One thing I love about this time of the year is all the joy, community, and festivity that comes with October through December. I live for this time of year, not only because my allergies are the best ever (because everything is dying/dead) but because of the parties, the food, the snacks, the music, the weather, etc. I just love the Fall. One thing I hate about this time of years is all the controversy that it begins with. Yes, I'm talking about Halloween.
Halloween is quite possibly, aside from carpet color in the church, the most divisive, debated issue among believers. Is it worshipping the devil if I go out dressed like a pirate or allow my infant to be dressed in a monkey costume, so that I can stock up on sweets for the next couple months? Is it a celebration of the devil if I choose to participate?
About this time of year I see a flood of comments, articles, blog posts, etc. inundating my news feeds about the goodness/badness/ambivalence of this one day, October 31st. These post seem to spiral downward in their forcefulness and attack of those on either side of the argument, diatribes against the opposition with Scripture to back it. To be honest, it makes me ill. I hate anything that causes division in the church and while there is room for interpretation, we all use our verses to fire warning shots across the bow of those who do not stand on our side of the line.
So what am I trying to accomplish with this post? I definitely do not intend to on showing my own personal belief in this matter, but I just want to call a peace treaty. To be honest, Halloween isn't the only holiday in the next three months that is pagan at it's core. You can find plenty of information and articles decrying other holidays celebrated in the church world because of their pagan roots. And I know Christians who stand on the "Against" side of the fence in regards to these as well. What does all this bickering and fighting do? It destroys brothers and sisters in Christ and continues to make the church look like a dysfunctional family that can never seem to get along.
So, in response to all the upcoming debates about the goodness or badness of certain festivities, I want to wave the white flag of peace and call a ceasefire. I may get fingers pointed or comments in opposition, but that's ok. I'm good with it.
The only thing that I desire to do is bring unity in the body and be a person who builds up, not tears down, those around me. So, in response to all of this I wish to make one point, the point that I believe the apostle Paul makes in his letters of 1 Corinthians and Romans.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses the topic of food sacrificed to idols. Now, this is meat that is dedicated, offered, and consecrated as worship to a pagan deity, a demon. What is worse than partaking of something connected to demon worship? Yet Paul addresses the topic and says that really we know that these "gods" are nothing at all, because there is only one God, and therefore this is just any other kind of meat. However, he draws a distinction. There are some that have no issue with the meat because they don't see anything wrong with it, it's just meat. Others have a problem with the idols and therefore in their eating of that meat feel they are participating in the worship of idols, and so they don't eat. Paul doesn't take a side in the argument, but says that neither is in the wrong. His point is that those who feel free to eat that meat should not encourage their brother/sister who believes otherwise to enter in because for them it is sin.
Paul later makes a similar case in Romans, which I wish to point out. In talking about holy days and foods, Paul makes the distinction between some who decide to celebrate certain days and others who see all days as the same. The same with food and drink. Now, I don't believe that I'm making a stretch here, but I do think that the truth herein is valuable.
"So then, let us aim for harmony in the church, and let us aim to build each other up. Don't tear up the work of God because of what you eat. Remember that all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better to not eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." ~ Romans 14:19-23
So, in what I believe to be the spirit of Paul's words, let us not destroy each other with divisive arguments and accusations. Determine your convictions in regards to these matters, with the whole counsel of scripture. If you believe that Jack-o-lanterns, costumes, and trick or treating is participation in a pagan holiday to celebrate the dead and commune with spirits, by all means do not participate. Please stay true to your convictions and do not compromise your belief in that matter. However, if you see the opposite and have no problem with innocent costumes and parties, then enjoy yourself and be safe.
The point of every day, whether special or regular, is that we honor the LORD. If we celebrate, let us do so with thanksgiving, honoring God with our actions, words, and activities. If we abstain. let us honor the LORD in what we do with our time. I leave this post with the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:16.
I encourage you to live your lives every single day, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Make the most of every opportunity. If you stay home, make a special effort to redeem that time through worship, prayer, intercession, and conversation, should you answer the door to those on their candy rounds, lifting up the name of Jesus and making His light shine in the darkness. If you participate, redeem the time and sanctify the day with your conversation, your dress, your attitude, and action. In all things, live as children of light and let the light of Christ shine brilliantly through all you do.
"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." ~ Colossians 3:17
Oct 20, 2014
Red Letters
"Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light."
Famous first words.
Can you imagine what it was like from God's perspective in that first moment of creation? Here is God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--standing in eternity and nothing else exists. There is no universe, no lights, no substance...nada, zip, zero, nil. Just God and all His infinite bigness.
Out of the silence of that moment God speaks 4 words that set off the most impressive fireworks display ever imagined. Instantaneously from the pitch black of nothingness light burst forth in a dazzling eruption of blinding brightness. Those 4 simple words carried the authority and creative power of God, bringing forth something where there was previously absolutely nothing. That is a power that as a parent I wish I had, the ability to speak and have my son obey instantaneously without thought or rebuttal. Alas, and thankfully, I am not God and don't have that awesome power.
