There is no Christian Alternative to Halloween
.
It isn't those who don't know any better who frustrate me. It isn't the non-believers; they just make me sad. It isn't even believers who don't know any better; they just need to hear the truth. It's those who do know better and still refuse to abstain. It's those who know Halloween is wrong and still participate.
They create alternatives. Why? If you really think Haloween is ok, why do you need to create an alternative option? What is the purpose of a Fall Festival, or a Trunk-or-Treat at church? (We don't have Spring Festivals, do we?) It is to provide an alternative for something we know is wrong. But, that is still participation. We want the pleassure without the guilt. Is it really so much to ask that we simply opt out? Of course, I'd love it if we all really took a stand for God and shared the truth about Halloween, but at the very least we could do nothing.
But, we make up excuses for our self-gratification, a self-gratification on the level of sexual immorality. It is spiritual adultery. God says, "But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:16-17) We know Halloween is wrong. We know its origins, the reality of the satanic worship that still occurs on this night, the confussion it causes our children (dressing up as a witch is bad, but somehow dressing up as Moses on the same night to celebrate the same holy-day is fine??). We know, and we testify to our knowledge with our alternatives. Yet, we boast that it's ok for us. We know the better thing would be to abstain, but we don't want to. We glorify our freedom rather than God, and it ruins us.
1 Corinthians 5:6 says, "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" Do we understand what this means? It means that only a little corruption ruins the whole. Leaven is never a good thing in the Bible. It is a symbol of corruption, of unfitness for the Kingdom, of cancerous ruin. It is a symbol of the "imperfection" that makes us fall short of God's glory and destines us to Hell. It doesn't take 100% evil to ruin us, just a taste, because it works its way through the whole and ruins all. When I share the gospel sometimes I share it this way:
If you were thirsty and I gave you a glass of clean water to drink, you would be thankful. You would drink it and be refreshed. Now, what is I put just a drop or two of cyanide in the water? Not a whole lot, just a little. You wouldn't even taste it, or know it was ther. Would you drink it? No! Why? You are thirsty aren't you? Well, yes. Then why not drink it? Because it would kill you. It would destroy who you are. The same is true for God. He is a loving Father, who thirst for us as we thirst for cool, clean water when we've just crossed a desert. He longs for us, and wants to have us with him, in His presence. But that's the problem. You see, God is also HOLY. He is pure, clean, and perfect. We are not. We are imperfect, flawed, un-holy. If we enter God's presence and spend eternity with Him in our current state then it destroys who He is. The sin in us, our leaven, our cynide would ruin the purity of God. So, while God longs for us, we are like poison to who He is because of our imperfection. We are eternally separated. That's why we need Jesus...
You know how the conversation goes from there. By the way, teh Gospel isn't really GOOD NEWS, unless you know you are in trouble first. Always help others see their need (in love) so they can truly understand the greatness of what Jesus does for us on the cross.
The point here, is that it only takes a little evil to ruin the good. Halloween is more than just a little evil. Next Monday night people in our own country, perhaps in our own city, will kill something and offer it as a sacrifice to satan! Why would we want that leaven in our lives? It may seem innocent to dress up and hand out candy to kids (until you know the truth). But it isn't. That's why the whole debate frustrates me. I honestly don't understand why a follower of Jesus would have anything to do with this day.
Don't hear me wrong, I know all the suppossed reasons, and I think they are all poison.
Evangelism? If you're so concerned about that, go do it right now.
Outreach? Go reach out! Don't wait until October 31st.
Community? If that's your heart throw a block party this summer, or invite your neighbors over for dinner tonight.
Sharing a gift of friendship or love? Do it today, or next month, or in April. Teaching the reality of spiritual warfare to our children? You're kidding, right!? By participating in the most evil day of the year???
Because Jesus loves people, even those who think Halloween is ok? Yeah, but Jesus also says they "are condemned already" (John 3:18) and so flawed that their only hope was to be "born again" (3:7). His solution was to pay the penalty for their sin, to lay down his life, not to join in that sin with them. (By the way, he called people who knew good and did evil hypocrites [actors].) Don't we realize that Jesus' ability to save us came from his refusal to participate in sinful behaviors?
So, forget about all the excuses. The real reason we create alternatives for Halloween is simple: We are more concerned about what we want than what God wants. We want to sin without feeling guilty for it. We want to gratufy ourselves more than we want to please God.
& YES, I find that very frustrating.
