Tonight and a few days after this social media networks will be flooded by pictures of people in costumes. Some would be funny, some cute, some amazing, and some would be scary. A lot of people will be sharing their costumes and experiences. The younger kids would be ecstatic with joy because of all the candies they got from trick or treating. Some would even share how their companies are joining in on the festivities by running some kind of Halloween contest — Best Costume? Best Cubicle Display? Best Floor Team Display?
In quite a few of the Christian groups I’m a member of in Facebook a lot of people have been asking the question about joining in on the Halloween activities as followers of Jesus Christ. There were a lot of varying points and opinions being thrown around. This is the reason for this post.
So as a background story: Some folks from our church decided to propose to have a “Trunk & Treat” event coinciding with Halloween. As with a lot of other churches the theme would be changed to it being a “harvesting” event where we use the day to evangelize to guests. How, I don’t know, because I’m sure kids would be busy going from car trunk to car trunk trying to get as many candies as they can get, and the parents would be tailing them to make sure they are safe (and, for some, they behave).
My wife and I were tapped to help out with organizing it. A simple poster was already churned out because the day was getting near and we need to announce it up at the pulpit the coming Sunday!
But I was conflicted. I don’t support this, but at the same time I wanted to support my friends and the church. So what am I to do? First thing’s first: Pray.
So I did.
The next day I was more sure of my convictions. I just need to organize my thoughts and tell our friends. I’ve included my message to them in this post, see below:
Warning: this will be a bit long and might sound harsh. I don’t mean to sound harsh towards you all because I love you, but I just have strong convictions which I am not willing to compromise. You know me, you know how I speak. Understand I’m speaking all this in love (and in takas while at work lol so I couldn’t really sugar-coat it). Also, I wrote this warning last, after I’ve written this whole message. I have also prayed for the words to write on the drive this morning and the outcome is below:
Why do we need to celebrate Halloween with the rest of the world? The roots of this event is unbiblical, but most importantly it is a direct attack against our God. The history of this event/day includes burning sacrifices to Celtic deities (against God’s commandment in Exodus 20:3 — You shall have no other gods before Me). Anything against God is an attack on Him, and is mocking Him.
We, as Christians, are called to be set apart. How will the world see us being set apart if we celebrate their ungodly, unbiblical, and pagan holidays along with them? What message will we be sending to the kids (of all ages, meaning Elevate and NxtGen) who we hope will continue on Christ’s teachings? What message are we sending to unbelievers, those who should see Christ in us because our lives will be the only Bible they will ever read? For me the message they might get is, “It’s OK to be like the world from time to time,” and, “What makes those so-called Christians different from us?” and in the long run these compromises will lead to our kids and the Church adapting more and more of the world because we “just want to have a little fun.”
I’m likening this to how the Catholic church is defending their stance in worshiping Mary. They say they don’t worship her, but only venerate her. A synonym of “venerate” is “worship.” Why are we trying to pretend it’s not what it is? We need to be radical Christians, and maintain it. Radical, from the root word “radix,” meaning root. Radical Christians should be rooted in Christ. Now I’m looking at the roots of this holiday/event, and as I said above it’s an attack on the One True God who took us out of darkness and into the light. Who sacrificed His Son to wash away our sins. Who made a way for us to be able to be with Him after our life here on earth. Then we want to celebrate this day that mocks Him? I’ll pass.
We shouldn’t join the world in celebrating days that mock our God, even if we try to add a little spin to it, or add our own little twist. We need to turn away and flee from anything closely related to that day. I saw a Halloween meme before of the face of Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, with the quote that says, “I’m glad that Christian parents let their children worship the Devil at least one night out of the year.” I admit I don’t know if it’s accurate, if he really said it, but the meme has a point. We are supposed to be set apart. Celebrating this day is not showing we are set apart.
Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, said, “When we let our vision become earth-bound, we lose our eternal perspective.”
Sure, Calvary Chapel does something similar to what’s being proposed here, but is Calvary Chapel our role model, or Jesus Christ? Of course we can have fun, but not at the expense of our Lord and Savior. Not to the point of mocking Him. Not to the point of joining in on the celebrations that attack Him. Even in anger Jesus did not sin. We need to do all we can to emulate Him alone, not the world, not other churches, not other Christians.
If the church still wants to do something on that weekend/Sunday why not take advantage of the new ping pong table and have some wholesome family fun that will be more glorifying to God? A friendly ping pong tournament with families as teams, with food and refreshments, with worship music playing in the background, and open to our non-CCF-attending family and friends? The treats to be used for the Trunk & Treat could be donated to be used as prizes.
Let’s do our part in keeping Christ in the center of our lives, instead of setting Him aside on this day and joining the world in mocking Him.
Sorry for the long message. (End)
So there you have it. That’s my stance. I know not a lot of Christians will agree, but this is my conviction.
Thank you for the time and God bless!
UPDATE (Nov. 3, 2017): A couple of days after me sending this message my wife’s best friend shared how her kids “joined in” on the Halloween festivities. They still went house-to-house, but instead of Trick-or-Treating the kids gave loot bags to the house owners. Inside the bags was a small Bible and a Gospel tract.