The Celebration of Halloween
Updated: Nov 18, 2020
Why I do not celebrate Halloween.
CHRISTIANS & PASTORS BEWARE!
Should Christians participate in celebrating Halloween?
Should Christians participate in a holiday that has fear as its foundation?
Is it an abomination to God?
I believe it’s important to understand what we celebrate. Pleasing God should be our utmost concern and what we are celebrating/worshiping/honoring should be clearly defined.
I don't want my kid to miss out.
I grew up never celebrating Halloween. My family did not celebrate it. I never knew about the holiday and because I never knew about halloween I never felt left out as most people assume. I had no clue it was a "thing" until around middle school. We didn’t ever hand candy out and we did not dress up or go trick-or-treating. We simple lived that day as it was any other day and I never questioned why. As I became a young adult and begin watching my friends go to costume parties, have their own kids, and celebrate Halloween; the question came to mind, Would I ever celebrate Halloween?
One year, my husband and I got invited to a costume party. So, we dressed up and went. And it was the only time I had in fact “celebrated” Halloween and dressed up.
The thought had crossed my mind, if my husband and I ever had children, if would we allow them to celebrate halloween. Although I had never celebrated it as a kid growing up, my husband did. And so I had teeter tottered with the idea if celebrating Halloween was good or bad.
That was until I woke up in Christ.
If there is even a question in my mind that it might be wrong, shouldn't that be my first clue to look at it a little closer? So, I did.
Should we celebrate a holiday that’s dark, entices fear, and where people decorate their front yards with tombstones and dress up as witches and skeletons?
Not to mention it is a Pagan holiday and is also a Wiccan (witch) Holiday as well.
Let’s dig in and look at it closer!
Is celebrating a dark holiday something a child of light should be doing?
God is light, a God of life. Halloween is dark, its foundation is fear, and it is about the dead, its focus is on death, and it’s known as “The Day of the Dead”. Its foundation is a holiday where people would go to cemeteries and churches with flowers and candles and offer prayers. The celebration is intended as “honoring” the dead.
What is Halloween?
According to “History” channel (history.com) “Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.”
Information about Halloween can also be found all across the internet. The cultural backgrounds that celebrated this date all seem to point back to celebrating the dead. But what you will find is that over time this holiday is revolving to become looked at as an innocent and fun holiday for the children, as people are seeing it today. (Side note: This revolving holiday is just like sex and nudity is in America today. The news and media make light of sex, and that wearing less clothing is ok. By desensitizing us through media. But that’s a topic for another day).
Should we participate in celebrating Halloween?
Let’s look at Romans 13:12
NLV: “Night is almost gone. Day is almost here. We must stop doing the sinful things that are done in the dark. We must put on all the things God gives us to fight with for the day.”
NIV: “……let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
NKJV: “….Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
Separate ourselves from the darkness.
To break it down even further, lets ask ourselves:
Should we participate in a holiday that has fear as its foundation?
Is it an abomination to God?
Would I be celebrating, worshiping, honoring, serving or bringing God glory?
Is celebrating Halloween ok?
Should we participate in a holiday that has fear as its foundation?
1 John 4:18
NKJV: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment….”
NIV: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.…”
So fear has to do with torment and punishment and love drives out fear so fear is not of love.
Another question we should ask is:
Is it an abomination to God?
It clearly states that sorcery, witchcraft (wiccan & new age), consulting the dead, and so forth are an abomination to God in Deuteronomy 18:10-13.
Deuteronomy 18:10-13 (NIV) “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, 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; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.”
Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (NLV) “….uses secret ways, or does witchcraft, or tells the meaning of special things, or is a witch, or uses secret power on people, or helps people talk to spirits, or talks to spirits himself, or talks with the dead.”
Deuteronomy 18:12 (ESV) “for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord”
Deuteronomy 18:12 (NKJV) “For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord..”
It seems that dressing your cute little kid up as a zombie, a devil or witch or simply dressing them up as anything and celebrating Halloween, seems maybe a little demonic? Okay so you dress them up as a cute puppy? or maybe as a blue crayon? And you’re simply saying that it is not “demonic” and you’re just “having fun” getting candy, and that it’s innocent.
Romans 16:19 “…. I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.”
We are to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Here it’s saying the best defense against sin and corruption is a good offense. We are to be wise and knowledgeable about what is good. Meaning we should know good and live that way. In the same way we are to be innocent to evil. In other words, we should stay away from it, having nothing to do with it.
If you let your child participate in Halloween, even while dressed as a blue crayon, aren't you sending them a mixed message by allowing them to participate in a celebration that points to evil?
Churches who stand for the LGBTQ community, is no different than the church that holds a festival every year calling it a “harvest festival” or “trunk or treat”. Everyone dresses up in costumes and plays games, and gets candy, in the same mock as a Halloween celebration, just calling it something different. And I don’t believe either of the two are good. Now, I’m not saying that churches should not allow gays to come to church. Because everyone should be welcome to church. Church should be a place we learn right from wrong, and good from evil.
(The subject of LGBTQ is a topic for another day. No, I don’t hate LGBTQs, just like I don’t hate someone who is an adulterer, thieve, greedy nor drunkard, but I don’t condone their actions either. My heart breaks because there are people who are dying and don’t even know it. 1 John 2:17