"Uh-oh, here we go," some of you are thinking. "Pastor's Matt's going to get on his high horse about Halloween." No, I'm not. After all, that wouldn't be much of a treat, now, would it?
I simply want to share with you something that caught my eye nearly twenty years ago and changed my way of thinking. It was an article in October 29, 1990 edition of the USA Today entitled Satanist 'revival' rumors stir a furor. This had to to with talk of a satanists' convention that was reportedly going to happen in D.C. The reports were unconfirmed, with no verifiable data to give warrant to the hysteria that began to spread among evangelicals throughout the area.
But what caught my eye was one of those "blow-up" quotes that you'll often see in the midst of a newspaper or magazine article. This quote was by Bryan Jordan, a Washington witch, who said,
"(Christians) don't realize it, but they're celebrating our holiday with us. . . We like it."
What do we make of such a statement? Jack Kelley, the author of the USA Today article, wrote just prior to Jordan's remark, "While children typically trick-or-treat for candy on Halloween, it's a religious holiday for the underworld, with satanists performing sacrifices and witches quietly celebrating with prayer circles or meals for the dead." Now, please remember, this is not Moody Monthly, Christianity Today, or World magazine putting out his article. This is the USA Today - not exactly a bastion of conservative Christianity!
If you do some research, you'll find that Samhain, the "original" Halloween, was a festival that marked the eve of the Celtic New Year, which began on November 1. The Celts believed that during Samhain the "veil" that separated the living from the dead was at its thinnest. They believed that on the evening of October 31, evil spirits and the souls of the dead passed through the barrier and entered the world of the living. Such a thought created fever-pitch excitement ... and fear. That night, the Celts would leave out food for the spirits, hoping that a "treat" would prevent a "trick." You can probably see how the modern-day version of Halloween evolved from there.
In the 700s the Church decided to combat this festival with their own celebration of the Lord of life. Instead of appeasing evil spirits, they chose to honor the saints - those who had lived godly lives. In essence, Christians were saying, "Fine, if you want to have a holiday for the dead, let's celebrate the lives of faithful saints who are now with the Lord." So November 1 became known as "All Saints' Day" or "All Hallows' Day." The evening before was called "All Hallows' Eve," from which we get the modern name "Halloween."
Okay, then. So we have two different paths of tradition concerning this holiday. How should Christians handle Halloween?
First, we should realize that this is a matter of individual conscience and liberty. Don't go against your conscience, and don't judge those who have a different conviction than you. But having said that, let me offer a few alternatives to celebrating Halloween the way that the world does. Instead of focusing on activities that are preoccupied with fear and death, let us celebrate the One who gives life. Here are some ways that we can do this.
1. Celebrate All Saints' Day
Protestant Christians tend to shy away from honoring saints, for fear that admiration or respect will evolve into worship. Indeed, we are to worship God alone. But in Hebrews 11 and other passages, godly men and women are given "honorable mentions" for their faith in God, so that Christians who are reminded of their legacy will imitate their faith and so honor their Lord.
So there are saints in biblical history we can appreciate as well as saints in church history. Incidentally, October 31 is also known as Reformation Day, for it was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. God used Martin Luther and faithful men like him to reawaken the Church to the true gospel, especially the doctrine of justification by faith. These are great truths to celebrate.
2. Have a different kind of party.
Our family hosts a fall harvest party. We've belonged to churches that have had a Noah's Ark party, where the children dress up as different sorts of animals and hear the story of Noah, which reminds us of God's judgment against sin as well as His saving mercy and grace. Others might have a costume party where the children (or adults!) dress up as Bible heroes or famous men and women from Christian history. (One year here at First Baptist, we hosted such a party, and I came dressed as Billy Graham.)
3. Use trick-or-treating as an opportunity to share the gospel.
Give a tract along with a treat! Show the love of Christ in demonstrable ways to those whom God brings to your door.
These are just a few suggestions. I'm sure you can think of some more. What some mean for evil, we can use for good. Whatever your convictions about Halloween, let's remember the exhortation of 1 Corinthians 10:31: "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God."