I’m going to be real honest with you. I have no idea where or when Halloween originated.
I really don’t care to know. Is that terrible?
To us, Halloween is a fun day for the kids to dress up and get candy from our neighbors.
I told Doug it kind of reminds me of the passage in the Bible when the disciples are arguing about whether they can eat meat that was sacrificed in the temples to other gods (see 1 Corinthians 8). Basically, they decided that they didn’t believe in those other ‘gods’ so the meat being sacrificed to them meant nothing. The passage also says, however, that you should not be a stumbling block to the weak. The only 'others' that seem to care if we celebrate Halloween or not are not ones that seem to be prone to stumbling.
Holidays are what you make them.
Some people celebrate Christmas in a completely secular way. Absolutely no mention of Christ. Does this bother me? Only if they are Christian.
I know this astounds some of you.
Yelling about non-Christians not including Christ in Christmas is yelling about what we’re against rather than what we’re for. People are not going to behave in a manner which honors Christ if they don’t have Christ in their lives.
Do I want my non-Christian friends to put their faith in Jesus? Absolutely! What good does telling them they can’t celebrate Christmas because it is a ‘Christian’ holiday do?
How about let’s show them Christ on Christmas.
Invest in someone’s life.
Sacrifice something valuable to you (ours would be time) to give to them. Show them love. Real love.
Give until it hurts.
It should be so obvious that they will ask why you do what you do. And when they do – none of this ‘my actions are my testimony’ crap. Use words too. Tell them:
Jesus invested.
Jesus sacrificed.
Jesus loved.
Jesus gave until it hurt.
You won't see the Sigmons yelling at anyone else because of how much money they spend, how caught up they are in making sure every single person they know has a gift, how many Christmas decorations they can get it. Instead, we're going to spend Christmas focusing on 'Why *We* Celebrate Christmas'. And we'd love it if you'd join us!
3 comments:
Ok, just to clarify... did your neighbor actually yell at you? Or was this just their kid repeating what he knows to be true?
I can totally see what you're saying. If you don't believe it's a wicked holiday, then no harm no foul. But the problem is that once you DO know what it means, where it originated, and why certain practices are still in place... well then, you have to figure out where you stand. You're now held accountable, and you can't claim that you were ignorant.
The thing with Halloween is that it puts Christians in an awkward spot. A lot (including my parents) just choose to enjoy fall festivals and not partake in Halloween stuff at all. Others decide it's a harmless way to bum candy off of your neighbors. And then there are the ones that think if you're involved at all, you must be a practicing witch. :)
It all boils down to this: we're called to be a light in this dark world. We're also called to be IN this world and not of it. The Bible also says for us to not even give off the appearance of evil. And you have to be careful not to get desensitized by stuff. Just because the rest of America thinks that gory movies are great doesn't mean Christians should watch them. Knowing what the holiday represents and that there are still people who practice it (the original version, not the seasonal commercialized kind), I have a hard time being a light while allowing my kid to dress up as something that represents evil. But I also try not to take so seriously.
So Noah is allowed to go trick-or-treating, but he's not allowed to dress up as anything considered evil or ugly. No axe murderers, no vampires, and no devils/ghosts/etc. No horror films, haunted houses... you get the drift. I also don't go around preaching the evils of Halloween. If someone asks me, then sure, I'll tell them. I don't make it my mission every October to make people feel like crap if they dress up and get candy. :)
ps. You should totally tell Jeremy to tell your neighbor's kid that Christmas and Easter are of the devil (since they have pagan roots too). lol. And this whole "Why We Celebrate" is a good idea. Go read my friend Jess's blog (Dude and Sweeties) from today. She did one just like this. :)
I am of the "share the good news, use words if necessary" thought. I agree that our actions should speak the most about what we do, and only when someone asks why we do what we do, then are the words necessary.
I have a good friend that is a pastor in TN. He got all bent out of shape over the Twilight stuff, saying we are encouraging kids to dabble in witchcraft and satan worship. I have the most problem with those movies/books because the "heroin" thinks she cannot live without a man and would rather die than be without him. I don't see anything wrong with the vampire part, because I think you can explain those things much easier to kids and let them know that is comes from an evil place, but that most things we see about them are just dress up and make believe. It's much harder to teach your children they have their own self worth and that all they need is God and family to have a fulfilling life. Not a boyfriend/girlfriend. I just think that most people make too big a deal about things, and as long as we are teaching our children in the way they should be taught, the world can do as they wish. We are to set an example, but not to constantly condemn a world which has already been condemned. It's love and caring that bring others in, not condemnation and criticism. Just my thoughts.
I hope you all are well. We missed seeing you at Thanksgiving, but maybe we can catch up sometime again.
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