With the fall weather settling in and Harvest celebrations abounding, I always hear the debates from Christian circles about Halloween. If we have our kids dress up, does that mean we are celebrating Halloween? We aren’t participating in witchcraft, so is it ok to Trick or Treat? Our church is having a Harvest Event on October 31, is that allowed? As Christians and Biblically Minded Families, what should we do about Halloween? This is something that has been debated since before I was a child, so as you can imagine there are many opinions about it. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says, questions about trick or treating, and what our family has done. Hopefully these will help you make informed decisions for your own family.
What does the Bible say
I know Christians who tell believers that they should have nothing to do with Halloween. “Stay far away from that pagan holiday.” I understand their belief. As Christians and Biblically Minded Families, we need to always go to the Scriptures to see what they say about our situations. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or observes times, who interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…”
Halloween practices have included divination, calling spirits of the dead, and sacrifices in the fire. Those are things that Christians need to stay far away from, as the Bible clearly teaches. It is right of us to be skeptical about this day and think carefully about our participation in it. We want to stay far away from these practices that the Bible prohibits. If the party you invited to has these things, RUN AWAY! But I don’t think I have ever heard of a Christian brother or sister debating about that! Stay away from movies, books, or shows that are dark and contain these kind of practices.
What about Trick or Treating
So, what do we do about Trick or Treating? Is that partaking in the warning of Deuteronomy 18? Part of the fun of Halloween is dressing up in costumes and collecting candy. Kids and adults love wearing their new costumes and walking from house to house. But what should we do about this? The Bible doesn’t say anything about this or even allude to something like this. It just didn’t exist back then.
I believe, though, this is an innocent family activity as long your family dresses modestly, respectfully, tastefully, and wholesomely. Stay away from gory, gross, offensive, scary, or violent costumes. This does not mean that you have to dress like a character from the Bible (but you could!). You will never go wrong dressing as a doctor, puppy, teacher, box of donuts, M&Ms, etc. 🙂 This can be a fun memory for your whole family to participate in together without even a hint of witchcraft or divinations or human sacrifices.
Likewise, other activities like pumpkin carving, corn mazing, apple picking, etc. are other great activities during this season. They eliminate the gore and witchcraft that come with Halloween while keeping traditions that go with the season of the year. These are great alternatives to do with your family that bring people together without the questionable activities we should avoid.
What our family did
When our children were quite young, they loved dressing up. The girls had various costumes, and it was customary for them to wear them around the house, asking us to call them Cinderella or Nurse. They loved it. It was part of pretend play, and I didn’t want to discourage that. (They even dressed the boys in a tutu at times.) So, every fall we had to decide what we were going to do about Halloween. Obviously, we didn’t participate in decorating our home with goblins, witches, caldrons, and other gory things, but we noticed it was a time when our neighbors were coming to us! We knew we had to redeem this “holiday” for the Lord Jesus.
Our family decided that we would dress up and visit a few neighbors to get a little candy, but the most important part of the evening was serving our neighbors with the help of friends from our small group. As each family came to our home, we would provide food for the kids and adults. We had hotdogs, candy, and hot chocolate (it was often pretty chilly in Iowa in October). This created a welcoming environment right on our driveway. Parents wanted to stay and chat which is exactly what we hoped for. We got to know our neighbors more and give them invitations to our church. Sometimes we even had spiritual conversations! We redeemed this evening for Christ!
I believe that this is the best way for us to be in the world but separate (John 17:14-15). We do not need to participate in the Satanic worship, evil spirit calling, dark and immoral dressing, etc. But we take this time to get to know our neighbors, tell them about Jesus, and take back this holiday for the Lord. Dressing up in a fun costume for this evening does not make me a Satan worshiper in any way. My heart belongs to Jesus. This became a tradition that we loved, and our neighborhood loved as well.
Final thoughts
So, I can’t tell you what you should do, but for our family, we knew that avoiding it altogether wasn’t right. We couldn’t turn off the lights and pretend we weren’t home. Our family got outside and welcomed the neighbors in the name of Jesus. They could tell that we weren’t the witches and demonic kind of people, and we had the honor of serving them. If your church is doing something similar, great! Jump right in and serve with them. I think this is the perfect opportunity to meet people and love them. This doesn’t mean you are celebrating Satan’s holiday… I think you are redeeming it!
Plan fun traditions with your family during the fall. Make them memorable things that you all enjoy but also find ways to redeem Halloween for the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom. Evaluate invitations as they come. Use this time of the year to get to know your neighbors and bring them another step closer to Jesus. Redeem Halloween for the Kingdom of Heaven.
To learn more from Sarah and the Biblically Minded Family, click on one of the articles below!
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