Halloween Chat

A topic on my heart that I have thoughts on every October is the celebration of Halloween. I wanted to get these thoughts out much earlier in the month. At any rate here I am at the very last minute. Some many people have voiced their opinions about Halloween in the church over the years, my desire is not to be. a broken record, nor to tell you what to do. My hope as always is that I will share an encouraging word, and that this conversation will be helpful.

I know that there are a lot of new believers right now, and perhaps you haven’t thought much about this yet or you aren’t quite sure where you stand. Maybe you have new convictions this year and aren’t quite sure how to handle them. How do you talk to your kids about it? Maybe your family celebrates Halloween every year, you enjoy watching your kids get dressed up and having fun, but you don’t want to do something spiritually wrong. We are going to discuss a bit of all of that as well as what our family does on this day.

First things first as Christians we certainly have a lot of liberty. We all have our own personal convictions and they will not be the same as your neighbor. It also should be said that no one is assuming that any believer is purposely trying to do anything wrong by celebrating this day. On the contrary I would say all Christian families are seeking to honor the Father through everything they do because we are all called to live lives of worship.

The truth is there are lots of layers to the day of Halloween. There are several great podcasts, YouTubes, and articles on the web that break those layers down. That’s not exactly my intent here to duplicate that information. I will put some links here to some worthwhile podcast/Youtubes in case you’d like to listen. Just as a quick overview Halloween started as a Celtic festival to honor the dead. It blended with Roman and Catholic traditions, evolving over centuries.The U.S. transformed it into a child-centered, commercial celebration. Today, Halloween is a mix of pagan, religious, and pop culture elements, celebrated in various ways globally. There is also concern about dark activities going on this day in occult groups and witchcraft practitioners.

YouTube Episodes going over the history and topic of Halloween:

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey

Passion for Truth Ministries with Jim Staley

Jesus People Podcast with Ryan Miller

In our home we choose not to observe Halloween, at least not in the traditional sense of doing what everyone else does and dress up, hand out candy, make Jack-O-lanterns, etc. We have lots of friends who do though in one way or another. Over the years we’ve gone through a progression in our home as I grew in my faith. I’ll break down the reasons why we don’t at all today at least not like we used to do so. When we opt to participate in something such as a holiday we like to ask a few questions. 1) Is this something that brings honor to Yeshua? 2) Is this a day He would celebrate or did when He walked the earth? 3) Is this a day that would offend Him? 4) What are the origins of this day? Origins are extremely important. Know the history so you will not be deceived. 5) Is this what I want my worship to look like? Perhaps these could be questions you use as part of a filter for how you make these types of decisions as well. It is important that we don’t get into a rut of doing things simply because that is what everyone else is doing or because that’s how we were raised. The Father gave us a mind to think and heart to ponder. Proverbs 1:7 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Isaiah 5:13 – “Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.”

I have heard many believers speak to the idea of redeeming the day of Halloween because everyday is God’s day. While I think this sounds really good, and I agree that everyday is God’s day, it gives me pause. Allow me to share why. I just don’t see evidence of Yeshua (Jesus) redeeming a pagan practice or celebration. I only see Him redeeming people, just like He does today. What I have witnessed in scripture is Yeshua calling people out of their old lives, out of their old ways, and out of their sin to come into a new life, washed as white as snow with Him. I also recall the Father being very specific about how He desired to be worshiped and He was specific about being set apart.

All that being said, what I also have read about is how Yeshua celebrated all of the Biblical Feast Days in the spring and fall. I have been celebrating the Biblical Feasts and learning more about them since 2011. I started with Hanukkah with my older sons when they were younger. Next we began to celebrate Passover. When I married Ken in 2015 we began celebrating together as well. While it is not something we have to do, I cannot express to you how much beauty there is wrapped up inside the feast days. Every single one points to Yeshua. It has been an enrichment to our faith. We are still learning and enjoying it all. I definitely believe we also serve a fun God. He wants to us to worship and enjoy Him, and also enjoy each other as family and friends.

So what do we do on Halloween? For us it is important to stand out and be a light. That means we don’t observe Halloween in the traditional sense, but we also do not ignore it. I never saw Yeshua ignore the darkness. I do see the darkness in the day. It’s origins thrive on fear. We choose not to abide in that. It is clearly there whether you choose to partake in those types of things or not. So the last several years, when able, we have handed out light/glow sticks with the scripture John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”. It is the only day of the year you can have droves of children coming to your door. I don’t see how turning the lights off and hiding is what Yeshua would do either. He loves children. We should share His love! We have also had evenings of prayer with friends along with a meal.

We have made it imperative to engage in extensive conversations with our youngest son about what we do in our house and that it may be different than what others do. We make it a point that our son understands that we are not trying to look like anyone else. In our home we are doing as the Holy Spirit leads us. We have discouraged comparison.

What I would love for you to walk away from reading this blog post is a yearning to do whatever the Father puts on your heart about Halloween. May I encourage you to look into celebrating the Biblical Feasts? As a believer it can only bless your life. There are wonderful books and videos available. If you’d like suggestions, let me know. I pray this entry blessed you and feel free to share with a friend.