Tip of My Iceberg

Halloween originated from the Celtic festival of Samhain, a festival marking the beginning of the new year on November 1. The Celts also believed that, on the night before the new year began, the boundaries of the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, so ghosts were allowed to return to earth. People wouldn’t be recognized by unwanted ghosts, they’d dress up to avoid detection.

Not a whole lot has changed in the hundreds of years since then. Possibly the motivations; definitely not the action.

Our neighbors down the street are incredibly gifted in decorating their lawn for the holidays. They achieve an entirely different definition for decorated when it comes to Halloween.

Why go to such extremes? It’s their favorite holiday; they don’t have to make a special meal, buy presents, or have huge crowds over. Buy a little candy and enjoy the kids.

Even during holidays, we try to do more, be more than we are. Rather than celebrating our personal uniqueness, we “dress up” to appear like what we think others want us to be.

The idea of dressing in costumes on Halloween is fun and funny. But we wouldn’t want to dress like that all the time. Teagan, a freshman in college, was goofing around with clothes that were a tad tight, and when he showed up at our house, my first response was that he looked like a Chippendale model.

He didn’t even know what that was. But he was certain he wouldn’t wear these clothes under any circumstances other than Halloween.

It’s acceptable and appropriate to dress up for this particular holiday. Pretending to be something we’re not is fun–for the moment. But Teagan would never consider walking to class looking like a questionable model.

We often pretend to be something we’re not, for whatever reason — pleasing, impressing, or currying someone’s favor, or craving validation from others.

How helpful is that?

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day sought Him out to ask Him questions about the questionable behavior of His disciples. They were bothered because these men didn’t follow the strict Jewish traditions these religious men held to.

These were the people with whom Jesus disagreed. They cared more for following the extensive laws of the temple–all 613 of them–than valuing the lives and care of the people they were to be teaching. Following the letter of the law was more important than the needs of the people. Jesus had some strong words for them.

“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands of God.’” Matthew 15:7-9.

Jesus had a serious problem with those who tried to bend the truth to suit their needs. His issue with the religious leaders stemmed from the fact that they held so tightly to their traditions that they missed the needs and truth around them.

“I can see it all now–at the Final Judgment, thousands strutting up to Me and saying, ‘Lord, we preached the message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use Me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress Me one bit. You’re out of here.’” Matthew 7:22-23.

Even today, many pretend to be followers of Jesus, whether to become part of a group or to influence what others think of them. But their hearts aren’t in it. They become what they’re not to get what they want.

It never works.

It’s fine to dress up and pretend occasionally, to have the fun of startling people with a look no one expected. Decorating with make-believe, like my neighbors do, brings joy to the neighborhood.

But the truth of who we are is precious. Even more precious is the truth of who Jesus sees each of us to be.

Who are you trying to fool?