I always encourage Christians (and in
fact people of all faiths and none) to redeem Halloween. In contrast to simply receiving and accepting
it all unthinkingly; or rejecting out of hand and refusing to engage with
anything. A thoughtful, creative
redeeming of the good can and should make Halloween (which is rooted in the
wonderful celebration of dead heroes called All Souls) something full of
potential and promise.
Jesus the Warrior
From your experience, good or bad,
what image most describes the church? A family with Jesus as the big
brother, or a school with Jesus as the great teacher? Perhaps the image
of a hospital with Jesus the healer? Or a temple centred on Jesus the
High Priest? For some it maybe the building metaphor that springs to
mind, with Jesus as the architect. There is potentially farm imagery in
some of our minds – arable (we are a vineyard nurtured carefully by Jesus the
gardener) or pastoral (we are sheep with a shepherd). For some it will be
the body of individual essential members under Jesus the head.
Ephesians 6:10-20 highlights an often
neglected image – an army. Alongside the domestic, educational, medical,
religious, architectural, agricultural and biological is the military.
Alongside the images of Jesus as brother, teacher, healer, priest, builder,
farmer, and head is the image of Jesus as the warrior-general.
‘Put on the full armour of God, so
that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our battle
is not against flesh and blood, but…against the spiritual forces of evil…’ (Ephesians
6:11-12)
Rightly we might feel uncomfortable
with this image. But note: It’s is not about fighting against
people but for people. It’s not about taking people captive but taking
captives free. It’s not about seeking war but protecting peace.
It’s not about taking life but defeating death. It’s not about acts of
terror but about acts of love.
These are things worth fighting for. And Halloween, more than any other time of
year brings an opportunity to highlight to friends and family and children that
Jesus is the winner. That when it comes
to evil he has won.
The Soldier and his Armour
Ephesians 6:10-20 is a graphic
passage – loved by Sunday teachers and children alike! Yet is really a
brutal image of blood and brutality. The church is encouraged to dress
for battle.
The Enemy and his Schemes
We are told that our struggle (a gory
and ruthless wrestling word) is ‘against the devil’s schemes’ and ‘not against flesh and
blood’. Our struggle – as church, in marriages, as parents, in
workplace[ii] – is ultimately against the devil. We
are at war.
But talk of the devil stirs all sorts
of emotions - bemused or amused or confused? There are often
three reactions to talk of evil, wickedness and the devil.
Dismiss – think we can ignore evil. To function as if any ‘devil’
talk is superstitions of the past that we have outgrown. Yet potentially
that is simply a lack of experience on our part. Romeo Dalliare the Canadian lieutenant general in
charge of NATO troops post the Rwandan genocide, in "Shake Hands With The
Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (1993)," wrote: "Death became a
desired option. I hoped I would hit a mine or run into an ambush and just end
it all. I think some part of me wanted to join the legions of the dead, whom I
had failed…in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have
smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists..."
Martin Llyod-Jones was a medical doctor in central London who later
became pastor of Westminster Chapel, in his book ‘The Christian Warfare’
(published 17 years after his death in 1998) he warns ‘I am certain that
one of the main causes of the ill state of the church today is the fact that
the devil is being forgotten. All is attributed to us…we are ignorant of
this great objective fact, that being, the existence of the devil, the
adversary, the accuser, and his fiery darts.’
Distort – think we can define evil. Secondly
some of us distort and redefine the devil, either as be excessively feared or
else foolishly mocked. CS Lewis in a series of radio talks which later
became his best-selling book ‘Mere Christianity’ (1952) addresses this: ‘There are two equal
and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils. One is to
disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an
excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased
by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.’
Domesticate – think we can control
evil. Maybe we domesticate the devil like we do a farmyard animal –
coerce and persuade him to serve us with a mixture of threats and rewards,
perhaps through incantations and charms. More likely in UK culture though
we domesticate him like a household pet – welcome him into our homes as fun to
entertain us or something to distract our child.
A healthier response
The Bible would suggest a healthier
response than dismissing, distorting or domesticating.
