Christians and Halloween: Why We Participate

Every year at Halloween I see Christian's posting about why other Christian's shouldn't celebrate. And honestly, I get it. I really do. If as a Christ follower, you can't in good conscience participate in any part of Halloween, you shouldn't! I don't believe that there's anything wrong with holding this conviction and I trust that you are being sensitive to the way God's Spirit is leading you in this area. So hear my heart when I say that I am not at all challenging anyone's avoidance of Halloween.

Every year at Halloween I also see a lot of Christians who go "all in". Their yards are decorated with skeletons, their costumes are as terrifying as possible, and ghosts and witches are proudly displayed. This version of Halloween from Christ followers leaves me bewildered. Death and evil are not something to be glorified. Even in the name of, "oh it's just for fun". Anyone who has experienced death and evil would tell you that there's nothing fun about it.

The Bible is VERY clear about how we are to approach evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." Not just evil itself, but even the appearance of evil. The way our culture celebrates Halloween, the most evil decor wins. The darker, the better. But as Christ followers, we are called out of darkness. We are to be "the light of the world," Matthew 5:14. Joining in on the darkness on Halloween doesn't set us apart but in fact, can darken our own soul. Romans 12:9 says, "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

So what are we to do on Halloween? Some of us need to listen to God's leading to keep our porch light off and flee. But others of us need to step up to the plate and use Halloween as an opportunity to be a light in the dark world around us! We participate in Halloween. Our porch light is on. We hand out candy, carve pumpkins, and our kids dress up. BUT, you won't find an ounce of darkness in or around us.

Our pumpkins are fun and lit up bright and our costumes are silly. When kids come to the door and shout "trick-or-treat" we don't try to scare them with darkness but rather we flood them with light! We compliment their costume creativity and let them pick whatever they would like from the candy! We smile and laugh and check in on the parents about how they're holding up walking around with their kiddos in the dark. We give out band-aids to the little one who fell and scraped their knee between houses and yes have even invited someone to church. Although church invitation is not the point of our participation.

The point of our household participating in Halloween is to be a beacon of light in an otherwise dark holiday. (A holiday our neighbors are going to celebrate regardless of our opinions.) Christians are known for everything they are against, Halloween gives us an opportunity to show our neighbors what we are for. We are for community, light, joy, and fun! For our house, the porch light being on represents us being called out of darkness and into His marvelous light and we long to share it with the whole world, especially on Halloween!

Flee if you must, but if not, let Halloween be an opportunity to show your neighbors what being a light in the darkness looks like! For God's sake, throw off all glorification of evil and instead help others step into His glorious light!

(Fun story: Our 13-year-old dressed up as The Lorax for Halloween. While out trick-or-treating there was a guy walking around trying to scare the kids and so Mya kept grinning ear to ear saying, "I'm The Lorax. I speak for the trees. Who do you speak for?" The guy quickly realized he wasn't going to be able to intimidate that little beam of light and walked away. Atta girl Mya, go be the light!)