Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?: Part 2
In our first part of this blog series a couple weeks ago, we discussed the background and history of Halloween. This laid the foundation of this two part discussion and seeing how it was originally intended helped us gain perspective on the holiday. From our research, we discovered what originally started out as as a pagan holiday in the land of the Celts, turned into something positive through Christian missionaries sharing the gospel with the Druids.
Don’t Violate Your Convictions
The Christian perspective on Halloween is widely divided. Some people feel free to celebrate this holiday, while others choose not to participate. We must always keep in mind that the Bible is very clear on some issues and gray on others. Many people have a personal conviction regarding Halloween from God, while other people are not convicted in the same way. However, if you are convicted by God not to celebrate Halloween, then please don’t violate that conviction. (Romans 14:23)
Honor God With Your Actions
Halloween can be a holiday that can honor God or honor the world. As Christians, we are called to be in this world but not of it. We are clearly not to react to Halloween like superstitious pagans. Therefore, our actions at Halloween should always be wise and honoring to God. That includes the style of costumes that we or our children wear, the parties that we attend, the decorations on our house, and the way we act. They should not be pagan or evil in nature.
Guiding Questions to Ask Yourself
In order to make sure that we are not dishonoring God, we should always ask how others would view us if they saw us. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- If a person who knows I’m a Christian, saw me on Halloween, would they question my Christianity? For example, if a coworker who knows you are a Christian, sees you wearing some bloody, gory Halloween costume, how will they view your dedication to Christianity?
- If you decorate your house in an evil Halloween theme, how would your neighbor view your commitment to Christ?
- If you attend a party and participate in a way that dishonors God (drinking excessively, acting inappropriately), how will the other guests perceive your Christian convictions?
- Are you doing something that would give you the opportunity to witness to someone else?
- If your family decides to take part in Halloween activities, what kinds of conversations have you had with your own children about the holiday so they understand what is honoring and dishonoring to God and why?
These questions can help guide your decisions on what to wear and how to act on Halloween.
Final Thoughts on Halloween
While, there is nothing that is specifically evil about trick-or-treating, decorating your home, or wearing costumes, we just need to be sure not to dishonor God. In fact, this can be a time to build good will among other members of your neighborhood. It can be a time to witness and further God’s kingdom with a loving attitude toward your co-workers, friends and family.
Whether you participate in Halloween or not, it can be an amazing time to share the ultimate message that Christ has overcome death, sin and evil spirits by dying on the cross, driving out the fear of any witch, goblin or skeleton. Just like the missionaries did with the Druids (read Part 1 of the blog series), we should use every opportunity to share Christ. This story in history shows we can use holidays, such as Halloween, to share God’s love with the world, while being set apart from it.