While the catalyst, the tipping point, was Halloween and whether or not we as Christians have any business to be celebrating it no matter how much we "dress it down" to feel better about things, the core issue is what it has always been with me.
Let me be clear. I'm a hypocrite. I've been living like a hypocrite for far too long and never realized it until this week. No, not just about Halloween, but about so many other things in my life (certain thoughts, feelings, actions, behaviors, etc.) that I allowed to take root in my life and in my family even though I should know better. In that sense, I have failed my Lord, my wife, my children, my family, my friends, all of you, and myself.
The Bible is clear when it warns us...
HEBREWS 10:26-29 (NIV) "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
This is what the unpardonable sin ultimately accomplishes.
Through willfully practicing sin, the sinner rejects the very basis of his covenant with God - the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If one deeply appreciates and values His sacrifice, he will not willfully practice the very actions that made that sacrifice necessary.
God forgives with the understanding that the one forgiven has turned from sin and will continue to overcome it. That's what repentance is all about. It is not just changing one's mind about sin and getting to the point where you intellectually know what God says about what He considers "right" and what He considers "wrong". Repentance is taking that new knowledge and then actively TURNING AWAY from such things!
I haven't been doing that like I thought I was for so long and so this harsh reality that He's just now bringing to light is impacting me greatly. Praise the Lord for that!
When God designed this creation, He considered His purpose along with our free-moral agency, right? He concluded that He had to devise a payment for sin so profound in its implications that the heirs of salvation (that's you and me), out of overwhelming gratitude, would drive themselves (ourselves) from sin.
Such a price of redemption could not be the death of any common person or animal, for these have neither the worth nor the ability to pay for all sin. Only the sacrifice of the sinless God-man, Jesus Christ, could meet these qualifications.
Read those verses above again please. What we see in Hebrews 10:26-29 is the end of a person who, by the very conduct of his life, reveals his pitiful assessment of that sacrifice. The author makes a three-fold indictment against this person. First, they repudiate the oath taken at baptism. Second, they contemptuously reject Christ. Third, they commit an insulting outrage against the merciful judgment of God. I don't want to be that person any longer!
Sure, no one will ever live a perfect life. The only One who could and who did was Jesus Christ Himself. But what do we read in the Scriptures folks?
We read over and over again about how we are to AT LEAST TRY, right? We should try and strive to become more like Him from the very moment we become born again to our last dying breath!
Yes, we will stumble along the way and fall into sin every now and then, but that shouldn't mean that we ever stop trying to live obediently to Him. God forbid! We must simply try to walk-the-walk and not just talk-the-talk or else our faith is worthless.
This is not some "Works Based Theology" I'm writing to all of you about today. It's pure, unadulterated Biblical truth my friends!
JAMES 2:17 (NIV)" In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
JAMES 2:20 (NIV) "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?"
JAMES 2:26 (NIV) "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
See what I mean? And we haven't even looked at the "BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM" verses either!
So my response to Halloween today has been to ask the following key questions...
"Is Halloween that important? What is so valuable about costumes and pumpkins and candy that it can't be renounced for this God who loves us so much? I've read articles in which people say things like, "I'm not going to let Satan take away my fun." What is Satan's "fun" except another name for "sin"? What is Satan's "fun" compared to the joy of the Lord?"
The natural response I've received from loved ones has been one of a mocking condescension. Yes, even from self-proclaimed "Christians" believe it or not. What they fail to realize is that it's not me they're mocking; it's God and His holy Word.
To reply to such critical questions like the ones I wrote above in jest with things like...
"Jeff, you celebrated Halloween and you turned out just fine. You're a Christian. So, what's the big deal? Is anyone really going to go to Hell because they trick-or-treat one night of the year? It's not like people are handing out Satanic Bibles or teaching the kids spells when they go around to each door. Stop trying to steal the fun from your kid's lives! They only get to live once! They only have one childhood anyway! Besides, if you build the proper Christian foundation then what do you have to worry about then?"
Where do I even begin? My heart broke to hear such things.
My kids are 4 and 5 years old. I agree 100% about "building the proper Christian foundation", but the irony is that that's PRECISELY what I'm trying to do here. How can no one see that?
How can anyone lecture me about how to raise my own children that God entrusted into my specific care for Him and His purposes? I have a right and a responsibility to lead by example and teach them the truth regardless of what others think.
Plus, aren't I still building that "Christian foundation" with them being as young as they are? You bet I am! People have made it sound like it's already built when I'm trying to teach them now what I want them to think, what God Himself thinks, about certain things like Halloween.
As "Christians", how does any of what the Scriptures say about things connected to Halloween not make you feel even SLIGHTLY guilty? How does it not make you want to at least explore the topic and discuss it further?
Forget about the Scriptures for a moment. What about the FACT that people and animals around the world will be kidnapped, abused, tortured, and used in Satanic ritual sacrifice today and tonight? I hate to break it to ya, but Satan is just as real as God is, and there are MILLIONS of people out there (some even in your own local community) who are practicing Occultists/Pagans/Satanists/Wiccans and they do these types of things ON THIS DAY because it's what their twisted belief system and god tells them to do. You're ok with that though, right? As long as you or your kids don't do it it's fine then, right? Wrong.
