What do Halloween, beer and liturgy have in common?
Me.
Because in my life and experience, I give them meaning.
I worry my way through fall, because I know that the cold weather that makes my body and soul ache is on its way. I didn’t used to have this problem, because I was better at enjoying the moment without considering what came next. Then again, I was also eight years old. I looked forward to Halloween because I got to be out late at night, running the streets in order to collect candy. Maybe I was a little hoodlum, because more than receiving unearned treats, I enjoyed being out late at night.
I also liked carving pumpkins (I still do). I grew my own for several years. I’d slice into them and cut the most awful, horrifying faces I could, because that’s what I wanted. My mom or sister would bake the seeds and I’d typically eat all of them in a day.
Since coming to Jesus, enjoying the holiday is tantamount to celebrating the devil’s birthday. I’m only mostly kidding. But churches have Halloween alternatives that have fall, harvest, or trunk somewhere in their names. I suppose I’m fine with this, because either way, there’s candy, pumpkins, costumes and fun.
It isn’t much different with beer, either. Maybe it’s just my tradition, but so many Jesus people seem to think it’s the evil equivalent to ambrosia or something. Really, it’s just a drink. If we’re critical of it, then we have to be consistent and follow our logic all the way through and look at soda as something that makes people fat and gives them diabetes. All that should matter to it is one’s relationship. Beer (or soda) can be a beverage or a belligerent boss, it all depends on our interaction with it.
Which brings me to liturgy. I can go through the motions and roll my eyes at the standing, sitting and reciting I see in other traditions. I can examine the history and intentions behind it all. I have the ability to make personal associations with any piece of it and connect with the Lord because the opportunity presented itself. Any of these means something different and leaves me defining the experience on my own. Being intentional about it makes it more fun and doesn’t waste time, which is nice. It even works outside of liturgical practices. I can look at the excessively pentecostal approach to faith and do something with the traditions and practices I find there, too. I can criticize them, or I can utilize some of them in my own walk with the Lord. Making fun is more enjoyable with some of those, but I might be missing out on something good if I limit myself to that.
Of course, everything I just wrote about has its own dictionary definition. I can’t and don’t care to change any of those. Everything has a solid truth attached to it, I just don’t necessarily have to pay attention to it. Then again, it makes sense to allow those definitions influence my own thoughts, but if I do that, I can’t carve pumpkins, which is a huge bummer. And at the same time, I’m not playing with meaning simply so I can live any way that I want to. God sees our hearts and therefore understands the significance behind everything we choose to do. Besides, if I’m living for God, then ultimately, the meaning I give things will come from Him in one way or another. It’s really how this game works.
I really appreciate this post for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, my pastor is a halloween hater. I wish I could say it doesn’t make me feel awkward (halloween lover that I am), but it does. Does that mean I’m under conviction on the subject? I hope not…at least until my kids are too old to trick-or-treat.
Also, this kind of applies to something I’ve been writing in my head regarding context. Context is important on one hand, but not on the other. For example, when we rely on a Bible verse, it’s important to have an understanding of its context. But. When we read a poem, it’s lovely, sometimes (Isn’t it?), to read it as its own entity and arrive at our own understanding of it. Do we really need to know about the poet’s sexual orientation? Her four failed marriages and two attempt at suicide? in order to appreciate her poem?
Great post and great fodder for thought.
Brandee, If we knew that she was a crazy lesbian who had been divorced four times and tried to end it all by popping pills, CHRISTIANS WOULDN’T EVEN THINK OF READING IT. Which means I agree with you one-hundred percent. You made a good observation! I think it’s good to remove some contexts, it might be a little dangerous to get rid of others. I wish I was kidding about that first sentence, but we judge using context. We give ourselves reasons to write someone off based on context, and we do it well. I think it’s perfect for art, poetry, some stories and basically anything from the creative realm. Can you think of any others where it might apply?
“Brandee, If we knew that she was a crazy lesbian who had been divorced four times and tried to end it all by popping pills, CHRISTIANS WOULDN’T EVEN THINK OF READING IT.”
I found this comment really funny (and sadly true) because when I was maybe eleven years old I was really into classic novels and poetry. I wanted to buy a book of Edgar Allen Poe’s poems and my dad wouldn’t let me. Then my grandmother (who was a Lit professor and the dean of a college) heard about it, chewed my dad out, and I got my book. 🙂
Hooray Grandma! Old people know what it’s about, right? I will say there are things I won’t watch, read, etc. But they’re not for the obvious reasons- I think we have to decide for ourselves what’s right, what should influence us, and what we can handle instead of brainlessly submitting to rules that don’t MEAN ANYTHING TO US.
