Can a Christian Celebrate Halloween?
I used to hear this question more several years ago–but it still comes up now and then. Today I was a spectator to a couple friends having this conversation…
What’s your take on celebrating Halloween, going trick or treating, etc? Good, bad? Taking into consideration the history (although there are different versions) behind the holiday, interested in knowing what you think..
I loved Ted Bryant‘s answer. He’s a guy in the church who is a professor at a local college, loves Jesus, and I really respect him as a parent. Here is what Ted had to say:
Great question – we do allow our children to dress up for Halloween; however, no witches, ghosts, bloody skulls, etc… – really nothing that celebrates death, violence, or darkness. In coordination with this, our Fall decorations around the house are pumpkins, corn stalks, cute scarecrows – no black cats, ghosts, witches, mummies, etc…We have a great family time trick or treating around our neighborhood, and is honestly, one of the biggest ways we meet many of our neighbors (kids and adults), since they are rarely just “out and about” during other times of the year. In the past few years, this whole experience has led to many conversations about witches, mummies, ghosts, violent characters (you the kids with an axe stuck in their head and “blood” that is all over their head), and other things that we believe have made them aware of how our beliefs/behaviors are different from the world’s. Other “teaching moments” that come up during this time include greediness and even lust with candy, as well as nutritional things about candy and certain ingredients that we find in the candy themselves (because we rarely have candy or a lot of sweets in our house). This participation without celebration of darkness is how Ang and I have decided to walk the line of “in the world, but not of the world”. I would love to hear from others on this as well.
Summary: Look at this holiday as an opportunity for two things: 1) build relationships with your neighbors, and 2) build values into your children. What are your thoughts about this holiday?
Posted by Tim Stevens | 12 comments
JamesBrett
i guess my question is why is it assumed that death and the like is part of the occult, etc?
i think halloween is one of the few opportunities we have in modern american culture to process death — which is not in itself to be feared. we’ve removed ourselves from death to the point that we think it’s evil, wrong, or distasteful to bring it up. i think processing some of that is good for us, especially for kids who might otherwise never process death in any way whatsoever until a grandparent dies.
Becky
Thinking we think alike. I just posted on this similar topic last night. My thoughts are here – http://tijuanabecky.livingproof.us/2010/10/28/5-r… In short however, I'm Christian and I love Halloween, so as long as you remember who you are representing I think it's okay.
clennen
Almost my thoughts exactly. We didn't celebrate it at all growing up, but as an adult, I have processed it with my husband and this is what we do as well.
youthofarabia
I find it interesting that we are happy with the "Christinizing" & "santifying" of the pagan holidays that are now celebrated as Christmas and Easter, yet Halloween that has more history as the evening (All Hallow's Eve) as the day before All Saints Day than it does as Samhain's Eve.
Jim
My experience has been that we worry too much about this holiday. I say go out and enjoy it.
dana metzger
Matt & I both grew up in families that treated the holiday exactly how Ted explained above, however thus far we've not participated in any kind of Halloween activities with our kids. I guess I can't find any point in it… we play dress-up all the time, and enjoy sweets in moderation all year. The whole idea of dressing up and asking people for candy? Then there's the witches, blood, death, gore, scary stuff… why bother? We have discussed it openly with our oldest (4) and have had some good talks about things we see in the stores around Halloween. We might do things differently in the future, but that's where we're at right now.
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Daniel Goepfrich
I just posted about this as well and linked to a couple of posts that not only support Christian involvement but strongly recommend it. You can check out those posts from http://www.danielgoepfrich.com/christians-and-hal…
jenny
this really made me reconsider my attitude and requires some changes to my thinking!
FreedbyJC
Psalm 118:24 It was created by the lord, for the Lord and His people… It was the Lord's day before it was used for any other reason…let's reclaim His day!
bethegospel
totally agree. Thanks Tim
phillip
Our whole church (www.BrandNewChurch.com) participates with a hilarious costume contest for all ages (the largest group this year was adults!), followed by community distribution of DVD's with the Gospel message from our pastor. It's the one day out of the year when most of the doors in our community are open to visitors, so we capitalize on it by allowing our children to receive candy while trick or treating and in return, giving out the Gospel. Works great and is very well received. Not to mention a ton of fun!