For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
(Ephesians 6:12)
Today is Halloween and I’m confused. Not so much about Halloween, but about how so many Christians will deal with it. Tonight in neighborhoods across America children will walk past dark houses and wonder why the people inside won’t give them candy. Their parents will tell them nobody’s home but they’ll know that’s not true. They will wonder how Christians could be so cold and, well, I think they might be right.
We’ve kind of got this all or nothing approach to Halloween. Either we figure out a way to participate in it without celebrating it (like Hallelujah Night, or Trunk or Treat nights, or Fall Festivals, or my personal favorite, the “Dress Up Like A Nice Character And Play Games And Say Something So You Can Get Candy But Don’t Think For A Second We’re Actually Doing The Same Thing As All The Other Children That Are Dressed Up Like Bad Things Saying Something So They Can Get Candy” night) or we turn off the lights on our porch and hide behind the couch hoping some 4 year-old instrument of Satan dressed like a monster won’t knock on our door.
My point here is not to poke fun or take shots at people for having beliefs about a holiday, and it’s definitely not to say that churches, which provide safe alternatives, are wrong. They aren’t. My question is more along the lines of how can we as Christians say we want to reach the world for Jesus and then, on the ONE night when so many of them will willingly come to our houses, turn the light off on them? Isn’t this the best time to turn on the light, open the door and show that little one the love of Christ? I think Christians should give out the best and most candy because then the word would spread in the neighborhood that “the person in that house is really nice and they give out LOTS of candy…you have GOT to go there!!!”
I can tell you that our family does not like Halloween. For reasons that we could debate well into the next century, we don’t agree with it. But tonight, our light will be on and there will be a big bucket of candy by the door. And every time the doorbell rings, we’ll smile and tell that little ghost how cute he or she is while we’re dropping a ton of candy in their bag. And later, when that ghost is a boy or girl again and they find out we’re Christians, they’ll probably think it’s true.
Sometimes, it’s important to remember who we’re fighting.
