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| This is the water racing down the hill during a rain storm a few weeks ago that dumped over 5" of rain in only 1 hour. |
OK, now that the holiday has officially passed, I just needed to say something (oh yeah, if you couldn’t figure it out, the holiday I’m talking about is Halloween). It’s funny to hear all the names that we as christians have labeled this particular holiday (just to make it more christian-user-friendly at our churches). It’s the same holiday, just a different name. Although varied somewhat, it’s celebrated pretty much the same as the way this celtic pagan holiday originated, but with a different name. So call it what you want.
Now before you start thinking that I’m bashing anyone who celebrated it, I’m not. At the church that I served at for almost 10 years, I annually planned and organized what we called “Fall Festival.” We leveraged the holiday as a way of trying to expose our community to the Gospel. We promoted it as a free, fun and safe alternative for the families who lived in our community. It started out with about a hundred people but swelled into an event that drew 3-4,000 people each year. It was amazing. Amidst all the games, candy, prizes and such, we had Gospel music as well as Gospel centered ministry that happened from the main stage throughout the night. Over the years we had several hundreds of people accept Christ at this annual event. It was pretty amazing, actually.
So, I’m not against trying to flip a pagan holiday by trying to use the day as a way to reach people who would never step onto the church property any other way. But, having said that, I noticed something different this year. What I noticed was that there were a lot of people (christians) on social media trying to defend the fact that the holiday (Halloween) was harmless and that it was actually a family friendly holiday that everyone should participate in- because it promoted family.
The thing that bothers me about that, is that it seemed like it was trying to persuade people to violate their conscience. Because let’s face it, some people have different convictions about things that are stricter than what yours or mine (our consciences) might be convicting us of. And it’s easy to try and defend ourselves by saying stuff to make us seem right and them seem wrong. Or worse, make fun of them, because they seem too ‘holier than thou’ and need to ‘get with the 21st century.’ But we can’t do that. It’s not biblical.
I’m not judging the people who were posting stuff because I’ve been just as guilty. I can remember several years ago a friend of ours had watched a DVD on the roots of Christmas and where it originated. After he watched it he got rid of his Christmas tree and replaced it with a ‘Christmas Cross!’ For real. It was a Christmas tree that was in the shape of a cross. It still had all the decorations and lights on it, it was just ‘cross shaped.’ It was hilarious. And rather than respecting his convictions I kinda made fun of him. Not nice, I know. But I did. I was such an idiot. But that was the old Jim, lol!
As the Apostle Paul was reaching the end of his ministry (at one of his trials and at the beginning of being in prison a couple years) he said in Acts 24:16, “So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.” He also told Timothy (1 Timothy 1:18-19) to, “wage a good warfare, by holding faith and a good conscience because by rejecting this some people have made shipwreck of their faith.” I could give several more examples about how important keeping a clear conscience is because the bible actually has a lot to say about it. It’s actually a critical part of being able to hear and see God (having a clear conscience).
So here’s my whole point... if my conscience isn’t convicting me of something then that’s good. I just need to walk in the revelation of what God has revealed to me through my conscience. But if someone else has different convictions, I need to respect that and let them walk their walk with God. I don’t need to try to change their minds by defending my position on whatever it is we see differently. So whether it’s celebrating Halloween, putting up a Christmas tree or letting my kids watch Twilight (heaven forbid, haha), I’ve got to follow my conscience and I’ve got to let my fellow brother or sister in Christ follow theirs. Because let’s face it, we could all come up with scriptures to defend whatever position we hold on whatever subject we come up with (that could defend both sides). But, when it boils down to it, we have to be led by our conscience as the Holy Spirit speaks to us individually. Because when we stand before Jesus one day, it’s just me and Him. And I’ll be rewarded for what I’ve done (what He’s asked me personally) whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). So I have enough to worry about on my own rather than spending time trying to convince you to celebrate whatever holiday it is the same way that I do: )
Happy Holidays! (can I still say that?),
Jim
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