Trick or Treat
1 Corinthians 10:14-31
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Intro
Well, we know that Fall has arrived as the days continue to get shorter and as the leaves fall from the trees and as the weather continues to change. Next week, we will have another indication of fall being here as the streets will be filled with kids dressed as their favorite characters in search of the house that is giving away the best candy. For many of the parents out there, it may bring back all kinds of warm and fuzzy memories of your own childhood out trick or treating.
Now to some in America, or at least in this Suburban Chicago area, Halloween is a time to just dress up, gather with friends at parties, drink apple cider and hot chocolate and enjoy getting and eating candy.
However, historically, Halloween has not always been so innocent but has also been a time that is associated with evil.
Origins of Halloween
Its origins come from the Celtic people from before the time of Christ. The Celts were a pagan people who believed that their sun god grew weaker as winter approached and the days got shorter, and that the “lord of death” grew stronger during that time. There New Year began on November 1st and it was believed that on October 31st, New Year’s Eve for them, that the barriers between the world of the dead and the world of the living was the most permeable because that is when the “lord of death,” the “grim reaper” would come for the souls of those who died during that year.
Chris Tiller – Reflections on Halloween, Accessed 10/20/2010 at http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/reflections-on-halloween-chris-tiller-sermon-on-christian-values-84514.asp
It is from these origins that we get Halloween being associated with witches and ghosts and the dead and to be sure, there are still those today who will lean toward the evil aspects of Halloween and even have séances or go to psychics or fortune tellers to check their crystal ball or put their trust and hope in what their horoscope says or what a Ouija board will tell them.
Now to some, these may seem like harmless fun, while others believe that just as it is possible to entertain angels through our hospitality without even knowing it (Hebrews 13:2), it is possible to entertain fallen angels (demons) perhaps without even knowing it.
This is why some followers of Christ have chosen to completely disassociate with anything to do with Halloween from trick or treating to handing out candy. They will close the house, turn off the lights and go out for the night so they don’t have any appearance of associating with evil.
Other followers of Christ view the whole thing as no longer having the pagan influence that it used to have so they feel free to engage in any aspect of Halloween without any problem.
And while we find nothing specifically related to Halloween in the Bible, we want to ask today if there is teaching that can give us guidance for how we can decide what is best for us and most honoring to Christ in our conduct?
I believe there are and we are going to look at a passage today that I believe will help give wisdom and guidance as we seek to live our lives to the glory of God.
Turn with me to
1 Corinthians 10:14-31
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As you turn there, I want to give you some background.
Paul is writing to the Corinthian church. Many of the people had come out of a pagan religious background and were continuing to participate in some pagan worship rituals and worshiping false gods. Paul writes to them to give them some guidance on how they can live in their society in relationship with other people (even non-Christians) in a way that will be true to the Lord.
Now this passage doesn’t deal specifically with Halloween, but it does deal with some pagan influences in their society that I believe if we distill the principles inherent in this teaching, we can apply the principles to how we should deal with Halloween.
So let’s begin and read along as we hear what Paul says.
1 Corinthians 10:14-31
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
He is saying here that for Christians, when we partake of the Lord’s supper, the cup and the bread, we who are Christians are united together in unity as one body because we are participating in this sacred time together. It is being the body of Christ together with one another. Since we are uniting with Christ we should not be uniting with any idols or false gods. That is not how we are to act as followers of Christ.
Paul goes on and says
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
He is saying that even though there are really no other gods besides the one true God, when you continue to practice pagan worship rituals at events that are for the purpose of worshiping some false god, you are really participating in demonic activity.
Then he goes on to clarify
23 "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it."
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake— 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. NIV
Now Paul clarifies the last point where he was saying that the Corinthians shouldn’t participate in idol worship services, which is demonic activity, but, on the other hand, don’t worry about buying meat at the market, much of which in that area, was probably sacrificed to an idol, or should you not worry about going to a non-Christian’s house for a meal. Even if their meat had been sacrificed to idols, don’t worry about it, unless someone tells you it has, then you want to refrain for the benefit of the other person.
