual superiority. After all, shouldn’t we decide what is right or wrong for us? This is the same deception the serpent used in the Garden of Eden—doubting what God had said, yearning for forbidden knowledge, and to be like God (Gen 3:1, 4). That didn’t end so well.

We don’t need to be afraid though; Jesus has already won. But we do need to be ready to tell others why we have such hope every chance we can (1 Pet. 3:15-16), and we need to care about each person who has been or is in danger of being deceived and lost without God. 

* “Devilish new club proposed for Nehalem Elementary,”Tillamook Headlight Herald, by Jordan Wolfe, Wednesday, August 13, 2016.

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