.
It isn't those who don't know any better who frustrate me. It isn't the non-believers; they just make me sad. It isn't even believers who don't know any better; they just need to hear the truth. It's those who do know better and still refuse to abstain. It's those who know Halloween is wrong and still participate.
They create alternatives. Why? If you really think Haloween is ok, why do you need to create an alternative option? What is the purpose of a Fall Festival, or a Trunk-or-Treat at church? (We don't have Spring Festivals, do we?) It is to provide an alternative for something we know is wrong. But, that is still participation. We want the pleassure without the guilt. Is it really so much to ask that we simply opt out? Of course, I'd love it if we all really took a stand for God and shared the truth about Halloween, but at the very least we could do nothing.
But, we make up excuses for our self-gratification, a self-gratification on the level of sexual immorality. It is spiritual adultery. God says, "But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:16-17) We know Halloween is wrong. We know its origins, the reality of the satanic worship that still occurs on this night, the confussion it causes our children (dressing up as a witch is bad, but somehow dressing up as Moses on the same night to celebrate the same holy-day is fine??). We know, and we testify to our knowledge with our alternatives. Yet, we boast that it's ok for us. We know the better thing would be to abstain, but we don't want to. We glorify our freedom rather than God, and it ruins us.
1 Corinthians 5:6 says, "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" Do we understand what this means? It means that only a little corruption ruins the whole. Leaven is never a good thing in the Bible. It is a symbol of corruption, of unfitness for the Kingdom, of cancerous ruin. It is a symbol of the "imperfection" that makes us fall short of God's glory and destines us to Hell. It doesn't take 100% evil to ruin us, just a taste, because it works its way through the whole and ruins all. When I share the gospel sometimes I share it this way:
If you were thirsty and I gave you a glass of clean water to drink, you would be thankful. You would drink it and be refreshed. Now, what is I put just a drop or two of cyanide in the water? Not a whole lot, just a little. You wouldn't even taste it, or know it was ther. Would you drink it? No! Why? You are thirsty aren't you? Well, yes. Then why not drink it? Because it would kill you. It would destroy who you are. The same is true for God. He is a loving Father, who thirst for us as we thirst for cool, clean water when we've just crossed a desert. He longs for us, and wants to have us with him, in His presence. But that's the problem. You see, God is also HOLY. He is pure, clean, and perfect. We are not. We are imperfect, flawed, un-holy. If we enter God's presence and spend eternity with Him in our current state then it destroys who He is. The sin in us, our leaven, our cynide would ruin the purity of God. So, while God longs for us, we are like poison to who He is because of our imperfection. We are eternally separated. That's why we need Jesus...
You know how the conversation goes from there. By the way, teh Gospel isn't really GOOD NEWS, unless you know you are in trouble first. Always help others see their need (in love) so they can truly understand the greatness of what Jesus does for us on the cross.
The point here, is that it only takes a little evil to ruin the good. Halloween is more than just a little evil. Next Monday night people in our own country, perhaps in our own city, will kill something and offer it as a sacrifice to satan! Why would we want that leaven in our lives? It may seem innocent to dress up and hand out candy to kids (until you know the truth). But it isn't. That's why the whole debate frustrates me. I honestly don't understand why a follower of Jesus would have anything to do with this day.
Don't hear me wrong, I know all the suppossed reasons, and I think they are all poison.
Evangelism? If you're so concerned about that, go do it right now.
Outreach? Go reach out! Don't wait until October 31st.
Community? If that's your heart throw a block party this summer, or invite your neighbors over for dinner tonight.
Sharing a gift of friendship or love? Do it today, or next month, or in April. Teaching the reality of spiritual warfare to our children? You're kidding, right!? By participating in the most evil day of the year???
Because Jesus loves people, even those who think Halloween is ok? Yeah, but Jesus also says they "are condemned already" (John 3:18) and so flawed that their only hope was to be "born again" (3:7). His solution was to pay the penalty for their sin, to lay down his life, not to join in that sin with them. (By the way, he called people who knew good and did evil hypocrites [actors].) Don't we realize that Jesus' ability to save us came from his refusal to participate in sinful behaviors?
So, forget about all the excuses. The real reason we create alternatives for Halloween is simple: We are more concerned about what we want than what God wants. We want to sin without feeling guilty for it. We want to gratufy ourselves more than we want to please God.
& YES, I find that very frustrating.
.
Comments