Can Pagan Objects Be Sanitized?
Preaching
Lions And Cows Dining Together
And 111 Other Sermon Ideas
Object:
Purpose Statement: Are there certain objects or ideas that are off limits to Christians because they have been contaminated by pagan or wicked associations in the past?
A good illustration of this concern is Halloween. When it rolls around each year, there will be the inevitable conversation by some Christians saying the holiday is fraught with paganism, associated with devil worship, and is consequently a bad influence on our children, perhaps even on our adults. The early church had to deal with this problem and Paul spoke on occasions concerning eating food that had been prepared for idol worship (1 Corinthians 10:18-33). The church was continually threatened by religions with superstitious, wicked, and harmful practices. Our comparable enemies today are the idolizing of materialism, glamour, sex, wealth, and excessive entertainment to name a few of the more obvious. Then, Paul discussed food intended for idol worship; today Paul would have to discuss something such as a concern over Halloween and associations with the occult or "spooky." This would include witches in children's books, devils for team mascots, the number 666, and Harry Potter books, to name a few. Right-wing Christians attacked Procter and Gamble believing that P & G's logo was filled with pagan symbols. Their attack was successful enough to cost the company some serious financial loss. In another case, one well-known Christian denomination had to suspend one of its pastors for worshiping with pagans in an interfaith service at Yankee Stadium for the families killed in the attack on the World Trade Towers. Christmas is suspect because it has borrowed carelessly in its origins: the day chosen was originally a pagan holiday and even the Christmas tree may be tainted. Next, we may have to give up the names of the days of our week for their pagan association: Wednesday or Thursday, for example.
a. For most Christians, everything is inherently clean. Acts 10:1-33 (particularly vv. 9-15) is commonly used to excuse us from some Old Testament regulations such as what we may eat and our associations with ritually unclean persons. It is the story of Peter being shown animals in a large sheet let down from heaven. The key verse says everything is clean that God has declared clean (v. 15). The Genesis creation story tells us that God thought all of creation was good. Occasionally, we are able to make "clean" what people earlier made "unclean." For example, we sing great hymns to tunes that began their musical career as bawdy tavern songs. We (with the help of Jesus) took an object of the worst possible kind -- the cross -- and turned it into a focal center of worship.
Everything is "good" unless ...
b. ... it is harmful. In the 1 Corinthians 10 passage, everything is good unless there is obvious harm (v. 23). Poison may be good for some things, but not very helpful if we drink it in excess. Cars are terribly convenient, but they may become death instruments when we use them wrongly. Tornadoes are not wicked as long as we stay out of their way.
c. ... it is used in a pagan way. Something that is perfectly acceptable becomes inappropriate when used for evil purposes. Could sex be an illustration of this? Paul said not to participate in pagan practices (v. 20).
d. ... it leads others astray. The major concern in the Corinthians passage is that you should not eat what will mislead or confuse others (vv. 25-33). It will not hurt you to eat food prepared for idols, but you should choose to abstain when others who are present may not understand or may be led into compromise themselves. This is reinforced by the passage in Romans 14:13-23 where Paul says that we are free to eat anything, however, we should abstain from anything that will hurt a sister or brother (vv. 20-21). There are limits to this. We must use common sense; if we abstained from everything because it offended or misled someone, we would not use blood transfusions, or any other medical resources for that matter. There is a time to sympathize and there is a time to lead and make a witness.
Conclusion: We have sanitized Halloween (which comes from a Christian holiday, All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Day) for Christian use. It is a healthy thing that children have conquered the "demons" with witch and devil costumes. It is tantamount to thumbing their noses at superstition. Also with mascots such as Eureka College Red Devils and Duke Blue Devils. Unless they are excessively violent, witch, and wizard stories are handled quite well by children, until superstitious adults contaminate them. Looking for Satanism in symbolism, numbers (666), and logos is nothing more than an immature witch-hunt.
A good illustration of this concern is Halloween. When it rolls around each year, there will be the inevitable conversation by some Christians saying the holiday is fraught with paganism, associated with devil worship, and is consequently a bad influence on our children, perhaps even on our adults. The early church had to deal with this problem and Paul spoke on occasions concerning eating food that had been prepared for idol worship (1 Corinthians 10:18-33). The church was continually threatened by religions with superstitious, wicked, and harmful practices. Our comparable enemies today are the idolizing of materialism, glamour, sex, wealth, and excessive entertainment to name a few of the more obvious. Then, Paul discussed food intended for idol worship; today Paul would have to discuss something such as a concern over Halloween and associations with the occult or "spooky." This would include witches in children's books, devils for team mascots, the number 666, and Harry Potter books, to name a few. Right-wing Christians attacked Procter and Gamble believing that P & G's logo was filled with pagan symbols. Their attack was successful enough to cost the company some serious financial loss. In another case, one well-known Christian denomination had to suspend one of its pastors for worshiping with pagans in an interfaith service at Yankee Stadium for the families killed in the attack on the World Trade Towers. Christmas is suspect because it has borrowed carelessly in its origins: the day chosen was originally a pagan holiday and even the Christmas tree may be tainted. Next, we may have to give up the names of the days of our week for their pagan association: Wednesday or Thursday, for example.
a. For most Christians, everything is inherently clean. Acts 10:1-33 (particularly vv. 9-15) is commonly used to excuse us from some Old Testament regulations such as what we may eat and our associations with ritually unclean persons. It is the story of Peter being shown animals in a large sheet let down from heaven. The key verse says everything is clean that God has declared clean (v. 15). The Genesis creation story tells us that God thought all of creation was good. Occasionally, we are able to make "clean" what people earlier made "unclean." For example, we sing great hymns to tunes that began their musical career as bawdy tavern songs. We (with the help of Jesus) took an object of the worst possible kind -- the cross -- and turned it into a focal center of worship.
Everything is "good" unless ...
b. ... it is harmful. In the 1 Corinthians 10 passage, everything is good unless there is obvious harm (v. 23). Poison may be good for some things, but not very helpful if we drink it in excess. Cars are terribly convenient, but they may become death instruments when we use them wrongly. Tornadoes are not wicked as long as we stay out of their way.
c. ... it is used in a pagan way. Something that is perfectly acceptable becomes inappropriate when used for evil purposes. Could sex be an illustration of this? Paul said not to participate in pagan practices (v. 20).
d. ... it leads others astray. The major concern in the Corinthians passage is that you should not eat what will mislead or confuse others (vv. 25-33). It will not hurt you to eat food prepared for idols, but you should choose to abstain when others who are present may not understand or may be led into compromise themselves. This is reinforced by the passage in Romans 14:13-23 where Paul says that we are free to eat anything, however, we should abstain from anything that will hurt a sister or brother (vv. 20-21). There are limits to this. We must use common sense; if we abstained from everything because it offended or misled someone, we would not use blood transfusions, or any other medical resources for that matter. There is a time to sympathize and there is a time to lead and make a witness.
Conclusion: We have sanitized Halloween (which comes from a Christian holiday, All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Day) for Christian use. It is a healthy thing that children have conquered the "demons" with witch and devil costumes. It is tantamount to thumbing their noses at superstition. Also with mascots such as Eureka College Red Devils and Duke Blue Devils. Unless they are excessively violent, witch, and wizard stories are handled quite well by children, until superstitious adults contaminate them. Looking for Satanism in symbolism, numbers (666), and logos is nothing more than an immature witch-hunt.
