In Christian Ethics Does the "Why" Matter More than the "What"

Today is Halloween. I dislike Halloween. The commercial version that is on TV or the movies is not enjoyable to me. The scary, creepy, and spooky are not my choices for entertainment. I will be glad when tomorrow comes around and that theme of entertainment has passed on again.

Halloween in general was never a big deal at my house growing up. I do remember going out trick or treating once with some neighbors but that was not the norm. Typically, my mom and dad and I would go out for dinner and that would be the one night that dad would go to a movie with us. When we got home and since we did not have any candy, we would turn off the front lights and be in a back room. It was always the “Devils’s holiday” and we did not want to participate. Over the years, my view has changed and I now see that it is a great day to show community and be a presence for God this this dark night.

To my surprise, Dr. Russell Moore, former faculty at SBTS and current head of the ERLC of the SBC (that is enough acronyms), put in his new book the fact that he loves Halloween. The reason I was surprised needs some background information. While I agree with much of what he writes and stands for, there has been one item that I have always thought differently than him. He has written against the practice of cremation and said that it does not point to the hope of Christ’s return. His argument has never convinced me. Without getting into the particular arguments, I would have thought since he was against cremation, he would be against Halloween also.

So it was a surprise when I read his excerpt saying that Halloween was his favorite holiday. I was curious how, when he says that cremation cannot be redeemed, Halloween can be. His explanation was telling and shows what the Christian life is all about. To him, Halloween expresses the true nature of reality. There are invisible forces in the world as told in the Bible and those are "celebrated" once a year openly. There are times when we should be scared because evil is real. However, just like having an adult with you to protect you from the scary stuff outside and then going home and being safe inside your house, we can be safe from evil and the bad invisible forces when we are in the presence of our heavenly Father.

Whether you agree with that argument or not, I found it informative that he considers how his life, including how he treats Halloween, will “preach” the Gospel and point people to the hope we have in Christ. As Christians, we tend to just see actions. We tend to be legalistic about drinking, movies, daily devotions, music, etc. i.e. good Christians would not do this or that. We are more about doing the right things rather than being the right person and being the right person involves bringing all of our actions in line with our faith (1 Cor 10:31). I am not saying that what we do does not matter. It does. There are things that are off limits for Christians. On the other hand, the reason those things are off limits speak to what it means to be a Christian. It shows that being a Christian does and change things.

While there is a danger of justifying wrong actions, using unbiblical ideas, and giving the Sunday School reasons, I believe most Christians are committing the opposite mistake of not even considering why they do what they do. How much have you considered why you do the things you do? How do your everyday activities reflect your relationship with God?

Do we approach God like a cat or a dog?

We just got back from a week-long vacation and our cat, Luna, is showing us that she missed us. When I sat down for my devotions today, she jumped up on my lap and wanted me to pet her. For those of you who do not know, while I love cats, I am allergic. Every time I pet her, I need to go wash my hands before I touch my face or else I will breakout, particularly in my eyes. Since she needed some loving, I indulged her until I had enough and stopped. Surprisingly, she stayed on my lap for 5 minutes after I stopped. During that time, she was looking at the birds and acted like she wanted to go but never did. Finally, she jumped off and is laying down next to the sofa I am on.

If you haven’t experienced it, cats are different from dogs. Cats will come to you when they feel they need something. When they are finished, they walk away, or in the case of our cat, when she does not want you to pet her anymore, she will bite you. She is very lovey when she needs attention or food or water. Once you give that to her, she will ignore you. That is not the same as our dog that we had when I was growing up. Ginger would come up to me at any time and want to play or just me next to me. In general, cats are independent and only come when they can get something from you. Dogs want to just be with us regardless what we are doing. I wonder if they realize that they get something out of just being with us.

Before Luna jumped up, I read Psalm 4. In that Psalm, David says to God, “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.” Later on, he states “… the Lord will hear when I call to him.” David is expressing the truth that God is always with us and we can rely on him for what we need. That is a wonderful truth and as Christians, we need to be reminded of that daily.

What struck me today is that too often, I approach God like a cat and not like a dog. I know that God is always there but when I approach him, I try to get something out of him. Maybe, I need a word of encouragement. Maybe, I need to be rescued from my own sin. I come to him needy. But when I get what I want, I leave. I walk away satisfied and that I can do things by myself again. Like a cat, I walk away to be independent.

Instead, we should approach God like a dog approaches its owner. The dog is just happy to be with their owner and do whatever the owner wants. If the owner wants to play, great. If the owner wants to pet the dog, great. If the owner wants to feed the dog, great. If the owner just wants to sit with the dog, great. The dog just wants to be with its owner and gets something out of it by just being with the owner.

How much to we approach God with that anticipation and excitement of just being with God? How often are we excited to spend time with him? My to do list each day always gets in the way of me just relaxing and enjoying time with God. How do you approach God? How much do you enjoy spending time with him? What can you do to put everything aside to enjoy God today?