Today
Now while there are probably not too many of us who are wondering
Should I attend this pagan worship service or
If the meat we are purchasing at the market could defile us if it was sacrificed to an idol.
But, what we really seek to find in this passage are the principles that Paul uses to help the Corinthians in deciding what they should not be participating in and what is something that we can participate in without worrying about dishonoring the Lord.
So let’s start by
Discerning the Biblical Principles
of 1 Corinthians 10:14-31
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The first Biblical principle that I see in this passage is that
We are to Love God
1 Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (NIV)
Idolatry is worshiping a false god other than the one true God, the living God.
Paul tells the Corinthians that they need to flee from Idolatry which is directly opposed to loving God.
Committing idolatry is like saying to your wife “I love you” but then going out and having an affair. That is not an act of love and idolatry is not an act of love.
The Corinthians needed to flee the idolatry they were practicing by going to feasts that were for the purpose of worshiping false gods.
You cannot really be loving God and also worshiping and participating in sacrifices to demons. It is really not possible.
Jesus told us that Loving God with all our heart, soul and mind is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37).
So we need to love God and one way we do that is by fleeing idolatry or taking things out of our lives that places something else in the spot that only God should occupy in our hearts.
Another Biblical principle we can discern from this passage is that
We are Free in Christ
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1 Corinthians 10:25-27, 29b-31
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it."
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. …. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. NIV
Paul says now while you should not participate in idol feasts designed to be worship services for false gods which are really demons, you don’t need to worry about eating or buying meat in the meat market that may have been offered to these false gods or idols in worship.
You are free to participate in eating the meat sold in the meat market because you are not worshiping these false idols through this action, therefore it does not say anything about your love in regards to the true God.
Taking it further
Now some might say well, I want to honor God completely so I am not going to eat meat at all because that is how much I love God and that is how I show how strong my faith is.
I want you to listen to what Paul tells the Romans in regard to this very issue of eating meat that may have been sacrificed to idols.
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Romans 14:1-2 - 1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
Did you hear what Paul says? It is not the one who doesn’t eat the meat who has the stronger faith, but the one who understands the freedom we have in Christ.
Understanding our Freedom in Christ is an issue of our maturing in Christ and growing in our faith in what Christ has accomplished for us.
So that is another principle that we learn through this passage, the principle that we are free in Christ.
One more thing we learn though is that
We are to Love Others
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1 Corinthians 10:23-29
23 "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it."
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake— 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. NIV
While we are free in Christ we cannot let our freedom be a stumbling block to another.
We have got to consider other people ahead of ourselves.
Now what does this mean?
Do I need to do whatever other people think I should or shouldn’t?
No.
But if we are doing something that may cause someone else to stumble into sin, we need to seriously consider what we are doing.
A little later in Romans 14,
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it says to “make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died… 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.” (Romans 14:13-15, 22)
For the Corinthians, Paul told them that if they went to some unbelievers house and someone there told them that what they were about to eat was part of a sacrifice, they were to abstain for the benefit of that persons conscience. They may see you partake of it and think it is ok to worship other false gods since that is what these unbelievers were doing in their eating of this meat.
Transition
Ok, so now that we have discerned these biblical principles, let’s seek to apply them to Halloween.
Applying Biblical Principles
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Since Halloween does have some pagan origins, I think these principles that we learned in this context will apply nicely to help us discern what we should do.
So let’s ask, what should we do about trick or treating?
What about Trick or Treating?
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Is Trick or Treating a form of worshiping an idol?
Would others in our society confuse my trick or treating with idol worship or not loving God?
For the most part, I would say no.
If we went through our neighborhoods, would any of our neighbors who are not Christians think that what they are doing is a form of worship?
Absolutely not.
The only thing that my neighbors would be thinking is that this is a time to go around and get some candy.
So my family has sought and applied these principles of love for God and others and our freedom in Christ to be able to freely go trick or treating without at all believing that we are worshiping idols or entertaining demons.
