One of the laments of preachers around Christmas time is that people should not simply go through the formalism and the materialism of Christmas, but that they should remember ‘the reason for the season’.  What this presupposes, is that participation in some elements of Christmas festivities does not mean full participation in the worship of our redeeming God, who gave Jesus to die and live for the sake of the elect.

This same distinction is found in Isaiah 29.13 when the Lord says, “…[T]his people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me… (ESV).  What we find here is that simple participation in worship to YHWH is not true worship.  That is, one could go to the temple, participate in the sacrifices, etc., and though there is participation, true worship does not take place.  In other words participation in the elements of worship, without a heart devoted to the Lord is not worship.

What this means, it seems to me, is that we need to make this allowance consistent in other areas of life.  For example, with Halloween, some argue that participation in the festivities of this day means that one is participating in the whole of it.  Thus, it is reasoned, if you go get free candy from homes, then you are participating in some form of occultism.  But as we see in Isaiah, and as we preach against at Christmas, participation in some elements of a holiday or a service does not entail full participation.  This, it seems to me, is what stands behind Paul’s discussion of food sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8-10).  Also, this is what would make the difference between Paul forbidding Christians to be circumcised in his letter to the Galatians and Paul having Timothy circumcised for mission to the Jews.

What do you think?  Is this distinction justified?  Are there areas other than Halloween, where this distinction is true?  Music?  Harry Potter?  Movies?  Alcohol?