Every year Christians face a cultural dilemma, beautifully articulated by a 5-year-old boy's announcement to his parents upon returning home from school one day.
"Mom and Dad, Jesus hates Halloween!" Then, pausing, he mumbled, "But He likes it a little bit, doesn't He?"
And therein lies the conundrum of the Christ follower -- what to do with Halloween. Traditionally, Christians and anything related to the horror genre have not mixed well. Like oil and vinegar. Church and State. Alcohol and tattoos.
Some Christians even go so far as to claim Halloween is, in reality "Devil's Birthday." Really? Never mind the Bible doesn't say that. Note to self: File under "Christian Superstitions."
What that little boy was really trying to communicate was, "Mom and Dad, can I dress up like a pirate and get some candy this Friday night?"
But the dilemma remains concerning this perennial predicament. What are Christians supposed to do with the hoopla and festivities surrounding this evil holiday? Are we to ignore it? Pretend it doesn't exist? Lob "Gospel Grenades" of condemnation at those who celebrate it? Hand out religious pamphlets instead of candy to trick or treaters? Or offer an alternative, like a Harvest Festival, Fall Carnival or even "Reformation Day Celebration"?
Unfortunately, many people's only exposure to Christianity is when the "religious right" is condemning or complaining about something -- culturally or politically. However, that's changing in a lot of communities. Christians are waking up and engaging culture instead of merely vilifying it. The apostle Paul was a master at observing culture and redeeming it for God's purposes -- using customs, practices -- even idols and quotes from secular poets to illustrate biblical truth. While in Athens, he used a pagan Greek word for 'God' (theos) to build a verbal bridge communicating who the true God (Jehovah) was (Acts 17:23).
In reality, a lot of church members are huge fans of the horror genre in books and movies, and untold numbers wait with baited breath to catch the highly anticipated second season of AMC's The Walking Dead (or TiVo-ing it to watch after Sunday night Church).
Enter a new book: "The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook: Slaying the Living Dead Within." Officially releasing this week worldwide, the title is sure to arouse curiosity, combining two seemingly contradictory terms. I wrote this book, in part because I've always been a fan of the horror genre. But anther dilemma: how to reconcile that to my faith without compromising or stretching the truth?
As it turns out, that part was easy as zombies are a powerful metaphor paralleling a core theological truth. George Romero, legendary director and godfather of zombie films, has said, "I've always liked the monster within idea. I like the zombies being us."
Bingo, George. And that's precisely why zombies are so disturbing. We see a mirror of humanity when looking into their dark sockets. They're messy, smelly and they want to consume our flesh and brains. They don't go away just because you wish it so. They don't even stop chasing you when you shoot them, unless of course you shoot them in the head. They're just pure evil and you never know when they're going to lumber up behind you and bite a bloody hunk of meat out of your trapezoid muscle.
But back to the idea of "stinky Christians." The bite of this zombie metaphor cuts even deeper now. There's a spiritual parallel in their insatiable craving for self-satisfaction. The Bible describes this as the "old man" or "old self" (Rom 6:6), also commonly referred to as the "sin nature." It's the part of us that resists God and runs from Him. It even hates Him. It's the immaterial, mystical part of our soul that wants our own way over God's way. And though as Christians this evil entity has no legal authority over us anymore (Rom 6:6-11), we still feel it creeping up on us. Like, every day.
This creates tension. And confusion. And frustration. But Christianity typically avoids messiness. We don't like friction in our faith. We prefer order and predictability. Smooth sailing is our journey of choice. But God likes to throw a wrench in the gears every now and then, to challenge us. To get us to think. To engage. And to find new ways to live out faith our in the marketplace. In doing this, we Christians discover we aren't really any "better" than anyone else. This zombie inside us smells as putrid as any portrayed by Hollywood. And though we have accepted Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf (Col 1:13-14), we still struggle with many of the same temptations and sins as the rest of humanity (Rom 7:15-25). We become acutely aware of an inner beast that constantly moans and gnaws at our spirit.
The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook offers escape, survival and a win over the zombie inside. This book shows you how to slay the living dead within. With its unique blend of fiction, graphic novel inspired illustrations, and spiritual guidance, it delivers a fresh, relevant look at the doctrines of sin, grace, salvation and the inner conflict we all face.