Now, even though we have allowed our kids to wear costumes and go trick or treating, we have been cautious of the costumes they have worn. We have not allowed them to dress as devils and witches and things of an occult or demonic nature, because that could be mistaken for glorifying something that should not be glorified.
So while we feel free to trick or treat, our love of God and others causes us to be discerning in choice of costumes.
What about a Halloween Party?
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If I am invited to a Halloween party, would that be a conduit for worshiping a false idol?
By not going am I exampling my love for God and for others?
Probably not. Most people who are having a Halloween party are using it as a time to dress up and have some friends over. They are not inviting people over to worship any false gods.
In fact, I believe we have got to have relationships with non-Christians if we are going to ever have opportunities to share the gospel with others.
In this passage we have been looking at in
1 Corinthians 10:27, Paul says “If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.”
We are not to disassociate ourselves from people who are not Christians.
Paul told the Corinthians earlier in this letter
1 Corinthians 5:9-10
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. NIV
So if you want to go to a Halloween party that a neighbor is having, I believe we have the freedom to go if we want without raising any questions of conscience.
Occult Activity
But what if the person having the party, in order to go along with a scary environment, pulls out a Ouija board as a group activity or has invited a psychic to read your palm or a tarot card reader for a little innocent fun?
This is where we always have to be discerning, because while going to a Halloween party may not indicate idol worship or any association with demonic activity, there are activities that we have got to be wary of because they can open you up to demonic influences.
We have got to realize that there really are spiritual forces of darkness that are looking to draw you away from a relationship with Christ or at least to pull you out of fellowship with the Lord.
Paul writes to the Ephesians that
Slide “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
We really can be a “participant with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20) when we engage in things that seek to contact that dead or cast spells or read people’s futures through occultic activities. These things are not just innocent fun, but demonic in nature and detestable to the Lord.
Listen to what the Lord told Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12
Slide - 9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…
It is detestable because we are engaging with spiritual forces of evil.
While witches may not be riding around on brooms, they are seeking to tap the powers of spiritual forces of evil. Mediums, fortune tellers, tarot card readers, palm readers, those seeking to tell you your future are doing the same thing.
Whether it is around Halloween or not, these are things that you should not be engaging in because they are detestable to the Lord.
Conclusion
Maybe you have engaged in these activities in the past.
Maybe you have thought such things as harmless fun.
I want to stress that anything that is detestable to the Lord is detestable because it is not good for us and it is dishonoring to Him. Do not partake of these things.
If you are at a party in your neighborhood, and someone does seek to engage in these things, don’t do it.
If someone thinks it would be fun to go to a psychic or fortune teller, don’t go.
While I believe we are free to trick or treat being cautious of our costumes and what they represent, and free to go to Halloween parties, we must be leery of any practices or activities that could make us participants with demons and open us up to giving Satan a foothold in our lives.
While we may think that ghost stories are just myths to scare us, there really are demons that can seek to draw us away from Christ.
It is only through the power of the Lord through a relationship with Jesus Christ that we are going to be able to discern and be protected from such demonic influences.
If you have never entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior, then you need to.
The Bible tells us that the one who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). If you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, His Holy Spirit indwells you and is your protection against the evil spirits of Satan who are in the world and seeking to deceive you and lead you astray.
If you are not in a relationship with Jesus, you do not have the Holy Spirit in you and protecting you.
Receive Jesus today by doing what Romans tells us if you believe. It says that “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” ( NIV, Romans 10:9).
Then you will be filled with Christ and free in Christ and be able to live your life for the glory of God in whatever you do (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Take a stand with Christ today.
Let’s pray
We are going to close this morning with worship singing “the Stand”
If you have surrendered your life to the Lord, you can readily realize the freedom and joy that comes from having his Spirit alive in us and the joy of offering ourselves completely to Him.
Won’t you stand and sing with us this morning and worship the One who has filled us and set us free.
Let’s worship.
