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Several years ago, we as a family dumped Halloween altogether, and not just because our girls are getting older.
We've taken our girls out of past school "celebrations" (before we started homeschooling), and have paid a small price. But it was worthwhile as Christians.
Even shopping from Labor Day to early November is getting harder to do each year as every store seems to be decorated to the hilt with Halloween stuff. Just looking at the decorations makes us uncomfortable; avoiding them is pretty difficult.
Our society views Halloween as a pagan holiday. The All Saints/Christian beginnings or emphasis has been lost to our culture. Participation in Halloween activities is seen as endorsing and going along with Halloween and its darker side (no matter how many happy costumes get worn).
I will even argue against church sponsored/located partys that occur the same night as Halloween. These partys can be called "Fall Festivals", "Harvest Happenings", or whatever. That won't make a bit of difference to non-Christians watching folks go to a church party. They'll just think that we celebrate Halloween too, just not door-to-door in our neighborhood.
If it's a party on Halloween night, it doesn't matter what you call it, how you dress, or what you do; to non-Christians you're still celebrating a pagan holiday. Appearances do matter.
We don't hand out treats (anymore). We don't go to partys (anymore). A Christian family we know gives out tracts pointing out that Halloween is a trick, and Salvation in Jesus Christ is the treat.
If you want to witness to non-Christian neighbors, do it another time, for example, Sunday School, backyard VBS's, cookouts, etc.
Some folks argue that churches should have partys so that their children have somewhere safe to go and won't feel left out of trick-or-treating. My argument would be, why as Christians do we have to feel left out? Why should we mirror a celebration that we shouldn't be a part of?
As Christians, we shouldn't feel left out of worldly things; we are not supposed to be of this world. We should be teaching our children to discern when not to participate in worldly activities that are counter to their Christian upbringing. They should be learning to be glad that they don't have to participate or otherwise feel obliged to do all the world does. Turning our backs on evil shouldn't make us feel left out.
Do you participate in the activities of Halloween? If so, you might want to reconsider your involvement with this event. It isn't as harmless as it seems.
As an alternative to various Halloween activities, you might consider the content of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, which were purportedly nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.
Other sites with material about Christians and Halloween may be found at Christian Web Resources on the Web
A Pumpkin
A lady, who had recently been baptized, was asked by a co-worker what it's like to be a Christian.
She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin: God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you which you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then He cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, et cetera; then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.
Passed on to me from another pumpkin.
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