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When you carefully look at Matthew 12:1–8, it is very clear that Jesus was more interested in the worship of the true God, irrespective of the day.
No wonder Jesus said in John 4:23” Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks”. Remember, the Pharisees were on the other side, willing to set aside God’s laws to follow their traditions, according to Mark 7:8–9.
According to Romans 1:21-23, The Pharisees knew who God was but still never worshipped him the correct way and for who he is. According to Romans 1:25, They would rather worship the created than the creator
How can you expect to go to heaven without going through Jesus and that is the Pharisees and no wonder they rejected him. That is why Jesus came to bring clarity about many other things including the sabbath, Matthew 5:17. No Jesus means no worship and eventually no Heaven
According to 1 Corinthians 8: 4,8 to 13, eating meat that has been offered to idols cannot qualify or disqualify me from entering heaven. What we eat or wear can’t affect us it is what is coming from inside
According to Galatians 5:13-14 Let our freedom not make us sin for the sake of our brothers. I know in the book of 1 Cor. 10:25 we can eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’s sake. However, Paul goes on to say, “But if anyone says to you, ‘This was offered to idols,’ do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake” (1 Cor. 10:28).
Although there was no sin in taking the actual food into the mouth, if that action made another person think you were worshiping an idol, Paul commands, “Do not eat it!” If the food is offered to idols, yes, it can’t also affect us, but let it not offend another weak Christian. Who are you in Christ? So, if the family decides to invoke the spirits or do some cultural rituals, then be careful and run for your life because you are part of this and it won’t end well (see 1 Kings 22:4–9, 12–14, 23–29–32).
According to 1 Kings 12:32–33, just as it was apostasy for the northern kingdom of Israel to establish its own “holy days,” it would be apostasy for the church to observe man-made holy days under Christ.
So as A Christian should I observe Heritage Day?
We as Christians know that Heritage Day is celebrated on the 24th of September, as a South African festive day where people eat their traditional dishes and dress as per their culture.
But did you know that Heritage Day was called before Shaka Day in remembrance of Shaka Zulu(The Zulu king). He was the one who united the Zulu people as a nation. Each year people gather at Shaka Zulu’s grave to honor him on the 24th of September.
The first time it was celebrated as a national holiday, Heritage Day, was in 1995. By the 7th of December 1994, Heritage Day had been gazetted as a South African holiday, but the parliament later removed it from the list of national holidays. It was the IFP that refused this, and after some consultation with parliament, it was reinstated as a holiday.
I know everybody belongs to a certain tribe, clan, or country, and that doesn’t disqualify you from becoming a good Christian. I know that Peter loved his tradition, and that is why he said I wouldn’t eat what was unclean (Acts 10:13–14). The Pharisees loved their tradition too and kept it.
The only thing you have to know is that you can’t serve two masters: the traditional gods we used to serve ( for instance Venda people believed in the python god to bring rain) and the one true God.
Remember, there is no culture without some form of worship, and it’s the form of worship that collides with the Christian religion. In my culture, for example, if you embrace it and its worship, which includes sacrifices, you are rich and successful, but not without cost. The drawback was that if you failed to do what the spirit told you, you would die or lose everything, and you would end up getting children of only one sex, either male or female.
On the other side, I had my maternal grandfather, born in the late 1800s, who was a true man of God. I happened to see him pray, and all his prayers were answered, and his children were blessed, so I sat under his teachings, and I grew,
For instance, it was believed if an old person died, he would come back to collect a younger person and that is why a young person died in a short span of time in the families whose culture was followed. So, when you attended their funerals, they taught you that they are traditionalists so follow what they say or you suffer the consequences.
So, we should be careful how we celebrate these festivals. It’s an opportunity to evangelize to friends, relatives, and family. It shouldn’t be the other way around. When we attend their celebrations and even their funerals.
Just like when you slaughter a goat there are certain things that you don’t eat instead you throw them away because they are not made to be eaten, so is the same with our cultures we should know what to keep and what to not. For example, you can’t keep the religious part of our tradition and still be a good Christian.
As for me, I can’t associate with my culture in any way because it comes with a form of worship. Even when it comes to dressing in traditional clothes, it attracts certain spirits to follow you, because the clothes were worn to appease the
Don’t light your light and keep it under the bed, waiting for the light to go dark. So how can you put off your light and join in their dark lifestyle?
We should be like Daniel, who told the king to let them know that worshiping their Babylonian gods was wrong, and Daniel was willing to die for that. What is your position?
MTM Church’s position is:
It’s a time to mix with the community and share in braai, and so each should bring meat and other foods, share with the community, play Christian music, and invite others to the church. Bring jumping cases and let kids play, and
Pastor Nathaniel
