As Halloween approaches again, I was thinking about what extent to which our church-sponsored Trunk or Treat events engage the culture with any mission-critical traction. This post isn't about that but rather about something else that occurred to me as I thought about the costumes themselves.
I realized that the costume choices this October 31st will mostly be either truly costumes or ironically barely costumes at all. Many will dress as superheroes. These would fit in the first category, for if we really believe what the Bible says about us as humans in our post-Fall state, we do not essentially measure up to the word. (Funny, that we dress up in the fall, isn't it?) On the other hand, many will dress as a villain, whether the cartoonish or the gruesome, the ever-popular violent slasher, the ghoulish or demonic. These fall into the second category, for the biblical doctrine of depravity - and our own experience - teaches us that these costumes resemble our true clothing more than we wish. If Robert Downey Jr. went trick-or-treating as Iron Man, his attire (even if he borrowed the authentic garb from his movie wardrobe) would still be a costume, but if Charles Mansion dressed as a psychopathic murderer, not so much a costume at all.
Now, here's the real irony. We make a big deal - and a huge commercial enterprise - out of one day a year, October 31, and may not really be dressing up so far from the street clothes of our true nature. Yet, many people will truly dress up in costume dozens of times a year around 10am on Sundays. Millions are in the large rooms of our church buildings, and many of them are even on stage. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Sheep dressed up like perfect, flawless little lambs but who really are lame, diseased and filthy.
Yahweh's prophets scolded his people for bringing the worst of their flocks for sacrifice. The Apostle Paul reminded us that it is WE who are the sacrifices, and for many of us, the quality control department is no better managed than it was in Malachi's day. God doesn't like playacting - the literal meaning of hypocrisy - any more than he did 2700 years ago.
Good thing we believe the gospel.
For the biblical Christian, life - including the corporate worship gathering - is not a charade. We don't pretend to be perfect. A true hypocrite doesn't really want Jesus but acts like he does. We true Christians really do want Jesus, but we struggle to stay true to what we want. So, if we follow the advice of Jesus and his apostles, we own our sin, regret it, repent of it, confess that God is right about it, and then we believe the gospel and trust God to keep making us more like the Jesus we love.
When we are pretending to be okay is when we are farthest from it, because our gospel family is where we are reminded of our Help. Why mask up? We should huddle in worship not pretending that we are not truly filthy and lame - not flaunting it, but not pretending it is not so. Church is not to be a costume party but a treatment center. We come for gospel-infusions, for without them we die. What good is it when we comment on the quality of the coffee while trying to hide the fact that we are bleeding out inside? If we are transparent, we may truly be helped and encouraged, and find help to share our unbearable loads.
So, wear the costumes on Halloween. Have fun with that. Really! And do yourself a favor: leave the costumes at home the rest of the time and come gather with the church to worship the one true Superhero who is rescuing you from death and bringing you into eternal life. (As Nathanael from The Chosen would say, "That's Jesus, by the way.")
Yeah, I got that.
