Yes, this is quite strange, but my main thought concerns the nature of Halloween. Is the believer participating in the table of demons (1 Cor 10. 18-22) when he (or she for you TNIV freaks) participates in Halloween. Or is Halloween a Christian liberty issue or a command issue--we are not to participate in the table of demons. There are several issues in this discussion so I will list a few.
(1) Halloween is a pagan festival at its roots, or so I have been told. So participation in a pagan festival becomes questionable. Since the festival is sourced in darkness, is the believer to abstain? Some respond that Paul only condemns participation and not association, so that in Halloween no Christian is necessarily eating and participating at the temple so it is all right to trick or treat.
(2) Can we redeem this pagan festival for the Gospel without violating the Scripture-if indeed the Scripture explicitly forbids Halloween. So can I pass out my chic tract and my tootsie rolls, or must I turn off the lights and use some candles? Or can I actually dress my children with the Scream masks and go introduce myself to all the people in my immediate community to build a love bridge to my community?
(3) Churches--don't you love all the alternative festivals? For me, if you are going to participate it must be in a redemptive way. I was at one of these the other day and it was ridiculous. They charged money for people to use the blow up toys. They charged for drinks and chili. Now this church is a mega church and you would think that they could budget a few more bucks to provide for the community. But how missional can you be when you charge people money and Jesus never shows up at the event? These church events usually just become alternatives for Christian teens as opposed to missional ministry of reaching unsaved teenagers.
(4) My conclusion--Use this event for redemptive purposes, be missional in your activity this Halloween. Just don't go to any temple and eat and participate in a pagan ceremony because we eat at the table of the Lord.
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4 comments:
Thank you for giving us "TNIV Freaks" a shout out.
You already know my thoughts on Halloween. Can I expect a post on Easter?
Scott,
Thanks for the post. Halloween is one of those "holidays" that us from a conservative background by default place under the "abomination" category. Some of us even were raised to merely enjoy it as a neutral holiday without granting one shred of consideration for its pagan background or modern interpretation. In the end, we all must critically engage such an event for the purpose of the gospel. We need to do the arduous task of praying, thinking, and talking in community so that the gospel can go forth at the same time it is not stained by this festival. Thanks, again!!
When I saw the title of this post in my google reader screen, I assumed you were referring to the blogosphere...on further inspection I realized I was deceived. I say plunder the Egyptians and take em for all the candy they got. Ditto on the TNIV freaks.
Hey guys thanks for the comments--make me feel like it is almost worth while to post--to have three people reply. One is even in India--so i am wicked popular! I even had the only two TNIV (well three because of me, of course)freaks in the world respond to me. Did you know that Lifeway will not even sell the TNIV? Come on SBC.
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