But imagine with me for a second what it must have been like to watch all of creation unfold with just the words coming forth from God's mouth. The words he spoke created light, water, earth, suns, moons, planets, stars, elements, compounds, gases, solids, liquids, comets, black holes, gravity, flora, and fauna. All of those things, the billions and billions of variety in matter that exists in our universe, the majority of which we have yet to discover and likely never will. All brought forth by the word of God.
It's funny because after creation we don't think about the creative, life-giving power of the word of God, but it maintains that same efficacy and authority. Just because creation has ended doesn't mean that God's authoritative, creative voice has lost it's power.
Fast forward to the coming of Jesus. I have read the words in red countless times. I've preached and heard them preached repetitively, but never before have I had this realization. In hearing someone from our church give a personal testimony of God's work in their life in a recent service, they quoted scripture, promises in scripture that they stood upon and saw God's faithfulness in keeping those promises. Suddenly, in the midst of that testimony, something hit my spirit. The words of Christ carry the same authoritative, creative, life-giving, universe creating power.
"I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say." John 12:49-50 (NLT)
Jesus (God the Son) only spoke in line with what God the Father told Him. He spoke with divine authority because He spoke in accordance with the will and direction of the Father. Just a few chapters earlier we read that Jesus admitted to His inability to do anything on His own, but that He only did what He saw the Father doing. His entire human life was consumed with doing and saying what the Father showed Him. He did nothing out of His humanity but worked and spoke out of divine authority and power. That brings new perspective to the red letters in scripture.
When Jesus spoke, He always spoke what the Father led Him to say, how He was led to say it, and when He was led to say it, all with the same creative divine authority and power. So, everything that Jesus spoke carries that same weight, which to me was a revolutionary thought. I have always believed in and stood upon the promises of God, but never thought of it in this same manner before. Each promise isn't just guaranteed because God promised it, but also it carries the creative power of God because His words bring life and bring something from nothing. Those red letters carry that same divine authority and can literally cause nothing from something when we believe and stand upon the Word of God.
Brings back to memory the lyrics of a DC Talk song:
Heed the words divinely spoken
May your restless heart be broken
Let the supernatural take hold
There is love in the red letters
There is truth in the red letters
There is hope for the hopeless
Peace and forgiveness
There is life in the red letters
Famous first words.
Can you imagine what it was like from God's perspective in that first moment of creation? Here is God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--standing in eternity and nothing else exists. There is no universe, no lights, no substance...nada, zip, zero, nil. Just God and all His infinite bigness.
Out of the silence of that moment God speaks 4 words that set off the most impressive fireworks display ever imagined. Instantaneously from the pitch black of nothingness light burst forth in a dazzling eruption of blinding brightness. Those 4 simple words carried the authority and creative power of God, bringing forth something where there was previously absolutely nothing. That is a power that as a parent I wish I had, the ability to speak and have my son obey instantaneously without thought or rebuttal. Alas, and thankfully, I am not God and don't have that awesome power.
But imagine with me for a second what it must have been like to watch all of creation unfold with just the words coming forth from God's mouth. The words he spoke created light, water, earth, suns, moons, planets, stars, elements, compounds, gases, solids, liquids, comets, black holes, gravity, flora, and fauna. All of those things, the billions and billions of variety in matter that exists in our universe, the majority of which we have yet to discover and likely never will. All brought forth by the word of God.
It's funny because after creation we don't think about the creative, life-giving power of the word of God, but it maintains that same efficacy and authority. Just because creation has ended doesn't mean that God's authoritative, creative voice has lost it's power.
Fast forward to the coming of Jesus. I have read the words in red countless times. I've preached and heard them preached repetitively, but never before have I had this realization. In hearing someone from our church give a personal testimony of God's work in their life in a recent service, they quoted scripture, promises in scripture that they stood upon and saw God's faithfulness in keeping those promises. Suddenly, in the midst of that testimony, something hit my spirit. The words of Christ carry the same authoritative, creative, life-giving, universe creating power.
"I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say." John 12:49-50 (NLT)
Jesus (God the Son) only spoke in line with what God the Father told Him. He spoke with divine authority because He spoke in accordance with the will and direction of the Father. Just a few chapters earlier we read that Jesus admitted to His inability to do anything on His own, but that He only did what He saw the Father doing. His entire human life was consumed with doing and saying what the Father showed Him. He did nothing out of His humanity but worked and spoke out of divine authority and power. That brings new perspective to the red letters in scripture.
When Jesus spoke, He always spoke what the Father led Him to say, how He was led to say it, and when He was led to say it, all with the same creative divine authority and power. So, everything that Jesus spoke carries that same weight, which to me was a revolutionary thought. I have always believed in and stood upon the promises of God, but never thought of it in this same manner before. Each promise isn't just guaranteed because God promised it, but also it carries the creative power of God because His words bring life and bring something from nothing. Those red letters carry that same divine authority and can literally cause nothing from something when we believe and stand upon the Word of God.
Brings back to memory the lyrics of a DC Talk song:
Heed the words divinely spoken
May your restless heart be broken
Let the supernatural take hold
There is love in the red letters
There is truth in the red letters
There is hope for the hopeless
Peace and forgiveness
There is life in the red letters
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