Every year in the Fall, there are discussions about what the
church’s involvement should be with Halloween. There are the people that say
the church should have nothing to do with “the
devil’s holiday” and there are people that try to use Halloween as an outreach
opportunity. Then, there are different ways to use it as an outreach
opportunity: Fall Festival, Halloween Party, Haunted Houses, and Judgment
Houses to name a few. Some people are adamant for one way or the other. Like
other disagreements in the church, we need to give and receive grace. This
means, we need to explain our view and truly listen to the other side.
As I was growing up, my parents let me go trick-or-treating
a couple of times but most of the years, we had a family night. We would go out
to eat and then go to a movie. Most years, that was the only movie that my dad
would go see in the theater. My parents tended to view Halloween as evil but
not as strongly as others. They point to Satanists doing rituals on this night
and the origin of the holiday as proof that it is not a harmless day. I know
people that hold this view and I respect their decision. They did not come to
this decision lightly.
For me and my family, we have taken another approach. If one
looks at the origins of Halloween and Christmas, both are very non-Christian.
Why do we celebrate Christmas but reject Halloween? I am not saying that
Halloween should become the third most holy day for the Christian (after
Christmas and Easter but just above Mother’s day). What I am saying is that the
church can use Halloween like it uses July 4th or the Super Bowl.
These events are things that our neighbors are talking about and are special to
them because they do things differently on these days than every other day of
the year. The church can use these days as a way to introduce the church, and
ultimately God, to their communities.
At Crestwood, we decided to have a Fall Festival the
Saturday before Halloween (Oct 27th). The purpose for this is to
provide a safe environment for families to come and have fun. We want our
community to know that we are real people that care about them and want to
minister to them. Part of that is having events that families can come to and
enjoy together. To stay away from the extremes, we did ask that no one wear
scary costumes. Since our event is open to the public, we have no control over
what others wear but we try to make sure that our workers do not have weapons
or portray scary characters (that is why Cardinals are fine but Wildcats are
not).
There are other options, also. One church in town is having
a haunted house and Judgment Houses are also popular. I have not been involved
with those in the past and I have heard good and bad reports about their
effectiveness. Neither of those options are attractive to me because I do not
like to be scared. So my objection is purely a personal preference and not a
theological one.
My purpose is not to tell you what to think about Halloween
but to remind you that whatever we do, it should be as a witness to God about
what he has done for us through Jesus. Those who reject Halloween are making a
stand for Christ and do get ridiculed by those inside and outside the church.
Those that have no problem with Halloween should make sure we are a light in
this dark world. Jesus commands us to be “in the world but not of the world.”
Consider how you celebrate Halloween.
How much do they reflect the world and how much do they show that you
are made different through Christ?
