Halloween

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN TO DO ABOUT HALLOWEEN?

You would think this would be an easy, simple answer. But if you were to poll a church congregation about this holiday you would find a host of different beliefs.

- A fun, inoffensive holiday.
- A pagan holiday, but which aren’t?
- A dark holiday, but no harm no foul.
- An evil day where darkness is glorified.

You name it, from every end of the spectrum you will get a response to justify or attack this day where it seems all of Christendom does not know what do with.

The Christian saying to be ‘in the world, but not of this world’ (ref John 17) comes to mind. What does this mean in relation to Halloween? How does a regenerated (new born) believer in Jesus Christ who possess the Holy Spirit respond to this day?

I have wrestled with this for a couple years and now that I am married I think about it more. When we have children to what degree will I allow them to participate? As for me and my house we will serve the Lord, so how will we handle the Halloween season?

THE HISTORY

In the 16th century, Halloween or “All Hallows Eve” received its name because it was the evening that preceeded All Saints’ Day. All Saints’ Day (or All Souls’ Day, Hallowmas, All Hallows, Hallowtide) was a day that was used to pray for the souls that had not yet reached Heaven and were still in purgatory.

Halloween can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain which celebrated the summer’s end. Celts were polytheistic and rites/sacrifices were carried out by priests called druids. They heavily focused on the calendar and in specific: solstices, the sun, and stars.

You could argue till you are blue in the face about the pagan origins of the holiday and it’s effects on the secularized version today. But is it anymore pagan than the Santa Claus we put next to our manger scene?

To take a hardline stance against Halloween would mean you have to take a hardline stance on just about every holiday in order to not be a hypocrite. The problem with legalism is that it binds you up. The fact is that in our culture every holiday has been secularized, pagan or Christian.

However this doesn’t answer the question that burdens my heart.

What would Jesus do?

That’s right. WWJD. Remember the bracelet?

The more I immerse myself in scripture the more I find this question probing my mind. If I was one of the 12 original disciples following Jesus where would Jesus take us on Halloween night?

On a night that targets children, remember what Jesus said about children? “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” – Matthew 18:6

Jesus looked at everything through the lens of eternity. There was no one more ministry minded than Jesus Christ. And the very things that our culture celebrates on Halloween (death, horror and fear) Jesus came to take away from us for eternity.

I find it hard to think I would be celebrating something in the presence of Jesus that He came to give His very life to take away.

But rather than judge and condemn, which He did not come to do (For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. – John 3:17), He came to give us grace and mercy.

As I look at Halloween I see a secularized pagan holiday that has become mainstream. It celebrates the very thing I am glad I do not have to endure for an eternity because of Christ. Most importantly I see people needing a reason to celebrate!

Without Christ what is there to celebrate?

Ironically, Halloween is a celebration of the only thing a person outside of a relationship with Christ has to look forward to… death, horror and fear.

It reminds me that I celebrate daily, and weekly with other believers, Jesus and the gift of salvation. Freedom from the very things Halloween chooses to elevate. Holidays are great because they break up the pattern of life. They give us a break from the hardship and trials that come from everyday living. Enjoying some candy and dressing up in a costume is not evil, in fact it can be very fun. But remembering why we are here and who we represent can give new perspective to our purpose on Halloween.

This holiday could be the best day for us to shine our light.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2