[todaysdate]
By Eric Blauer
When it comes to Halloween it seems conservative Christians have to scramble to find a reason to justify having fun. I think this is because we don’t truly believe the Gospel, but instead we believe we are saved by ‘what we do or don’t do’ or ‘how well’ we do it.
We claim Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth and that according to Jesus “the prince of this world was cast out” (Jn.12:31) but then live in superstitious fear and missional anxiety about days, foods and a host of other things. I think we need to get back to a Gospel understanding that will liberate us from paranoid Gospelling.
The practices of All Hallow’s Eve and All Saint’s Day are rooted in biblical truth, practiced by our reformation brother’s and sisters not neo-paganism or the supposed practices of historically debated Druids. The act of giving and receiving treats, dressing up in costumes in an act of spiritual defiance and mockery and the even decorating cathedrals and churches with gargoyles is rooted in the gospel truth that the saints are no longer bound by the fear of death or the power of devils, evil or the unknown. Christian’s do not live in fear of anything but God. (Here’s an article for those who want to read more on the roots of Halloween)
This Gospel understanding has historically liberated Christians from the classical Roman and Greek pantheism, the tribal paganism of the Celtic people, the traditional beliefs of African and South American Animism and Witchcraft or practices of modern Neo-pagan and Occultism and the Orients web of mysticism.
First up in in getting a handle on that Gospel orientation is knowing that salvation (being made right with God) and sanctification (living right in God) is the work of God’s grace for you and in you. Your faith is not in what you can do, but in what Christ has done for you. It is by grace through faith that we find peace and joy in God.
Romans 3:20-22:
“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.”
Part of growing up in your salvation and getting free from religious superstition, deception and works based righteousness means renewing your mind. There’s a lot of things that you used to think that will have to change in order to enjoy the life of freedom that God has given you. A lot of religious stuff often stands in the way of people living free from performance based religion. The Gospel of Jesus is radically different than a religion of works and there’s a lot of unlearning that has to happen to liberate people from religious lives based on “doing or not doing” certain things.
Observing or not observing certain days is often central to religious duty and avoiding ‘other people’s’ religious days is sometimes used to define who is ‘in or out’ of the right group. These habits and rituals can become powerful pillars of religious practice and can even take on superstitious elements or hyper-religious demands like the Catholic idea of “Holy Days of Obligation”, the Protestant’s “Sunday Service,” the Jewish Sabbath or the hours of prayer practiced by Muslims, etc. Humans often miss the spirit of religious law in overemphasizing the works or demands of religious law. Many people simply lose the love of God in the practice of laws supposedly imposed by various ideas or institution speaking for God.
Galatians 4:8-10:
“Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.”
Much of the cantankerous conversation around Halloween is connected to the idea that ‘the roots’ of some practice, event or item can transmit some type of bad juju to people. It’s an over-belief in magic or spiritual contamination that often sounds more like voodoo than biblical faith.
It’s reminiscent of the biblical story about the Moab King, Balak, who hired the gold loving prophet Balaam to put ‘curses’ on God’s people.
Numbers 22:4-6:
“So Balak, king of Moab, sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor near the Euphrates River. His message said:
“Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me. Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”
“But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!” (Numbers 22:12)
“No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel.” (Numbers 23:23)
Balak’s whole cursing idea ends up failing miserably because of one very critical point Christians often fail to remember: You can’t curse what God has blessed. Evil doesn’t trump good. If you are a Christian, you are “in Christ” and that is a position of Divine blessing and protection.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
But even though we all have this place of privilege and freedom, we still have to work out the details with people who are still thinking old religion thoughts and haven’t found their way out of that type of relationship with God. We need to be gracious and patient and always remember to focus on the simple truth of our faith that we all agree upon and try our best to sidestep out of the arguments that often arise around secondary matters. People are free to avoid or indulge in many things and it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to lead people into stronger faith through the truth of the Bible and the example of mature Christians.
“Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong….some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable”
(Romans 14:1,5).
As Halloween arrives and for one evening in our communities our neighbors leave their homes and visit one another’s houses, let’s celebrate this opportunity to give and receive goodies in neighborly celebration not in religious isolation or in paranoid superstition. Let’s proudly and triumphantly parade our freedom in defiant proclamation that Jesus is Lord over death, hell and the grave! Let’s carve out moments of light this Halloween and use every opportunity to break down walls, live more hospitable and festive lives and act like those saints that have gone before us that had just enough spunk to give a spook to the powers of evil!
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” -Matt. 4:16
What were you for Halloween Eric? I know last year you were Shrek, right?