The traditions of men

 

Matthew 15:3 “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”

It is inevitable that certain practices will be picked up from the culture in which we live and make its way into our religious gatherings as a church - for instance, Japanese church members might remove their shoes at the entrance to their meeting place. This does not make it wrong in and of itself, as culture is part of our very being, but we need to exercise great discernment to decide whether those cultural influences contribute to the holiness of our worship of God, or detract from it.

Paganism was the dominating religion of the Roman Empire until the fourth century. During the reign of Constantine, many features of paganism were brought into and absorbed by the Christian church. Even though he granted Christians freedom of worship, his actions showed that he held on to his superstitions and beliefs in pagan magic. However, the Christians were so grateful to be granted the right to exercise their religion that the temptation to accept these pagan rituals in their services became too great to resist.

These pagan festivities were given a Christian veneer in the hope of redeeming them from their obvious occultic sources. We can name Easter and Christmas as examples of this, but in a sense, the timing of these festivals has been redeemed by the fact that for thousands of years, many authentic believers have gathered during these times to bring honour and glory to the one true God, and not to the pagan deities that the feasts were originally dedicated to. These believers mostly adhered to the events narrated in the Bible, not using the pagan symbols otherwise associated with these feasts.

Halloween, on the other hand, cannot be redeemed on any level. Not the timing of it, nor the elements thereof. The origin of Halloween lies some 2000 years ago in the Celtic celebration of Samhain. Absolutely all the traditions associated with the modern Halloween celebrations can be traced back to these ancient occultic spiritual festivities and beliefs, all bringing honour and glory to the devil and his evil spirits by firstly celebrating them, and then by giving in and bowing before their presumed power over human beings. (Only presumed power, because the truth is that at Calvary they became a defeated, disarmed enemy!)

The most damaging effect of this tradition on our children is the polluting of their minds and the defiling of their innocent imaginations, instilling fear instead of teaching them that fear is not from God and therefore is subject to His presence and power in their lives.

God very clearly states His commandment regarding our participation in feasts honouring the evil one, in 1 Cor 10:21 “You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.” And in Eph 5:11 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

Points to ponder:  Is Halloween contributing to your holy worship of God? You have a decision to make here: are you going to dishonour God for the sake of your traditions?

In Christ alone