In the Old Testament it is called an accuser
(e.g. Zechariah 3:1-2), a seducer (e.g. 1 Chronicles 21:1) or a persecutor
(e.g. Job 2:1). In the New Testament Devil (Greek diabolos
= diabolical) & Satan which mean liar, deceiver, slanderer,
mudslinger, accuser, corrupter. Sometimes titles for him are the
‘prince of the air’, ‘god of this age’, ‘the accuser’, or ‘father of lies’. In
Revelation the word is Apollyon, meaning the destroyer. Lucifer is
a Latin translation from 4th century, made popular by Catholic
use.
Four things are crystal clear, and
Halloween gives us opportunity to underscore them:
Satan is controlled by God and is not free to act outside God’s direct
permission and parameters. (Job 1:12, 2:6 & 41:5)
Satan is ultimately crushed by Jesus, standing no chance
against Jesus’ power. (Revelation 12:9, 20:10)
But fourthly, now Satan is a genuine cause of evil in our world[i]. He terrifies like a
dragon (Rev 12:2-3); blinds people to Christ (2Cor 4:4); brings disobedience
(Eph 2:2); performs miracles to led astray (2Thes 2:9; Matt 24:24); captures
people to its evil will (2Tim 2:25; Lk 11:21ff); snatches away God’s word (Matt
13:4,19); corrupts authority (Lk 4:6; Rev 13:2); encourages hostility (Acts
13:10); thwarts mission (1Thes 2:18); throws pastors into prison (Rev 2:10);
and prowls on the attack like a hungry lion (1Peter 5:8).
Ephesians 6;11 says the devil schemes. He is cunning, sly, clever and subtle. Peter
calls him a ‘prowling lion’ who moves so silently and secretively in the undergrowth we need
to ‘be alert’ if we are to spot and stop him (1Peter 5:8).
Ultimate ‘our struggle is not
against flesh and blood’ – be that in being a prevailing church, building a successful
marriage, exhibiting purposeful parenting or flourishing as one who exults God
in the work place. It is against his ‘dark world and against spiritual
forces of evil’. Hence Paul urges us twice to ‘put on the full armour of God’ so we might ‘stand’. (Ephesians
6:11,13)
Is using Halloween partly as a way to
underscore the victory of Jesus one way you could redeem it?
Footnotes:
[i] This is adapted
from the first of three articles of what traditionally is called ‘spiritual
warfare’ but is better understand as the normal Christian life (to coin
Watchman Nee’s title!). The second considers the Battle and its
Focus. The third Christ and his Victory.
[ii] I have chosen
these examples because they are Paul’s examples of the theatre of war in the
immediately preceding passages (Ephesians 4:1-6:9)
[iii] The Bible is
silent on the precise details of who the devil is or how God created him.
The ‘fallen angel’ concept is very loosely rooted in a likely misunderstanding
of Isaiah 14:12-15 and some passages in Daniel, both about the king of Babylon
- a human leader God appointed for good but whose sin corrupted their
rule. He was a ‘fallen angel’. Medieval Catholic doctrine made much
of this (circa 5-15th centuries). Satan as a fallen angel is also clearly
taught in the Quran/Islam and during the Crusades this Islamic teaching
strengthened Christian Europe’s belief in this (circa 1095ff). John
Milton’s best seller Paradise Lost cemented this popular view (1667).
Confusing matters is the English word ‘angel’ means a heavenly being. But
the Hebrew (malach) and Greek (aggelos) word it translates simple mean
messenger or envoy delegated a responsibility in a broad sense and is unrelated
to whether they are ‘heavenly’ or ‘earthly’ beings, which is determined by
context. For example Malachi the Old Testament prophet means ‘Lord’s
angel or messenger. In the New Testament aggelos is use in Mt
11:10 of John the Baptist; or in Lk 7:24, 9:52; Gal 4:14; Js 2:25 to mean human
messengers; or the ‘angels’ in Rev 2-3 meaning ‘messengers’ (potentially they
are letters addressed to the ‘pastors’ of the church, which in many context
even today are called ‘messengers of or to the church). It is a common
word in OT and NT and appears 127 times in the Bible. It is most
likely the ‘fallen angel’ passages of the Bible refer to a human messenger or
leader who has fallen from their office or from the blessing of God because of
sin or disobedience.
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