8/4/2026 Marks podcast

The invisible influence Satan, Demons in entertainment 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Everyone, welcome back to uh my podcast after uh took a week and I didn't do one, and I'm right back at it. Um this one is called The Invisible Influence Satan, Demons, and Entertainment. What if the stories we watch, the songs we sing along to, and the shows we binge are not spiritually neutral? What if some of them are shaped sometimes deliberately, sometimes by culture, uh cultural drift, by forces the Bible names as real, Satan and the demonic. Not every scene, dark scene is a demon, not every catchy chorus is a spell, but the Bible never treats the spiritual realm as mythology, it treats it as contested territory. Today we examine how scripture describes the activity of Satan and demons, and how activity can show up in movies, music, and wider entertainment. This is not a hunt for secret messages in every frame. It's a call to discernment. I'm Mark, and let's open the book and look carefully. Let's start with the biblical foundation. Before we talk about Hollywood or the charts, we need to talk of the Bible's own teaching. Satan was a real personal being, a created angel who rebelled in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, used language that points beyond earthly kings to a heavenly rebel. Jesus called him a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies in John 8 44. Peter says he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some someone to devour in 1 Peter 5.8. Paul says he disguises himself as an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11 14. Demons are fallen angels who followed him. They are not equal to God. They are defeated foes who still operate under divine permission until the final judgment, and like in Matthew 8 29 and Revelation 20. Their primary strategies according to Scriptures are deception, twisting truth, promoting half truth, and normalizing what God calls sin accusation, especially against believers in Revelation twelve, verse ten. Temptation appealing to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life in 1 John two sixteen. Oppression and in rarer cases possession, mainly described in the gospels and Acts among those people outside covenant and cultural strongholds, systems of thought and imagination that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God in 2 Corinthians 10 verses four through five. And Ephesians six verse twelve. Ephesians six verse twelve is crucial. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Notice what it does not say. It does not say every movie executive is demon possessed. It does not say every musician has signed a literal contract in blood. It says there are spiritual dimension, it says a spiritual dimension to the conflict. And the dimension often works through ideas, images, desires, and cultural patterns. The Bible also gives us balance. Not everything evil is directly demonic. The human heart is already deceitful above all things in Jeremiah 17 9. The world system is already underway to sway of the evil one in 1 John 5.19. Demonic activity often amplifies and exploits what is already broken in us. With that foundation, let's look at entertainment. Movies and the demonic influence. Film is one of the most powerful storytelling mediums ever invented. It can glorify God, expose evil, and celebrate darkness. From a biblical perspective, Satan's influence on movies tends to show up in several recurring patterns. The first pattern, the normalization and glamorization of sin. When rebellion against God's design for sexuality, marriage, and authority, or the value of human life is presented as liberation, empowerment, or authenticity, the father of lies is at work. The lie is ancient. You will be like God in Genesis three, five. Many modern films simply update the packaging. The second pattern, the inversion of good and evil. Heroes who were who are anti heroes, villains who become sympathetic because they have tragic backstory, the Bible does not deny complexity in human beings. David was both man was both a man after God's heart and a murderer and adulterer. But scripture never blurs the moral categories themselves. When a film makes us root for the destroyer or feel that the righteousness is naive, it's swimming in demonic waters. The third pattern, occult fascination and power with and power without holiness. Stories that teach writ witchcraft, spiritualism, and ancient forces as tools as self-acquisition rather than as forbidden contract contact with the demonic. And Deuteronomy eighteen verses nine through fourteen and Acts nine nineteen. The fourth pattern, despair and nihilism presented as realism. If the only honest ending is nothing matters, that death is final, that justice is an illusion, then the message of functionality is aesthetic. And the Bible says that God says the God of the world binds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel. And 2 Corinthians 4.4. Consider recent uh recent big titles in 2026. