As I mentioned, several months ago (though still less than a year), my faith was greatly changed - and deepened - as I was challenged to re-evaluate all of my boundaries and beliefs. It was one of those times in my life when I felt as if God were "force-feeding" me, in a sense. He seemed to be saying so much to me through His Word and through sermons, etc., and He seemed to be saying it so quickly, that I could hardly keep up! Times like that are rare and amazing, but at the same time, they can seem overwhelming as well. Little did I know then that He was getting ready to turn my world upside down!
I share this story with you in hopes of connecting with some of you who have experienced or are currently experiencing the same. I hope my experience and perspective will encourage you in your faith and maybe even take you a little deeper! I welcome your comments and input.
I was presented (via sermon) with Deuteronomy, chapter 12. Here, YHWH (God) is about to take the Israelites into the Promised Land. He, however, warns them concerning the pagan religions that they will run into when they get there. He explicitly instructs them to keep His ways and not to try to "repackage" their ways or use their items of worship for Him. This was the first time that I had been presented with His line in the sand concerning proper worship of Him.
It was then that I began to realize... How we worship matters! Not only that, it isn't up to us! These, to me, were radical ideas. I had always believed that my heart, my sincerity, my intention was the ultimate factor in any worship. Now, I've got a preacher I've never heard of showing me where the Bible says otherwise!!! Needless to say, that presented a small problem in my faith. I had to, at that point, (as I mentioned in the previous article) either abide by his boundaries, or create my own. It was either obedience or rebellion - not both!
Be careful! Otherwise, your hearts will deceive you and you will turn away to serve other gods and worship them." Deuteronomy 11:16, ISV
Why was this such a big deal? I continued to learn about the origins of many of our modern-day "Christian" ways - pagan origins! I'll use Christmas as an example. The tree, the lights, the gifts, Santa and His elves, even the date of Christmas are all pagan in origin. None of it points to or represents the birth of Christ, as we are taught. The same can be said for Valentine's Day and even Easter. I'm not sure how these were all brought into our Christian tradition, so I won't argue that point, but when you see where it comes from, one thing is certain - they are all pagan holidays that have been repackaged ("Christianized") for us.
When I try to reconcile that with Deuteronomy 12, I can't. If they began pagan, then they are unacceptable to YHWH!!! No matter how sincere I am, no matter how much I love and serve Christ, how I worship/celebrate Him must be done God's way. Wow.... bombshell. I don't know any better word for it.
So, I did what I have heard of others in my situation doing (although I don't know any of them personally). Yup, I cancelled Christmas. I don't even know if I did it well, especially when it came to the sensitive issues of the holidays with my family, but I did it. We celebrated Hanukkah instead. And I don't think we did that well, either! Neither I nor my husband had any Hanukkah experience, so we did the best we could. Then, we skipped Valentine's Day altogether and celebrated Passover, not Easter.
How was it? At the same time wonderful and eye-opening, challenging and awkward. We intend to continue to learn about and celebrate the biblical holidays, that we've always considered to be Jewish. As for now, our celebrations are novice at best, but over time, we'll learn. I'm not sure anyone who knows understand why - and I'm pretty sure they don't like it, but we have to be obedient to God.
Am I saying that if you celebrate Christmas, Easter, etc. you're not a real Christian? No, I've been a real Christian for years now, and I celebrated those holidays up until this past December. And, I'm not saying that this is a salvation issue. We can only be saved by Christ on the cross. I have, however, come to see it as a worship issue, and I believe YHWH will continue to bring His people to that same crossroads. We are all going to have to choose one side of that line or the other. It is difficult for me to see Christmas trees in churches, believers celebrating Halloween, and many other things that I, over time, have come to view from a different perspective. I know, however, many sincere believers that do these things, and I do not doubt their commitment to their faith.
It is my heart, however, to write about the challenges of faith in hopes of both challenging and encouraging others. I do believe this to be an issue for modern-day Christians, and I hope you will consider this prayerfully. There are many resources and ministries through which you can do your own research, but I'm posting here the one that He used to wake me up. It is long, but it is well worth it, and I encourage you to take the time to watch.
