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CHRISTIANIZING
SECULAR CUSTOMS
Some believers who discover the pagan origins of these customs, find themselves struggling with celebrating them as Christian holidays. They imagine God is dishonored when naïve Christians participate in customs that were once associated with darkness. Why then, do Christians feel the liberty to participate in such customs? Christians celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter without tinge of conscience for several reasons: 1. Most American Christians are ignorant of any pagan connections to these holidays, so freely participate, believing they are doing so to the glory of God. Those who do understand the pagan origins believe that the customs are non-moral and harmless in themselves, and therefore, view participation as expressions of Christian liberty that are inconsequential to God. They recognize that for some it is about evil or materialism, but for them and their families it is about edification or innocent fun. Rom 14:5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 2. They view these customs, with their pagan connections, to be exactly like eating meat offered to idols, therefore, permissible. Paul instructed early believers that just because meat had been dedicated by a pagan butcher to an idol (had pagan origins), there was no direct harm in eating the meat. Meat was just meat and could be eaten without fear of offending God or becoming spiritually corrupted. (On our freedom to eat meat offered to idols read 1 Cor 10:14-33 & Rom 14:1-15:7.) Rom 14:14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 1 Cor 10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." 3. They believe that the exercise of liberty is a reflection of the grace of the gospel – a sign of freedom from legalism. Paul specifically instructed us that whenever we choose to engage in a liberty like eating food with evil origins, we are to do so to the glory of God and with a thankful heart. 1 Cor 10:30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 4. They view these customs as opportunities to connect with society and advance the kingdom of God. For them – what was originally meant for evil God is using for good. Gen 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. The modern church has many customs that were borrowed from the world, but which give opportunity for believers to advance the kingdom of God, ie: > The custom of churches meeting in church buildings, rather than homes, was adopted from the pagan religious traditions of Rome. In the 4th when Christianity was declared the only acceptable religion in the Roman Empire, pagan temples were converted into “churches.” > The practice of sitting in chairs or pews lined up to face the front was adopted directly from pagan temples in 326 AD. > Martin Luther wrote many hymns, such as “A Mighty Fortress” and took their melodies from beer drinking songs of his day, because the common people were familiar with them. Since then, many other secular tunes have been borrowed for hymns. > Contemporary or rock style of music has been adapted and christianized. In the words of Larry Norman, “Why should the devil have all the good music?’ > The idea of segregating children from adults for church gatherings was an idea taken not from Jesus (Mat 19:13-14), but from 19th century American education leader, Horace Mann. > The idea of separating out teens for “youth groups” never existed until the 1930’s, and developed from the philosophies of sociologist, G. Stanley Hall, who based his ideas on Darwinism. > The radical idea of putting an Art Gallery or a coffee shop inside a building where a church gathers is offensive to many believers, but for those who do it, it is a valid outreach to the world. > Selling books and tapes in the fellowship is an efficient way to provide believers materials, but might be equated by some with allowing moneychangers in the temple. > Pictures of Jesus in children’s Sunday school materials have proven to be effective in communicating the gospel, but offend some who construe them to be graven images. > Etc, etc, etc... 5. They believe that modern culture is so permeated with pagan-based traditions, that to become obsessed with identifying and eliminating every one can easily become a Phariseeistic preoccupation with cleaning up the outside of the cup, and will totally distract from what really matters to God (2 Cor 11:3; Rom 14:17; Col 2:20-23), ie: 1. The days of the week are named after pagan gods: Sunday is named after the sun god, Monday after the moon god, Thursday after Thor, Saturday after Saturn, etc. 2. The names of the months are based on pagan gods and festivities: January is named after Janus – the Roman god of gates and doorways, February is named after Februa -- the Roman festival of purification, etc. 3. Our use of exclamations such as “gee whiz”, “golly” or “oh my” were once substitutes or abbreviations for swearing. 4. Our custom of shaking hands as a friendly greeting is based on a time in history when men might kill a stranger. In medieval days a man offered his weapon hand empty to show that although he had potential to kill, at that moment he was not an immediate threat. SYMBOLIC RESPECT One of the reasons people are motivated to abstain from pagan-based customs is that participation would seem to show dishonor to God. Parents must make choices for themselves and their children regarding demonstrations of honor for God – abstaining from certain holidays may be one of those choices. However, we must be careful if we are preoccupied with identifying and then avoiding everything in our culture that might possibly hint at what we think is dishonor for God, although not directly mentioned in Scripture. This preoccupation with “symbolic respect” for God can be a slippery slope. Some find it easy, once they start identifying the pagan or evil roots of cultural customs, to