Nearly forty years ago, I made a life-changing decision that shocked my friends, family, and those within my community. I chose to depart from the Protestant faith in which I was raised for a belief system that I had come to view as more biblically based. The reactions varied from curiosity to animosity to total outrage from those closest to me. It’s not that my family were overly devout in our religious upbringing. But departing from certain customs that were rooted in that traditional brand of Christianity went beyond piety and religious devotion. It struck at the heart of common culture. It was a radical departure from everything we were taught to believe. When asked why I would do such a thing, the shortest summary answer I could give was that “it was pagan”. That is, so many of the cultural elements surrounding the observances of Mainstream Christianity have their roots, not in the Holy Scripture, but from previous centuries of pagan antiquity originating long before the Christian Era.

Perhaps the most common reply to that declaration was, “Who cares? So what? We don’t actively worship false gods. We’re doing these things to honor Jesus Christ! We know He wasn’t born at the Winter Solstice; we know that painted eggs and rabbits have nothing to do with His resurrection, we’re just adopting these fun traditions in honor of Jesus Christ. We’ve ‘Christianized’ the pagan celebration.” That didn’t sit well with me. And, much to the disappointment of my family and friends, we’ve come to the place where we had to simply agree to disagree.

Fast forward nearly forty years to the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France. The entire Christian world was shocked and offended by a graphic display of what appeared to be mockery of the Christian faith. The backlash has caused those behind this display to come out in defense, stating it was not a Christian display at all but rather an ancient Greek (pagan) festival of Bacchus. This did not surprise me at all.

While I was not specifically familiar with the pagan Greek Bacchanal festival, I immediately noticed the rank paganism in the display. Specifically, with the circular disc surrounding the head of the central figure. This is a common feature in pagan sun worship and it was enough for me to dismiss the display as the pagan abomination that it was despite its remarkable comparison to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper.

What struck me as profound about this whole event was not the offense at closely mimicking and mocking a painting from a European Renaissance artist created 1,500 yrs after the Christian Era. What struck me as profound was how highly offended so many within Mainstream Christianity became when confronted with the blending of rank paganism into their biblical faith. I thought, “but hasn’t Mainstream Christianity been doing this for centuries?” “Isn’t this what I protested 40 years ago when I was told that pagan elements within Christianity don’t really matter?”

So, no, the utter depravity and debased mind (Romans 1:28) that was on display at the Opening Ceremony of the Greek games did not surprise me at all. Mankind has been deteriorating rapidly down this road of vile passions (Romans 1:26). What does surprise me is the outrage it has caused in the Christian faith, because that is the path this world has been following. Were you outraged by what you saw? I bet you were! But, are we ready to be even more outraged, shocked and surprised by what has been hiding in plain sight within your own cherished religious traditions? Please request your free copy of Holidays or Holy Days: Does it Matter Which Days We Observe? published by the United Church of God. Your own hard copy is available free of charge. Or you may download and view a digital version today. Visit the website of The United Church of God for this and many other teaching aids available to you, again, free of charge.

By Lynn Leiby

July 31, 2024