Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

I have always hated Halloween.  My faith in God aside, I just don't get why evil should be celebrated.  When my Bible teaches me to think on whatever is lovely, pure, noble, right and true so that the peace of God will be with me (Philippians 4:8-9), I just can't see why anyone would want to focus on the opposite! When there is a general consensus that Halloween is 'just a bit of fun', I tend to disagree.  As a Christian, I don't think this particular holiday should be taken lightly.

It has always been a bone of contention for me.  Living at home at my parents and when I moved out in 2010, we would pretty much just turn all the lights off, lock the doors, and not open the door for anyone! Just hide away wishing it all to be over! But in the last couple of years, I've found my opinion changing.  In my walk with God, I am called to shine my light, Matthew 5:15 states that people do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

By turning off all the lights, locking down the house and not opening the door to anyone, am I not letting Satan have his way on this already dark night? The meaning behind that scripture is about not keeping the gift of God to myself.  To let it shine for others and illuminate His love to all.

Guarding Our Hearts

With most things in our walk with God, it's all about putting our hearts in the right place.  Being in line with His will and being a good witness of our faith in Him.  I think, as Christians, it's not about celebrating Halloween in such a way that feeds into all the evil side of it.  It's about standing against evil, separating out the things people hate Halloween for: the fear; the horror; the grisly; the gruesome and standing secure in God's presence to counteract all that.  God gives us the wisdom to know the difference! He gives us the discernment to hold onto what is pure in His sight and throw out what Holy Spirit opposes.

Two years ago I wrote a craft diy for shrink wrap plastic pumpkin earrings inspired by the UCB bags of hope.   It was at this point that I was going to throw my doors open for trick or treaters and embrace the Halloween celebrations.  I confess, I didn't actually do it in the end! I think it was just the general busyness of life and other things got in the way.  That I just didn't organise myself in time.  And last year I didn't either!

But this year, I am on it! I have no idea what I've done with the original bags of hope I ordered two years ago and never used! I've searched high and low but they are nowhere to be found! Instead I've printed out the Father's love letter, and added a 'Happy Halloween' colouring in page I've created especially for the occasion, along with the scripture 'The Joy of the Lord is my strength' colouring page (also my own creation).  If you sign up for my monthly newsletter here, you can get both these pages for free!

I printed mine out in A4, used the 'Happy Halloween' colouring page on the top, the Father's love letter as page 2, then the Joy of the Lord colouring in page as page 3.  I very simply hole punched them and then tied them together with some old string I had in my craft stash.

When I went out to buy all the sweets, chocs and party bags to make up for the trick or treaters, I have to say, I felt a strong conviction against giving my money to an industry I don't particularly agree with! However, the way I need to look at it is, I am spending my money on blessing the people that choose to come to my home on Halloween night.  My hope is that some seeds will be sown with the Father's love letter.  I find it so comforting to read.  God's written word is so solid, to me it is really powerful stuff!

So what are your thoughts? Should Christians ignore Halloween completely? Or use it as an opportunity to bless others and share the gospel? Where do you stand?

Photo Credits

Header image of pumpkins - from rawpixel.com on pexels.com.
Hearts photo - from freestocks.org on pexels.com.
​Man in front of cross - from pixabay.com on pexels.com.