become consumed with trying to show God respect by avoiding every questionable custom. For example, if one discovers that each of the days of the week is named after a pagan god, must we then stop using those names? Does God truly feel dishonored because we call Sunday “Sunday” or call Monday “Monday,” etc? Should we begin to chastise our children for using exclamations like “gee whiz”, “golly” or “oh my” even though their motives are innocent? This path is never-ending. Once we start trying to avoid everything with historical roots that probably might dishonor God, the journey becomes consuming. Ask yourself, do you really think God feels dishonored because a new believer tries to clean up his language and exclaims “Oh, my!” instead of uttering something profane? I have seen many groups prune their ministries of holidays such as Christmas and Easter, as well as, each of the items on the foregoing list, including saying “gee wiz” and “golly.” When they started meeting in homes, got completely rid of these things, and the dust settled, they were no godlier than when they started. In fact, most of the groups were more self-righteous and judgmental.
PAUL’S CAUTIONS 1. Don’t violate your conscience. Paul did caution us to avoid eating meat offered to idols if we are weak in conscience and imagine it is offensive to God. Such actions would be a violation of our malformed conscience, and would be a sin against God. Rom 14:14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. Rom 14:23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. 2. Avoid stumbling others. Although exercising liberty is permissible, Paul also cautioned us not to do so in front of a weaker brother who believes it is wrong, lest he be stumbled. To stumble (skandalizo) a brother does not mean to disturb, insult, or offend his sensibilities. Neither does it mean to give him cause to judge you. It means only one thing – by your example to entice him to violate his conscience, and thereby sin. Stumble skandalizo, skan-dal-id'-zo: to entrap, ie: to trip up or stumble; entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure (Rom 14:21; 1 Cor 8:13) 1 Cor 10:24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Cor 10:27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake -- 29 the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours... Rom 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way ... 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Rom 14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. If a brother tells us he is offended by our exercise of liberty, yet does not mean he is tempted to sin, he should be instructed to repent of his judgmental attitude. If he confronts us about our liberty, because he views it as a clear violation of God’s revealed will in Scripture, then let him show where the specific custom is prohibited in Scripture. If he offers no clear prohibitions, but has drawn his conclusions based merely upon a process of rational deduction and speculation about what offends God, he is showing symptoms of Phariseeism. One of the defining traits of the Pharisees was their habit of creating moral and spiritual standards based on a process of deduction from Scripture. Pharisees set up their own standards and held others accountable to them. They based all their standards for Israel upon their ideas of “symbolic respect” – that is, upon those things they speculated were offensive to God. Interestingly enough, those who do not feel free to eat meat offered to idols are regarded by God not as spiritually strong, but as weak in faith. We must not take pride in our perspective of Christian liberty and sit in judgment of those who don’t share our “insight.” In disputable matters each believer is personally accountable to God. Rom 14:2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Rom 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11 It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. It is a principle of basic Bible hermeneutics that God wrote the Bible and included in it everything we absolutely need for living the Christian life. Doctrines upon which He wanted his people to build their faith, He gave clearly with explicit instruction. Moral standards or church practices He regarded as significant, He laid out in clearly stated commands. Whatever He deemed important He stated directly and emphasized by recurring themes. We must understand that God left nothing out of the Bible. This means that even after watching the modern American church, He doesn't wish that He had made a better distinction between liberty and immorality. 3. Don’t help others to violate their consciences. Many people are ignorant of any pagan connections to cultural customs, so approach the holidays with purely spiritual motives. Their consciences remain clear until a weaker brother acquaints them with the original pagan connections. Then they may be tempted to feel guilt. Since the area of liberty by itself is neither bad nor good, Paul said it is better to go ahead and participate without discussing the pagan origins. Rom 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 1 Cor 10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake ... 27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without asking questions for the sake of conscience. 4. Make the Glorification of God your goal. Whenever engaging in a liberty like eating food with evil origins, Paul says to be certain we do so to the glory of God and with a thankful heart. 1 Cor 10:30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 5. Beware of self-righteousness. Do not take pride in your perspective of Christian liberty and sit in judgment of those who don’t share your “insight.” In disputable matters each believer is personally accountable to God. Rom 14:2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:10 You, then,
why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother?
