Notice that Israel was warned to not borrow or adapt the ways pagan nations use to worship a FALSE God and apply them to their worship of the TRUE God. God is telling ancient Israel, and us by extension, that sinful pagan customs are not made right by applying them to Him. Let's consider a simple analogy that will help explain this Biblical principle. Let's suppose that after a man gets married he places around the house, in prominent locations, framed pictures of his ex-girlfriends. How would the wife feel about these reminders of his former loves? Would she be convinced his devotion to her was full-hearted? Would such an explanation as, "When I look at them, I think of you instead now," be all that convincing? One of the best Biblical examples of what God thinks about humans "borrowing" and adapting false (pagan) practices and customs for use toward worshipping Him is found in the book of Exodus. This example occurs after God uses Moses and Aaron to free the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. We pick up the story when, after leading the Israelites to Mount Sinai, God calls Moses up the mount to receive instructions and the Ten Commandments engraved in stone. The children of Israel must wait at the foot of the mountain for Moses to return. As time passes without the appearance of Moses, the Israelites grow a little restless . . . " And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for [as for] this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow [is] a feast to the LORD. "And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted [themselves]: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. . . Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. " (Exodus 32:1-8, 10) Notice that God didn't accept the worship of the Golden Calf as worship directed to Him despite Aaron proclaiming a "Feast to the Lord" (verse 5) would occur the next day. God's anger was kindled toward the Israelites for introducing pagan practices into their worship of Him. God was ready to DESTROY the Israelites, the very people He recently freed from Egypt, for such disobedience until Moses intervened (Exodus 32:11-14). Customs used to worship false gods that are transferred to the true God are unacceptable since Scripture says God never compromises with paganism. For example, notice what the Apostle Paul says in 1Corinthians 10:19-22: " What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cups of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? " Notice that "jealousy" concerns the demand for exclusive devotion, just as a wife would (or should) demand from her husband sexually. (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for more about Christians not compromising with paganism, that they should have no part with it). What the pagans practiced did not honor the true God, regardless of how much sincerity or faith they had. The same goes for the customs used in Easter and Christmas. And, does anybody really believe when kids dress up as demons, ghosts, monsters, etc., and then go around extorting neighbors with the threatening words "Trick or treat," meaning, "I won't soap your windows or turn over your trash cans if you bribe me" (that's the historical origin of the phrase), that these Halloween customs somehow worship God? The case against Halloween is even more clear than the case against Easter and Christmas. Halloween is a holiday that honors the "god of this world"! (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ), who is Satan the Devil (Of course, it's a lie to tell kids Santa Claus leaves them gifts under the tree instead of their parents--which is another problem morally with the standard Christmas story, but here I digress). God tells us not to adopt the practices and lies of false religions: "Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the sings of the heavens although the nations are terrified by them; for the customs of the peoples are delusion" (Jeremiah 10:2-3). We shouldn't be learning how the pagans of the past worshiped their gods in order to do the same today. What's most curious is right after these scriptures that warn against false worship comes a description of a tree being trimmed by a "cutting tool," decorated with silver and gold, and fastened down with nails that sounds all too much like a Christmas tree! (See verses 3-4). How did pagan customs come into the Christian church? They primarily entered through the Catholic Church. From the late Roman Empire forward the church decided to either ignore such customs creeping into the church or just adopt them wholesale so that they (the church) could be more appealing to a wider audience. Hence, there's no record of celebrating Christmas before the fourth century A.D., some three centuries after the time of Christ. What was happening around December 25th each year back then? Well, we had the Saturnalia (a celebration much like Christmas, although also comparable to the Mardi Gras, Carnival, and other festivals of Misrule). We also had the story of the god of light, Mithras, being born from a rock on . . . December 25th! The pagan festivals celebrated around the time of the winter Solstice, when the days stopped getting shorter and started getting longer, has a lot more to do with Christmas than the birth of Jesus, which historically most likely occurred early in the fall, not late in December. The Catholic Church began to paganize itself when it chose to compromise with paganism (especially after the fourth century A.D. when the Edict of Milan given by then Emperor Constantine openly endorsed Christianity as a religion). In your question you stated that Romans 14 taught that we have the freedom to worship God as we pleased. This chapter of the Bible concerns, at least indirectly, the customary fast days (Mondays and Thursdays) the Jews had traditionally observed. (Notice the main issue in dispute revolves around vegetarianism versus meat eating, and each group tolerating the other and not offending the other, not the general subject of paganism, as is discussed in 1Corinthians 8). Some of the early Christians had adopted a similar practice in which Wednesday was considered a day to regularly fast on (as recorded in the early Christian writing known as the Didache). Some of those who adopted this custom wanted to also impose it on other days for Christians. Romans 14:6 has nothing to do with authorizing compromises with paganism when this text is consider in context. |