I love this view, Jake and find it very biblical. Paul himself said it was okay to eat meat sacrificed to false gods (that seems a bit more “evil” to me than having a beer) and it wouldn’t be considered sin.
I personally like to practice what I call Redeeming Traditions – where I find the original intent behind certain traditions, cut away all the crap that was added on later, and incorporate them into my walk with Christ. I practice a version of Lent and Advent that help grow my faith and encounter Christ. Sometimes I got labeled as a traditionalist or, in the pentecostal church I was a part of for years – a Catholic, but it didn’t matter. Those practices helped me grow and I care more about growing with God than conforming to a denominational set idea of what a Christian should look like.
Dude, I don’t know who you were hanging with, but practicing Lent is hip over here. I wish I was kidding. Traditions are becoming trendy in the crowd of humans I find myself around- it’s one of the things that made me write this- practices which were once condemned as religious have found new meaning because they’ve been “rediscovered” (borrowed) from another tradition. It’s fascinating, which things we can use in our walk with God, right?
I liked to smash pumpkins… I don’t do that anymore… I learned in church it was wrong…
What a massive subject. I, like you, don’t pass judgement near as quickly as I once did. There was a time that I wanted, no craved judgment. Strict, harsh judgment.
Now realizing my heart and need for mercy. I cry out for mercy from God. I struggle to comprehend my own heart, much less the ones of others. That’s the biggest struggle in the church isn’t it? I think it is.
The biggest turn off to Christianity is the world thinking that it is about following rules. It’s sad that the church looks more like the Pharisees that Jesus was blasting than the true Christians that He was training.
Great post, kind of a bummer of truth…
Floyd, it’s interesting. I still pass judgment, but I’m learning how to do it with tact. Mostly kidding. And also, the church is getting there. And it’s not. It’s so fascinating that the body is so diverse, because we’re all over the place when it comes to so many values and ideas.
amen!
I get really frustrated at times by all the Christian rules. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a house full of rules that had no meaning. I don’t know. Now I question everything (and it drives most of the people at my church crazy during discussions).
I feel like someone needs to question things though because so many people will agree with everything. Like this last Wednesday a man said in Bible study that you don’t really need to read or know the Bible because if you’re a Christian, the Holy Spirit will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. Really? Um no. (Not denying the Holy Spirit, just the whole no reading the Bible thing.) No one disagreed with him.
So yeah, I get really annoyed at the Christians that judge someone for drinking a beer (and I don’t even like beer) or the Christians that believe you can’t be a democrat and a Christian or whatever. I just want to see the reasons behind the rules. If it’s in the Bible (you know, that book you don’t really have to read) then I won’t argue. Otherwise, I probably will.
Jenn, being ALLOWED to ask questions means having the ability to give some reason, some structure and even substance to your faith. Of course, those things don’t necessarily always contribute to it, they can detract, but I think God lets us doubt sometimes, too.
Oh, it’s painful to run into these personal perspectives though. I’ve finally realized why there are so many denominations. For the longest time I didn’t understand. (Isn’t it ultimately about serving, loving, and following Christ?) Now I know.
Some people just have to define how God works in light of their own experience or way of reading into things, leaving no room for even the possibility that God’s ways of drawing souls to himself are as varied as the creation he built for us to enjoy.
Though even I believe that the Bible does define its own limits … the main one being that Christ really is the center of it all, the living Word … which everyone interacts with every day whether they know it or not, and the interaction takes so many forms that we really can’t limit them much, except to see whether they are constructive or not in the life we’re watching.
I’ve found it ironic that God is the only one who can say “stone” and nobody can change the definition because it’s sitting right there in front of you and you stub your toe if you call it “soft” and try to kick it.
Karen, we can’t define everything based on experience, but our relationship to it varies depending on the encounters we’ve had. The rock we’re stubbing our toes on will never be soft, but when we’re wearing steel-toed boots, the impact is different. Of course, incredibly basic elements and experiences have the potential to have less various significances to anyone. Look at God though; I’d say He’s the most basic we’ll ever get, but just the word, “god” is excessively nuanced. Some people think He’s an elephant with extra arms. They’re wrong. Some people think he doesn’t exist. They’re wrong. Some think He’s good, others believe He’s bad and some think He’s actually a She. Our experience leads us to draw conclusions that may be right and could also be wrong. But what we think of something does not change it. It simply impacts our interaction with it.