As we walk through our spiritual journeys, we are typically confronted with beliefs and customs we had held that are then revealed as outside of scripture and true biblical faith. Unfortunately so many of these tend to be beliefs and customs that we have held since childhood... and typically those which are embedded in our culture. This blog is not the place to cover them all so I'll skip to the latest I've learned about... birthdays.
Just like so many of the traditions and festivities that we take for granted, birthdays and the birthday party have a source... a beginning. It and the accoutrements that go with it, all have meaning. Quick question before we get too far... if we learn that those beginnings and original meanings are anti-God, would we be willing to abandon them?
The birthday celebration can trace its origins to pagan worship of the Greek goddess Artemis. In ancient Greece, worshippers would bake a cake, place lit candles on it and set it at the feet of her idol. Even singing "Happy Birthday", blowing out the candles, making a wish, and playing games such as "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" have their source in the pagan customs of warding off evil spirits, fortune-telling and magical powers.
There are two hurdles to adopting the proper response to all of this. The first is believing the facts. Is the birthday celebration really pagan... come on! Well that one is solved simply enough. Look up books such as "The Lore of Birthdays", "World Book Encyclopedia" or Google "historical roots of birthday" etc.
The second hurdle is perhaps the highest and that is coming to grip with the fact that the origins of a practice or belief is important even if we've "changed" the practices meaning in our minds. Imagine... would any of you throw a party where each child salutes their friends with the Nazi salute and says "Heil Hitler" and then eats desserts decorated with swastikas? Why not? Well what if you convinced yourself that the salute was to symbolize strong growth and forward progression of that persons life? What if you changed the phrase "Heil Hitler" to mean, "Be in Good Health" and what if the swastikas mean for you a full life encompassing all four directions... or something like that. Would altering those offensive symbolisms make them any more palatable? Of course not. They are still rooted in the evil slaughter of millions of people in the greatest act of genocide in the last century. Likewise God is not going to overlook the true meaning of birthdays and their pagan meanings just because we choose to alter those meanings. Every time we light birthday candles, we are mirroring the pagan worship of a false goddess.
Sure it will be tough to tell our children that they cannot have any more birthday parties. It may be a little awkward to tell your friends that you don't want a fuss made over your upcoming 40th but isn't it better to offend our family and friends than to offend the One who hold the keys to hell and death?
Shalom
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