Halloween seems to be a holiday that is welcomed in a lot of Christian homes these days. Why? Is it because Christians feel the need to fit in? Is Halloween really that tempting to Christians? I wish I could say that the answer was no to both of these questions but the reality is that Christians often feel the need to fit in and are deceived into believing their actions are harmless. However, the values of Christians should look differently than those of the world. If the things we do are making us “blend in” or “conform” to the world we may want to take a step back and ask ourselves if we are living the life God would have us to live while we are here on this earth. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be transformed to this world. That’s pretty clear to me. If we don’t look different than the world, what impact can we have on the people whom we are supposed to be ministering?
Maybe this isn’t a popular opinion but Halloween really doesn’t align with our Biblical principals as Christians. The Bible speaks about witchcraft many times and warns to stay away from it. While we have a way of mixing black and white to gray the lines, it’s really not hard to see that Halloween screams demonic worship. I know you are saying, “it is just for fun” or “how can a costume be demonic?” Well, here’s the thing. Everything has a beginning, good or bad, everything begins somewhere. When we use this “innocent” holiday to dress our kids up as witches and goblins, we are practically dangling our children in front of the devil and saying “here they are, come and get them!”
I realize that some may think I am being dramatic and reading way too much into everything, but there is one way to know what you really think and how you really feel about the subject. Would you dress your kids up in these costumes that are dripping with witchcraft and whose main objective is to bring fear if Jesus was to open one of the doors you knocked on that night? Would you feel good about how you displayed your children to the world? Would you feel like in that moment you were standing out in an ungodly world? Here’s an even bigger question, would he recognize you?
When my kids were little, the participation in this holiday was very limited. We would often have an event at the church that offered a safe environment and a Godly message. Kids in the chruch, like my own would dress up as ladybugs, firemen, lions, etc. We were able to minister to some of the families in the neighborhood that didn’t attend church and that would have been in less desirable places if they were not at the church participating in the food, games and free candy. I always had mixed feelings even about this, but I finally resolved to the fact that this was one of the opportunities to draw in the ones who needed to hear about God the most. When I stood back and looked at the position of the heart and the light that the church was pouring out, I realized that this even was actually a great opportunity to cosume darkness with the light of Jesus. It was an opportunity to show and reflect the love of Jesus and overcome darkenss on the most ungodly night. So, on a night where the devil is prowling around, basking in the demons and witchcraft that flood the streets, we as Christians need to play defense and show up with sword in hand to fight back. Instead of taking part in creating fear, chaos, and planting a seed of confusion in our children’s minds, we should be pillars of truth, light and life. Let’s take out the gray areas and teach our children with clarity, without question, what is right because if we don’t teach them the world will.
Jessica
Listen to the full broadcast we did on Halloween below:
