Linda Brooks Davis

Can Christians Turn Halloween Into Something Holy?

How Are Christians to Respond to Halloween?

Halloween_Holy
Click for family Halloween treats.

Days are growing shorter and nights longer. Trees are changing colors. The air is turning cooler, crisper. Brown, orange, and gold decorations adorn porches and front lawns. It’s Halloween time.

Basically an American holiday, Halloween has become many things to many people. But what—if anything—should it represent for Christians? For some, its pagan origins disqualify it from their calendars.

  • Which begs the question: How, then, can Christians call the days of the week after Anglo-Saxon, German, Norse, and Roman deities? How can Christians meet on Sunday to honor the Lord Jesus when Sunday in its original context was “Sun’s Day” – in honor of the Roman Sun God?

Shall we observe Halloween or any special day in its pagan context of centuries past—with symbols of what Christ suffered and died to obliterate: Evil. Death. Darkness. Cruelty. Fear. Pain. Witches. Sorcery. Spells. Occultism. And every other work of Satan? Many Christians refuse to observe Halloween because of these dark, ghoulish connotations.

  • Deuteronomy 18:10-13 NIV – There shall not be found among you anyone who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord.

Other Christians “redeem” Halloween through the blood of Christ by shining the light of the gospel around their neighborhoods. They celebrate God’s goodness as seen in the harvest, abundance, and “treating” their neighbors.

  • Matter of fact, Pope Gregory IV reacted to the pagan challenge by moving the celebration of All Saints Day in the ninth century. He set the date at November 1, right in the middle of the pagan festival, Samhain. ~ Travis Allen, https://bit.ly/3lsCnhC 

Without question, observing Halloween—or not—remains a matter of conscience before God for Christians.

  • Romans 14:6 NIV—Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

But for me …

Halloween_HolyWhen the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween appear in our neighborhood each year, my thoughts race to the one and only “ghost” Christians can turn to, the only “spirit” we can worship—the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. 

The idea of a triune God … of the One-and-Only God’s 3-in-1-ness … How mysterious is that? Wrapping my head around how this could be possible always left me bumfuzzled. Until I became a grandmother.

Let me explain …

One day I said, “I love you with all my heart,” to each of six grandchildren in a single day. And a question raised its worrisome head: Can I really love six grandchildren with all of my heart?

How in the world does that work?

Does each child get a sixth of my affection all the time, as if I were doling out perpetual slices of pizza?

“Oh dear, what’s one-sixth of a 20-inch love pizza? Anybody got a calculator?”

 

Do my grandchildren receive all of my love one at a time, as at a drinking fountain?

“Whose turn is it for a drink of love?” 

 

Perhaps it’s more like serving punch: all of them get all of my love, but it’s mixed with everyone else’s in something akin to pond water?

 

“I have Daniel grape/Braden apple/Davis chocolate milk/Ella plain milk/Ethan water/McKenna tutty-fruity love today! Come and get it!”

Thankfully, no. 

By God’s miraculous design, my affection for one child isn’t diminished because it’s extended to five others. It’s not exclusive to one child at a time. Nor is it a conglomeration of six loves that satisfies no one–not because love is unique to me but because God IS love, and His unity in plurality nature is present in the love in every beating heart … for all time.

Such a love is impossible to divide. It is undiminished when shared, and it is distinct though the same.

Sounds like the Trinity

Which brings me back to Halloween …

Halloween_HolyAs Christians, let’s not allow pagan superstitions to invade Halloween. 

  • Evil spirits are no more active and sinister on Halloween than they are on any other day of the year; in fact, any day is a good day for Satan to prowl about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). But “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). God has forever “disarmed principalities and powers” through the cross of Christ and “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them through [Christ]” (Colossians 2:15). ~ Travis Allen, https://bit.ly/3lsCnhC 

If we participate in Halloween activities, let’s use them as opportunities to shine the light of the gospel into an unbelieving, Christ-rejecting world. How about taking the time to communicate with friends and family about God, the Bible, sin, Christ, future judgment, and the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ?

And—perhaps—about the Trinity.

What better time of the year to share such a message?

Click here for some yummy/easy Holy Halloween recipes.

~ ~ ~

Dear Lord, use us, your children, to shine the light of the gospel into this Christ-rejecting world at Halloween and all the time.
For Jesus’ sake

8 thoughts on “Can Christians Turn Halloween Into Something Holy?

  1. Thanks for sharing this! I don’t enjoy all of the spookiness surrounding Halloween but have enjoyed being involved with our church fall festival in the past. I like how you described the Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit. I had not ever thought of that connection.😀 I love fall and my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, so I am getting into “grateful mode” right now. I do love to spend time with my grands, too, so I know where you are coming from when you talk about them. It is a wonderful time to love family! I have four. Two I spend a lot of time with and two that we just get to FaceTime. But, we are having a new baby girl grand right after Christmas so we have a lot to look forward too! I get to keep her for awhile so I’m excited for that.

    So, be blessed. In the journey, in the moments, in the love that you show to your family and in your writing 😀❤️ Phyllis

  2. Great post!

    I like to call Halloween Reformation Day because it was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the castle church in Wittenberg, which sparked the Protestant Reformation. I’m not Luthern, but I do believe Lutherans celebrate Reformation Day. At least, they used to. I do not celebrate Halloween at all.

  3. I absolutely love this♥️ One day is just as valuable as another. It’s always a good day to share the gospel ♥️Whether it be Halloween or any day of the week. Its where our heart and our relationship is with Jesus .
    Thank you for addressing this♥️
    Love and peace to you, Linda

  4. Sahmain long predates Christianity. I’m not going into a theological treatise here, although I could. It’s not about evil, or spells, or “things that go bump in the night”. It’s an observance of the end of harvest.

    It’s fundamentalists and Fundamental Evangelicals that have corrupted a simple holiday to the “dark day” it is seen as these days. Paying little kids with candy simple brings out the greedy little kids. Nasty teenage bullies that tag and TP houses become nasty adults that can’t see beyond the blinders people put on them. And a bully is a bully is a bully no matter what their ethnicity is.

    All Hallows Eve progresses to all Saints Day. In this year of Covid-19 where more people have died than in the Vietnam War, let’s just be peaceful, wear (not Halloween) masks and stop forcing our own beliefs on others

    1. Welcome, Andrea. So happy to have you in our circle. Human nature gravitates to the “dark” side while those “born of the spirit” look for the “light.” So it’s no wonder pagans long ago corrupted a celebration of the harvest into something dark, mystical, and/or evil. Over the centuries, the innocent origins of many rites/events/celebrations have been turned into various forms of evil. Christians are responsible for recognizing this and reframing the discussion/practices surrounding Halloween to align more with innocent connotations—-harvest, family, involvement with the neighborhood, good/clean fun, etc. God bless you every day!

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