For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11 It is written: "'As
surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every
tongue will confess to God.'" 12 So then, each of us will give an account
of himself to God. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON CHRISTMASAre Christmas trees forbidden in the Bible?Some Christians argue that the Christmas tree is plainly prohibited in Jeremiah 10:2-4. However, a close look at the passage shows that it has nothing to do with Christmas trees and everything to do with carving wood into idols. “This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.” The clue to the passage’s meaning is found in verse 3: “…a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.” God was warning Israel, as verses 3-10 clarify, about cutting down trees and carving them into idols. He was not prohibiting bringing trees into homes as plants for decorations, nor was He forbidding their use as part of a celebration in His honor. Verse 8 specifically calls them “worthless wooden idols.” Unless someone is carving their Christmas tree into an idol and worshipping it, this passage has no relevance. The custom of the Christmas tree does not have roots which go back as far as Old Testament Israel, but it is a Christian custom dating back as far as the 8th century. At that time, Boniface, an English missionary in Germany, replaced sacrifices to the god Odin's sacred oak with a fir tree adorned in tribute to Christ. Centuries later, Martin Luther popularized the Christmas tree lighted with candles. Whether the custom began with Boniface or Luther, we know the Christmas tree has distinctly Christian roots.
If we celebrate Christ’s birth, what part does Santa Claus have?
A long time ago, a Christian pastor named
Nicholas lived in what is now the country of Turkey. Little is known about
him, except that he often gave gifts to children and families in need.
Even while imprisoned for his faith he was known for his sacrificial love
to his fellow prisoners.
If it is Jesus’ birthday, why give gifts to one another? For centuries, celebrating a great man’s birth has been a way of honoring him. (Gen 40:20; Mark 6:21). Christmas is a celebration of Christ’s birth. Since Christ taught that the way we express love to him is to love others, on the day we celebrate his birthday we honor him by giving gifts to others. QUESTIONS ON HALLOWEEN Just as Christmas and Easter were originally pagan holidays, so also was Halloween. Is it permissible for believers to participate in Halloween celebrations? Some believers say NO -- they avoid anything associated with Halloween. They view it as a corrupt human tradition to which we are not to be conformed. Rom 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Some believers say YES -- they view Halloween as a non-moral expression of Christian liberty, like eating meat offered to idols. They understand its pagan roots, but believe that it is presently a harmless celebration that does not offend God. 1 Cor 10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." For what reasons do some Christians avoid Halloween or “Harvest” celebrations? 1 Cor 10:23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 1. Individual Halloween customs may presently be innocuous in themselves, but they are based on the superstition, paganism, demonism, and human sacrifice of past centuries. 2. It is still typified by mostly evil imagery, ie: witches, ghosts, goblins, demons, vampires, etc. 3. Occultists, such as witches, warlocks, Wiccans, and spiritists throughout the world still revere it as a high holiday, and the best day for the practice of their magic arts. They still view it as their holiday, and our participation might suggest to them that we celebrate along with them. 4. They believe a light-hearted view of evil desensitizes people to the sobriety which holiness deserves Ex 3:5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain … a. The ease with which unbelievers adorn themselves in costumes of the occult reflects how lightly they take Satan and his realm, ie: few would dress their children up as Osama bin Laden. b. The occult must not be taken lightly. God regards involvement as such a serious issue to Him that those who indulge will be cast into the Lake of Fire. He names those who indulge in the occult along with: idolaters, demon-worshippers, murderers, fornicators, thieves, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, and all liars (Rev 9:20-21; 21:8, 15) 5. They feel that associating themselves with a custom once connected to darkness is inconsistent with their effort to honor the God of Light. a. Israelites were instructed to completely avoid all occult involvement Deu 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. (Lev 19:26; 20:6) b. God takes occultism so seriously that under the