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is a mythic homecoming story. Myths can point towards truth, but when gods are the hero only resources are cunning, endurance, the story stops short of the true deliverer who enters the storm for his people. Darker releases, horror entries, revenge thrillers like Motor City, twisted fairy tales such as Pinocchio Unstrung, often dwell in violence, fear, and grotesque. Scripture does not forbid depicting evil. The Bible itself is unflinching. The question is whether the depiction ultimately leaves the viewer more aware of the need for a savior or more entertained by the darkness for its own sake. Even family friendly franchises can carry spiritual freight, stories of identity found in self-expression alone, or power used primarily for personal glory. Quietly categorize the audience, catechized the audience in a worldview that has no room for the cross. None of this means that Christians must never watch a movie without dark themes. It means that we watch with open Bibles and open eyes. We ask, what is the story preaching about the nature of reality, the human heart, and the possibility of redemption? Now I'm going to go on to music and the demonic influence. Now music goes deeper and faster than film. It bypasses much of our rational filter and speaks directly to emotion, memory, and desire. Scripture is full of music, worship, lament, and celebration. But it also warns about songs that celebrate what God hates. How can Satan and demons influence music? Content that celebrates sin, lyrics that glory in sexual immorality, violence, greed, pride, or occult imagery that are not neutral. They are formation. Paul tells the Ephesians to take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them in Ephesians 5 11. Emotional manipulation that bypasses truth. Music can create powerful feelings of transcendence, romance, rage, or despair. Those feelings are not automatically demonic, but they can be used to attach the heart to false gospels. This relationship will complete you. This lifestyle is freedom. This anger is righteous. The enemy is a master of the counterfeit worship. The cult of the artist as savior or oracle. When performers are treated as prophets of authenticity or messiahs of self-expression, we are close to idolatry. The Bible reserves that place for Christ alone. Looking at the 2026 charts, songs about desperate need for a person, choosing a place or self-identity, the difficulty of love, status, and self-protection. Many of them name real human longings. The danger is when the longing is directed entirely, horizontally and never vertically. The man I need or the place I belong becomes a functional God. That is classic idolatry. And idolatry is the soul in which demonic influence thrives. In 1 Corinthians 10 20. This does not mean every secular secular song is demonic inspired. Common grace allows beauty, skill, and even partial truth to appear in the work of unbelievers. But it does not mean we cannot afford to be passive consumers. We are to test everything and hold fast to what is good. In 1 Thessalonians 5 21. So let's go on to television, streaming, gaming, and social media. The same principles apply more widely. Television and streaming series often specialize in long form long form moral ambiguity. Seasons of shows can slowly shift a viewer's sense of what is normal. The gradual acceptance of what was once shocked us is now the enemy's preferred methods slow desensitation rather than sudden possession. Video games can be excellent exercises in skill, story, and even teamwork, but they can also train the imagination in cycles of violence without any consequence or in worlds where the player is God. The question is never only is this fun, but what is this forming in me? Social media, yeah, social media, and its short form video are perhaps the most efficient delivery systems for distraction, you know, comparison, outrage, and lust for the human culture has never has ever for the the lust that the human culture has ever invented. The enemy does not need to possess a platform when the platform itself can keep millions restless, envious, and spiritually shallow. In every case the biblical diagnostic is the same. Does this feed the flesh or the spirit? Does it make me more or less eager to know God? Love people and pursue holiness? Does it open doors to fear, occult curiosity, or chronic discontent? So how believers should respond? So what do we do? First, we reject both extremes. One side is a denial that the spiritual evil is real. On the other is a paranoia paranoia that sees a demon under every sofa and in every guitar riff. Scripture allows us to be sober minded, dilent, not hysterical. Second, practice discernment, not isolation. Paul quotes pagan poets when it serves the truth in Acts seventeen. He does not tell the Corinthians to burn every non Christian book. He tells them to take every thought captive. We can engage culture without being discipled by it. Third, fill the house with something better. Jesus' parables about an unclean spirit that mat that returns to an empty house is relevant. Matthew twelve forty three through forty five. If we only remove the dark entertainment and put nothing in its place, the vacuum will be filled. Worship scripture and good books, edifying art, real community, and prayer are the positive strategy. Fourth, use the armor of God. Ephesians six is not a metaphor for self-help. Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of the word of God and prayer are the actual means by which we stand. Now, fifth, remember the victory is already won. And Colossians 2, 15 says Christ disarmed the rulers and the authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Demons are real, they are also defeated. The cross and the empty tomb are motivational posters. They are not historical facts with cosmic consequences. We do not fight for victory. We fight from it. Now, in closing, movies will keep coming, music will keep streaming, new platforms will keep competing for our attention. The question is whether the entertainment exists. The question is whether entertainment exists, the question is will we let it categorize catechise us or whatever we will let the word of God renew our will we let the word of God renew our minds? Satan is a liar, an accuser, and a thief. He is not the author of the story. The author entered his own story, defeated the enemy at the cross, and is coming again to make things new. Until that day, we watch, we listen, we play play, and we do not do it with open eyes and hearts anchored in the truth. Thanks for spending time with me. And remember, test everything. Hold fast to what is good, and keep your eyes on the one who has already overcome the world, Jesus Christ.