Sacred Mundane: The Blog

“Hey!” The man raised an arm from across the fence. It was just a few days after our move, and our new neighbor was waving us down to say hello.  Immediately he looked at Jeff and said, “Now you’re a pastor, right?” (You never know what’s coming after that!) Jeff said yes and the man continued, “Come on over, I have to show you something!”

So we all followed him over to his property, unsure of what was ahead, and he led us all the way across his land and around the back of his house, to this elaborate outdoor tent-like structure built out of sticks, twigs, branches and canvas (huge!), with a sort of arbor, almost altar-like thing at the front.  we were wide-eyed of course, and he went on to explain that they were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles and hosting their Jewish synagogue’s Feast of Tabernacles service in this outdoor “tabernacle” that he’d built.

(The Feast of tabernacles or feast of booths was a weeklong celebration, instituted by God in Leviticus 23, to remember the years that the children of Israel carried the tabernacle through the wilderness and lived in tents or booths. To his credit, this man had followed the biblical directions exactly for building his twig-stick structure.)

So Jeff’s talking to the man and I’m thinking it all looks really weird and the kids are a little spooked so they start back to our house.  Some friends were over at the time and the whole encounter raised some interesting questions, especially with another certain holiday just around the corner right? In fact we were laughing about how ironic it is that our Christian friends are preparing to celebrate Halloween while our non-Christian neighbors are celebrating the biblical feasts! 

So, yesterday in Bible study we looked at Galatians 4:8-11 and discussed How Christians are to relate to culture.  That is, Are we to shun Halloween, celebrate it, dress up as Bible characters? Hand out gospel tracts to the kids that knock on our door? What is the Christian’s relation to holidays and holy days?  Here are a few biblical principles to consider, to help as you navigate this issue for yourself. (Click here for audio of the entire message.)

1. We are free. Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

It’s clear that Christ fulfilled the law, and that all the OT festivals, feasts, and sabbaths are a shadow of Christ. They all speak of Christ.  So we are not to let others pass judgment on us for not observing them, because they are just shadows, and the real thing is here now. The wrong isn’t necessarily in celebrating something, the wrong is giving in to the the fear of man and not the fear of God.

2. We are to do all things “in honor of the Lord.” Romans 14:4-6 says, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

Again, we read the command is to “not judge one another!” We often get so concerned in what Christians should or should not do, when the real thing we should be concerned about is not judging! But who are we to judge, if you will? Ourselves.  Be “fully convinced in your own mind.”  That is, figure out your convictions and stick by them. And what you decide to do, do it” in honor of the Lord.” If you can honestly say that the choice that you make is “ in honor of the Lord,” awesome! Praise God. You stand and fall before Him and no one else.

 3. We are to do all things “for the sake of the gospel.” 1 Cor. 9:19-23 explains that Paul became like the Jews to win the Jews to Christ, he became like the Gentiles to win the Gentiles to Christ. Everything he did he did “for the sake of the gospel.”  Paul’s guiding principle, with regard to culture, was, Is this the best route to win people to Christ and spread the gospel of grace?

For the Galatians, the problem was not the holiday, it was the slave-spirit in which they observed it. The problem was once again legalism and the fear of man. Paul was a free man, and the 1 Corinthians passage shows us that he was free to observe or not observe for the sake of the gospel. The question then, for us to be discerning culturally, is “Am I doing this for the sake of the gospel?”

For our family, our personal conviction is that we don’t celebrate Halloween. Honestly, I hate Halloween. I can truly see no redemptive value in it. Plus, I spent several years discipling a  girl who came out of a background of the occult and horrendous witchcraft practices. Knowing, from her, what the “real” Halloween is all about has made me detest the holiday. Plus, since Christ conquered sin and death, we do not celebrate sin or celebrate death.

However, note THIS: It is possible to engage in Halloween festivities for the sake of the gospel and in honoring God. It is also possible to celebrate Easter (or Christmas) in a way that doesn’t honor God or further the gospel at all. It is possible to celebrate Passover and the feast of tabernacles, as a family, in a way that celebrates Christ and honors God and furthers the gospel. It is also possible to observe those same things in a spirit of slavery, of legalism. It is possible to observe certain holidays in a spirit of thinking we’re somehow spiritual superior because we observe them. And it’s possible to NOT observe certain holidays in a spirit of thinking that we’re somehow spiritually superior because we don’t observe them.

The key, as always: the heart.

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{Response: How does your family celebrate or not celebrate in honor of God and for the sake of the gospel? I would love to hear your thoughts and perspective. Thanks, friends, for reading.}