The Flagrant Mockery of Glitter Ash Wednesday
For centuries Christians have observed the day as one of introspection and repentance.
Ash Wednesday was last week. For centuries Christians have observed the day as one of introspection and repentance. The use of ashes has a long history in Judeo-Christian tradition, beginning in the Old Testament when people would wear sackcloth and put ashes on their heads as an outward sign of their repentance.
Traditional Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season that precedes Easter Sunday, the most important observance of the Christian faith. The ashes placed on participants’ foreheads represent man’s rise from dust when God created him... and the fact that man will return to dust.
It was never intended to be a celebration of man’s sinfulness...
Glitter Ash Wednesday is a mockery of the day’s true meaning, which signifies a turning away from sin and embracing Jesus Christ. According to organizers, “the mixing of ashes with glitter offers hope in these times of racial injustice, white supremacy, income inequality, and the climate crisis. It also recognizes that many Christian traditions have attempted to exclude that community from Christianity or have perpetrated harm against LGBTQI2SA+ people.”
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit, Plus)
Glitter Ash Wednesday was first introduced in Episcopal churches, many of which are led by women pastors. The LGBTQI2SA+ version of Ash Wednesday is heavily promoted by Parity, a Presbyterian-based New York City organization designed to “build bridges across the LGBTQI2SA+ and faith divide”. It seeks to help “congregations and faith organizations, clergy, seminarians, denominations and seminaries become more LGBTQI2SA+ sensitive and celebratory.”
Parity’s website features testimonials from Methodists, Lutherans, the United Church of Christ, and Episcopalians. Parity claims that churches across a dozen denominations now use Glitter+Ash in Ash Wednesday liturgies.
Liz Edman, a lesbian Episcopal priest, and United Church of Christ minister Marian Edmonds-Allen were the creative forces behind Glitter Ashes and Glitter+Ash Wednesday. According to Edmunds, “Glitter+Ash is an inherently queer sign of Christian belief, blending symbols of mortality and hope, of penance and celebration. Queer Christianity will be visible, pliable, and on your face.”’
What does any of that have to do with repentance? Consider what Paul wrote to the Galatians...
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. (Galatians 5:7-10 NIV)
A “little yeast leavens the whole lump” is a metaphor Paul used to compare the effects of false teaching to the results of yeast in bread dough. Just as a small amount of yeast will make bread rise, a little bit of corrupt teaching can quickly spread until an entire church is contaminated. It’s based on the Parable of the Leaven (also called the parable of the yeast) that appears in both Matthew (13:33) and Luke (13:20–21).
There are seminaries now teaching this foolishness, and like yeast spreading, this false theology is spreading this poison to many so-called Christian churches. J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, once wrote, “The forces of evil cannot create, rather they can only destroy”. And so it is with false teachers and those with an Anti-Christ spirit... they do not build up; instead, they attempt to destroy a Christian tradition in a relentless effort to normalize homosexuality.
Some predict that the gay community will destroy the Christian church. Writing on Medium.com, Keith Michael says, “he hopes it will happen sooner than later”. He writes, “They (the Church) are doubling-down on stupid instead of seeing and correcting their own hate for gay people, and their own embracing of pagan beliefs GOD never once told people to do or believe. Christians honestly don’t ‘see’ that it is their blind adherence to a systemic lying man-made ancient, outdated dogma that is the root cause of the Holy Spirit-led exodus of their churches.”
Mr. Michael is deceived...
Consider what Jesus said to Peter, referring to the paganism of the time:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18 NASB)
In this age of LGBTQI2SA+ narcissism, Glitter Ash Wednesday celebrates sin instead of focusing on one’s repentance before a Holy God. But have faith, dear reader... the plots of the devil will never prevail against the true church.