Old Covenant, He decreed that practitioners of occultism were to be executed Lev 20:27 "'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'" (Also Ex 22:18) c. To New Testament believers occultism was listed among the fruits of the flesh, and they were instructed to separate themselves from all such darkness Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions Eph 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 2 Cor 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." d. Believers, at great expense, forsook everything that tied them to their former occult practices Acts 19:19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 6. For Israel, serving the true God meant not adapting pagan practices in their worship of Him. a. God had told the Israelites to destroy all the pagan “high places” when they entered the Promised Land, because they would foster idol worship. Israelites were not to worship there, but were to worship only at Shiloh (Josh 18:1; 1 Sam. 1:3). b. Israel went into spiritual decline, because instead of destroying the high places, they adapted them for worship (Num 33:51; 2 Chr 33:1-17; 2 Kings 18:4, 22) Why do Christians feel the liberty to participate in Halloween or “Harvest” celebrations? 1. They view Halloween as a morally neutral, harmless cultural custom. > No call to immorality > No sin in dressing up > No sin in giving or receiving candy 2. They view it as a non-moral expression of Christian liberty, like eating meat offered to idols. Since the activities are innocuous, its pagan origins are regarded as irrelevant. 3. They believe it is only one of many modern American traditions with pagan roots, which, if obsessively pursued and avoided, could totally distract from what really matters to God. How might a believer spend the evening of Halloween who wants to avoid the celebration? Here are 4 possibilities: 1. Not in fear 2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 2. Offer a tract and candy to those who knock on your door 3. Gather with others for prayer and worship 4. No different than any other evening Two cautions for those who want to abstain from Halloween 1. If you decide you do not want your family to participate in Halloween or church Harvest parties, that is certainly understandable considering its history. However, when we make a choice to forsake cultural customs, we must be careful of becoming Pharisees. If you recall, Pharisees created extra-biblical standards and judged others by them. Jesus rebuked them for their judgments, and for preoccupying themselves with avoiding spiritual corruption and cleaning up the outside (Mat 23:26; Col 2:21). Jesus emphasized the importance of cleaning up the inside of a person, allowing a clean heart to be the source of outside changes. Halloween is not specifically condemned in Scripture and therefore remains an issue of Christian liberty. Beware of sitting in judgment over any believers who choose to participate. 2. Be careful of becoming over-reliant on sheltering. Many people are highly conscientious in their parenting and protect their children from seemingly innocent, yet dangerous influences in American culture. Sheltering is good. Sheltering is necessary. However, we must realize that some young people have attended public school, watched TV, listened to secular music, and attended Halloween parties, yet have entered their adult years in purity and fully devoted to Christ, while many highly sheltered children have grown up to forsake the faith of their parents. It is important to understand that although sheltering is a critical element of effective parenting, massive quantities of sheltering is not a cure by itself. Raising children to walk in purity and to love God results more from parents who are contagious with a sincere faith than from parents who majored on protecting from spiritual corruption. Many well-meaning parents are consumed with keeping their children away from whatever they speculate might dishonor God, but in doing so they fail to present an attractive faith to their children. Such children often grow up with the picture that Christianity is chiefly about avoiding “harmful” stuff. This type of faith is not the beautiful faith presented by our Lord. He preached holiness and eternal judgment like no one else, yet he attracted to himself the worst of sinners. He blasted the Pharisees for their preoccupation with what they thought honored or dishonored God, as well as for their legalistic view of avoiding corruption, but the prostitutes, tax collectors, and other “sinners” felt safe with him. As parents we must be careful of misrepresenting the gospel of our Savior to our children. If we want them to follow Christ into their adult years it is critical that they find in us the love of the Savior.
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