My Halloween Conviction

Halloween is typically one of those taboo things in Christian culture. It joins Harry Potter, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny on a large list of DO NOT’s. I mean, don’t fault the list or the makers of the list. I totally get why – these things have pagan origins. They aren’t centered around Jesus and at times seem to point completely away from Him. Because of this they have become controversial: some Christians participate and some do not. And even still no one really knows what to do. And I certainly am not going to tell you if you should or should not participate in Halloween! Rather, I want to challenge you to approach Halloween like every other day . . . to do what we as believers must do in every part of our lives: Do everything for the glory of God. To let participating in Halloween (or not) become a conversation between you and Jesus, just like your other daily discernments, decisions, relationship and engagements.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

You might be someone who, on Halloween night, turns off all of the lights in your house to pretend you’re not home. Or you might be someone who dresses the family up in the best, coordinated costumes and heads out Trick or Treating at 4:30 pm to get an early start on the evening. Either way, I would encourage you to, instead of doing what you normally would do on Halloween this year, to have a conversation with Jesus first. “God, what conviction have YOU placed on my heart in regards to Halloween?” Be intentional with your conversation with Him and follow through with the conviction on your heart. Don’t worry, I think it’s going to look a little different for each of us. But we must have grace for one another in our different personal convictions and decisions.

For many Christian families the question remains: Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

The answer: it depends.

God desires faithful obedience for you and your family. For Christians, Halloween offers the opportunity to model faithfulness and obedience in our decision-making.

At the very least, Halloween provides a conversation starter between you and your kids, or a neighbor, or even a co-worker. From there, the holiday presents an incredible opportunity to develop new relationships and share your faith . . . continue to study, pray, and seek God’s wisdom on this topic. Follow the conviction of your own heart through the Holy Spirit so that, whatever your family decides, others might see Christ working through you.

Focus on the Family

MY HALLOWEEN CONVICTION

I was chatting with a friend about the conviction my husband and I have towards Halloween and how God has led us in this. I told her that, when we lived at our old house, we would fill up a big vat of hot chocolate. As kids and their parents from all over the neighborhood gathered on our busy street on Halloween night, we would invite them up onto the driveway. We gave out candy to the kids, and hot chocolate to keep the parents warm on their dutiful walk. We talked with the kids about their costumes and invited them to ask questions about ours. We even joked with the parents about spiking their hot chocolate the next year to add that extra bit of warmth and joy to their candy collecting adventure. We had a ton of fun! Our hope and our prayer going into that night was to touch lives and to be a light for Jesus during a typically dark night. To be silly, inviting and loving . . . the opposite of what the enemy of our souls wants as he packs Halloween stores with things that scream the opposite. I shared with my friend my personal conviction on this day: Instead of hiding away, we choose to face these things head on with light and love. We choose to overwhelm the day with hospitality, prayer and care for those we encounter. Instead of judgement, we choose to have a heart like Jesus to go into the lost and the dark place to meet with people. We see Halloween as an opportunity to be intentional. To not just hand out candy but to leave footprints of Jesus in the hearts of each person we encounter. Instead of hiding in our basements, turning off all of our lights and praying away Oh Hallows Eve every year, we let our lights shine, opened our doors and embraced our neighbors with friendly hearts of hospitality. After all, there is NO OTHER time of the year where your neighbors and their families will all willingly come to you and ring your door bell. What a blessing! Personally, I don’t ever want to miss that opportunity! This is my conviction.

LET’S GET UNCOMFORTABLE

My friend shared a different idea. She said: what if we gathered Christian families at the church to pray for 24 hours for our city? She reminded me that because so many unbelievers open themselves up to spiritual darkness on Halloween that rather than engaging with them in that, we should do something more Godly. Totally! If that is her conviction on how Jesus is leading her family to participate in Halloween, then that’s amazing!

I want us to take a pause on both of these ideas and remember this: sometimes the most frequent Christian response to something is not always the Jesus answer. And sometimes, it is the answer. Let’s just make sure that when we ask Jesus what conviction He is giving us for Halloween we are willing to get a bit uncomfortable for the sake of the Gospel. Maybe your conviction, just like my friend’s, is a 24 hour prayer night at the church on Halloween night. Awesome, then I invite you to engage in that! But let’s take the time to ask Jesus what He would have for us and be okay if the response is not what we were necessarily looking for . . . or something we are comfortable with!

HALLOWEEN 2021

Last year Halloween was a bit of a disappointment. We dressed up, filled up our vat of hot chocolate, strung some colored lights on our deck and settled into our porch chairs with blankets, coats and our costumes, ready to love and converse with our neighbors. The night passed by and, because of COVID and the fact that we moved to a new, less developed neighborhood, we only had about nine kids come to our house. Compared to the previous year of one hundred this was a huge let down! So, as fall of 2021 rolled around, instead of mindlessly going back to doing what we have always done before, I paused and asked Jesus: “How do you want us to engage with Halloween this year?” And, in the last few weeks God has given me an idea by reminding me of the wonderful, powerful, life-changing, LIGHT of His Word.

“It is the same with my Word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Isaiah 55:11

With this beautiful reminder from Jesus, I decided that those nine kids (or hopefully twenty-five this year!) are going to feel super special coming to our house. Instead of hot chocolate, we made goody-bags.

There will be candy (of course!) but also some small toys that kids LOVE (silly putty, glow sticks, balloons, bouncy balls, etc.) as well as a card sharing Halloween HOPE and a Halloween JOKE. (Feel free to download them and use them below!)

A Halloween joke because EVERYONE needs a good laugh, especially in the heavy season that we are all in. And some Halloween hope, which is a scripture passage about God’s love for them given through Jesus. Is it weird to give out Scripture at Halloween? Totally! But God has made a promise. His promise, from Isaiah 55:11 is that His Word will accomplish what His intention is for it. We just need to be faithful to SHARE His word. He will do the rest.

“For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and prosper in what I send it to do.”

Isaiah 55:10-11

Is this completely terrifying? Yes. But Jesus unashamedly shared all of the good things of the Father with anyone and everyone, even if the Truth and Love that was coming from Him made them uncomfortable. Truth does that sometimes; pure love, God-love, does that. And since Jesus put this on my heart for Halloween this year, it is my conviction to share His light and love through our Halloween goodie bags. To step out of my comfort zone and give these families the most precious treat of all, the sweet honey of the Word of God which promises to nourish and enrich hearts.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Psalm 119:103

Your Turn!

Jesus, what would you have me do? How would you have my family and I approach this controversial day?

No matter which direction the Lord leads you in I invite you to pray: Let’s pray protection over our neighborhoods and let’s pray for opportunity to share Him; not just today, but every day! Let’s open our hands up to God’s agenda rather than our own. Let’s pray for the peace, joy and love of God to cover those that anxiously declare “Trick or Treat” at our front door step this October 31st. Let’s pray that God would use us to be a light to all we meet. Let’s victoriously declare this day a day of the Lord.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:13-16

Written by: Justine Joy