All I'm trying to do is share the truth so that I don't have to answer to God about why I let my dear loved ones continue to go on thinking something that wasn't true when I should've known better. It's not like I've gone around and every time Halloween came up this past week I made a comment about it or sounded off on all the verses that speak about this.
No! I made one innocent comment ("You know, I'm really feeling guilty about celebrating Halloween for a number of reasons and think we should maybe talk about it some...") and World War III erupted. It hurts, but it's not surprising. I get it. I know that we're told to expect such things. It just stings even more because it's not coming from strangers, but it's coming from family and friends.
Look, it will be on me one day if I simply sit back and never say a word about stuff like this. I'll be held accountable and will have to answer to God myself if I just keep my mouth shut to avoid causing an argument or offending people. Gosh, Christianity is offensive! That's the point here.
To hear and see people (loved ones even!) make a joke and mock me (mock God's Word) for being concerned in the first place, is so sad and frustrating. It breaks my heart in two. To put them, or my own personal comfort level first would've been putting things before God, and, as a Christian, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a son-in-law, a brother-in-law, and a friend I cannot give in when I know something is wrong. I just can't and won't. I had to make a stand this time.
Like I said, Halloween is just the catalyst here. What this all boils down to is what EVERY SINFUL ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR boils down to, and it's at the root of the hypocrisy in my own personal life that I opened this piece with.
What is at the root? Are we living by our will or His will? Who is sovereign in this life we've been given? Is it the Creator or the creation?
PAUL WASHER: ARE YOU DOING GOD'S WILL OR YOUR OWN WILL?
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Washer's so right! When he said, "THE MOST DANGEROUS PRAYER YOU CAN PRAY IS, 'LORD, MAKE ME LIKE JESUS CHRIST!'... IT'S PRACTICALLY CALLING A DEATH SENTENCE UPON YOURSELF", well, I can COMPLETELY identify with his assertion. It's true. Believe me.
Listening to that I'm reminded of my own wretched state despite how others might view me. Thank the Lord for bringing me to the truth and I thank Him for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
See, that's another thing. I don't want anyone to think that because of my stance on this issue today that I'm somehow suggesting that I'm better than everyone else. God forbid!
This past week has been one where the Lord is revealing all the wickedness that exists in my life that He wants me to deal with once and for all so that I too can stop living like a hypocrite. That's the message here.
We need to be willing to hold ourselves up to His Word and see what it reveals about us even if we detest what we see. Why? Because that's what will prove to us our need for a Savior from our sins, and what will force us to our knees in genuine, humble repentance to Jesus Christ over our sins. We need to regularly examine ourselves like we're commanded to, right? Of course we are.
But again, getting back to Halloween for a moment, if we call ourselves Christians then how can we not feel at least the slightest tinge of guilt over a day like today especially in light of the 5-minute message we just heard that goes hand-in-hand with this discussion?
I AM NOT ASHAMED OF GOD, OR OF HIS WORD, OR OF HOW LIVING THE WAY HE WANTS US TO WILL MAKE ME LOOK TO THE WORLD, WHICH IS WHY I NO LONGER CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF ME AND MY VIEWS ABOUT HALLOWEEN. I AM LIVING FOR HIS APPROVAL - NOT MAN'S APPROVAL, NOT MY FAMILY'S APPROVAL. PEOPLE CAN THINK WHAT THEY WANT AND SAY WHAT THEY WANT, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? AT THE END OF THE DAY, I WANT MY KIDS TO SEE THAT THEIR FATHER TAKES HIS FAITH SERIOUSLY SO MUCH SO THAT HE IS ACTUALLY WILLING TO WALK-THE-WALK (AND NOT JUST TALK-THE-TALK) NO MATTER THE PERSONAL COST! OTHERWISE, MY FAITH IS A SHAM BECAUSE I'M NOT WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE FOR IT OR FOR THE ONE WHO SAVED ME AND GAVE ME ETERNAL LIFE.
I'm sorry that others near and dear to me might think that I'm such a "buzzkill" or "killjoy" or "crazy Christian" because of my views on this. I really am. I will continue to pray that God opens their hearts and minds to the truth.
I didn't know that not carving pumpkins, not going out trick-or-treating, or not getting candy would ruin my kids' lives and steal all the fun out of it.
I didn't know that "having fun" and not "pursuing righteousness" was the purpose of the Christian life. I didn't know that reading my Bible and trying to do what it tells me was so yesterday. Chalk another heresy up to the "Purpose-Driven Life" crowd I suppose who are living in "The Shack".
I love my family and I love my kids. That's the whole point! It's why I decided to finally be courageous on this front this year instead of burying my head in the sand like in year's past.
I love them all, and they know that. But I pray that they don't continue to ask me to turn my back on God or His Word because I'll never do that. Whatever the cost, right?
Strangely enough, I'm now feeling closer to God than I have in quite a long time. Sad and beautiful at the same time.
I pray that this is the beginning of Him putting me on His true path for my life. I pray that He continues to shape me into the Christian He wants me to be.
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