Mardi Gras – A Celebration of Rebellion Against God

By:  J. Dietrich Bondurant

Feb 2006

Every year about this time we hear all about Mardi Gras celebrations and parades in Mobile, New Orleans, and countless other towns along the northern GulfCoast.  Many professing Christians join in on the fun without understanding exactly what they are taking part in.  They often take their children and grandchildren to experience the floats, catch beads, eat moon pies, and view the elaborate costumes prevalent at Mardi Gras celebrations.  Countless foolish people view it as a good wholesome time of frolicking and fun.

Amazingly, if you look up Mardi Gras on the internet or other references you sometimes see it referred to as a “Christian holiday”.  The term “Christian” means “Christ-like” and the term “holiday” means “holy-day”.  Since neither are true, I’d say that “Christian holiday” is probably the most inappropriate term that could possibly be used to describe Mardi Gras.

So what is Mardi Gras anyway?  Well, historians link modern Mardi Gras with ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman spring fertility festivals involving lewdness, sexual immorality, nudity, drunkenness, and revelry and associated with various “gods” most typically the god “pan”.  Pan was the Greek fertility god and therefore was always represented as crude, wanton, and lustful.   One writer says of this predecessor to our Mardi Gras:  “During these festivals men donned women’s clothing and masks, better to abandon themselves to orgy; thus the masquerade tradition began”.

Our modern Mardi Gras is believed to have begun in New Orleans and Mobile in the early 1700’s.  These early celebrations were little more than drunken brawls.  The first organized Mardi Gras celebrations were in the mid-1800’s with the first “Rex Parade” held being held in New Orleans in 1872.  According to this modern tradition of Mardi Gras, it’s the period of personal gratification and indulgence preceding the season of “Lent” in which many Christians fast in preparation for Easter.

Lent is not biblical, however historically many Christian denominations, especially those steeped in Catholic tradition, choose to give up some foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and butter for the 40 days preceding Easter.  During Lent some Christians may also abstain from other vices or indulgences, even sex.  In western churches, Sundays are excluded from the 40 day count.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday which is a time when ash is put on the forehead to symbolize the kind of repentance that took place in bible times, when people repented with sack cloth and ashes.  Mardi Gras Day is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The term Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” signifying using all the fat in the home before the days of fasting during Lent.  The idea was to gorge oneself on meat, all milk and egg products, and anything else that one who be abstaining from during the season of Lent.

So, our modern Mardi Gras is the combination of ancient pagan rituals and the idea of indulgence and revelry before supposedly abstaining from personal gratification for “religious reasons” during Lent.  This hypocritical premise for the “holiday” is reason enough to deem it inappropriate for true Christian believers.

Basically Mardi Gras is man shaking his fist in the face of God Almighty.  It’s human beings saying, “We’re gonna party, and participate in sinful revelry and premeditated open rebellion against the Creator, then be good for 40 days in hopes that our sins will be forgiven”.

The Mardi Gras balls and parades are usually themed in honor of pagan gods.  Not surprisingly, the symbol of Mardi Gras is a huge, fat bull, called the “Boeuf Gras” meaning “the fatted bovine”.  Christians should remember that Baal, the ancient Canaanite god, was represented as a bull!  Baal was to them a symbol of fertility, strength, and virility.  You may also recall that at least twice in Israel’s history they sinned by making golden calves as idols.

Certainly we cannot believe that God in heaven is pleased when the float carrying the huge “Boeuf Gras” is drawn through the streets amidst a virtual sea of uplifted hands, and the “throw me something” cry of revelers who implore this modern Baal for trinkets, beads, or other “tokens” of his favor.  There is far more than just fun and frivolity taking place.  The symbolism is unmistakable.  The real spirit of Mardi Gras is the spirit of Idolatry!

And what’s the harm in wearing a mask?  The tradition of masquerading during Mardi Gras allows people to believe that they can get away with more than they would without their identity being concealed.  It has to do with man’s desire to sin without being found out.  They think they can get a little drunker, little wilder, little more carnal with a mask.  Truth is that we can never hide our identity or our sin from God.

Are Christians so spiritually blind to think that God would “wink” at Mardi Gras?  Do we doubt His outrage over these practices?  Is it possible that church goers actually believe the whole celebration to be “all in fun”?  This much is certain:  THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS NOT LAUGHING!  Do believers really think that they can participate in these ungodly parades, wear Mardi Gras beads and other symbols of idolatry, self indulgence and hypocrisy and think that they are living lives that honor God?

Now, I have lived in this area and gone to church my whole life and I don’t recall ever hearing Mardi Gras condemned from the pulpit.  This concerns me.  The Church has a responsibility to educate the people about dangers to their spiritual well-being.  It might be that preachers assume that their listeners are already aware of the danger.  Or, it might be that pastors are afraid that bashing Mardi Gras might cause them to lose some members.  Either way, I encourage religious leaders to fulfill their responsibility in this area.

Some church goers think to themselves, “Well, all the bad stuff goes on in New Orleans, there’s nothing wrong with me taking the kids to a parade in Mobile or letting them play with Mardi Gras beads”.  This is Satan’s favorite type of lie.  He deceives us into thinking that something evil is “really not so bad”.  God’s Word is very clear that we are to stay away from even the appearance of evil.  There is nothing remotely wholesome or Godly about Mardi Gras.

A few years ago I was invited to ride on a float in the Pensacola Christmas Parade.  When I arrived I was given a box full of Mardi Gras beads.  As a Christian I was deeply offended that I was expected to throw Mardi Gras beads, a evil symbol of rebellion against God, at a parade that was supposedly honoring the birth of Jesus Christ the Holy Son of God!  What I observed as we paraded through downtown Pensacola is a scene reminiscent of Mardi Gras.  Girls screamed and even shook their chests (with their shirts on) at me trying to get me to though them beads.  Behind us was a black high school band who performed such vulgar dances that I was embarrassed for all the women on board our float.  As bad as that “Christmas parade” was, I’m certain that it was nothing compared to Mardi Gras parade down Bourbon Street!  My point here is that Mardi Gras is having a powerfully negative effect on our local society.

I believe that there are three driving forces behind Mardi Gras.  First, and by far the most powerful, are the forces of Satan who can always be found leading the rebellion against God.  Second is man’s own sin nature.  And third is money.  These cities and communities who celebrate Mardi Gras generate a lot of revenue for themselves.  Remember that the bible refers to the love of money as “the root of all kinds of evil”.

Mardi Gras is a prime example of this:  These community and business leaders’ love for money is promoting sexual immorality, nudity, idolatry, homosexuality, drunkenness,  paganism, murders, thievery, and open rebellion and sin against the God of the Universe within their city limits!  Shame on them!  Just imagine what kind of punishment awaits them!  God’s Word has much to say about those who cause others to stumble.

If you are a professing Christian who enjoys participating in the Mardi Gras season, then repent from this sin and ask God’s forgiveness.  He is willing and able to forgive you if you just ask.  I encourage you to talk with your pastor and rededicate yourself to living a life that’s pleasing to God.  If you’re not certain about your salvation then pray that God’s Holy Spirit would become real to you, repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your agent for salvation!  God Bless!