In the end, this annual Fall dilemma is much deeper than culture, Halloween, TV shows and trick or treating. The real issue is "What do I do with this rotting corpse?"
Christians and Halloween - What Does the Bible Say About ...
Matters of Opinion: Hallowing Halloween | Christianity Today | A ...
Halloween/All Saints' Day - Holidays
HALLOWEEN: FROM AN EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Should Christians participate in Halloween? • ChristianAnswers.Net
Closed circuit to my fellow Christians: Could we all take a moment and study Romans 14? esp. verse 13a: "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another." [NIV]
Finally, pedantically: "bated breath," not "baited."
Christianity stole so many other of our pagan holidays and rituals, what's one more?
They moved their savior's birthday to steal our Solstice celebrations, our Oestre celebration even our symbolism and revered mythologies got co-opted.
Why not this too?
How about a father who loves everyone so much he kills his own kid. And those other people find that to be an attractive trait. The slaying of one's own children has even been taken up by the devout and faithful. Nothing horrific there.
Of course, all of that aside, I do find it interesting that you have a book on zombie slaying for a religion that is dedicated to a god who supposedly rose from the dead. This borders on deicide.
2 Corinthians 6:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
Dressing your children in costumes and participating in a church sponsored program with candy and all on October 31 is still akin to attending any Halloween party and or “Trick or Treating.” And it really isn’t any better or worse than playing role playing games. So don’t be in such a rush to condemn, while you are doing a similar thing. “But the costumes aren’t scary,” “they can be bible heroes,” etc. It doesn’t matter, I repeated, any celebration billed as an alternative to Halloween with the same trappings but sponsored by the church is still an Halloween party.
Personally, I don't see a problem with Halloween in and of itself, but Christians should research the history of Halloween before they are so quick to condemn others. And therein lies the problem.......
In my 20's, I played role playing games, I went to church on Sunday mornings for three hours because I was in the choir, and went to Sunday evening worship service, I got married and had my children, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. I hung out with other young Christian mothers. Cool. And then....
At some point in our friendship I mentioned that I play role playing games. They were quick to condemn and pronounce judgment. "God will convict you....." was said. Well, other people in the group were Christian, including my husband. I really didn't think God had a problem. After all, Gof knew it was a game, and we knew it was a game and had no bearing on reality whatsoever.
to be continued.....
The point I was making is that people use religion to justify condemning another person or group, but then use religion justify their own similar behaviors only called by a different name.
Rule of thumb for Christians; if it's is a "black and "white" issue documented from the Bible, you're not supposed to compromise yourself and not support that issue no matter how backwards, "non progressive" or " culturally insensitive" it might be. IgbGod said it, it has to be right! You are supposedbto judge.
If it is "gray issue" then it's best not to judge and control those things that you can control. Halloween is a "gray area" issue that Christians should not be doing a "Pharisee" on.
www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm
Thanks for playing, come again!
I know you exist; I also know that I don't think you truly have a clue of what you're dealing with. It’s not a "gray issue" with Christians about calling on "spirits" to do "good things" for people. No, I wouldn’t call you bad people...just foolish and naive. You’re so full of yourself that you’ve tapped into something you feel that you have control over. As usual it is the rebellious, “I know it all:, “I’m a good witch/warlock” that has made up his/hers mind that divination is “good”. Tell that to the people in Mexico that are under the spell of Santa Muerte.
segment on Santa Muerte that in The Emissary by R. St. Thomas (Amazon.com)
There are bad people who are Amish, for pity's sake.
Live and in 3D and Technicolor. What? You don't think of me as s balanced Christian. I'm consistent; with black and white issues I don't compromise; "gray issues" are another matter.
Our church hosts "Trunk-n-Treat each year where people decorate the back end of vehicles with various themes (most not remotely religious in nature) and welcome 4 times our church's membership from the community for kids to come out in costumes, get candy, hotdogs, hayrides, moonwalks, and plain old fun in a a safe environment. To those who criticize us for holding this event, I just smile and say, "Jesus never told us it was a sin to have fun".
It's your salvation that is at stake.