By Jason Decker
I originally published an article called “Halloween: The Truth Behind the Mask”. In 1990 when I was a sophomore in high school. This article shows that Halloween is more than a cute commercially exploited holiday but rather something much more serious, trust me it’s very real, not just a commercially exploited party holiday!
Now, 30 years later, as a parent I completely agree with my younger self in the seriousness which we must take this holiday. As a parent of older teenagers, I feel this is an incredible opportunity to not only impact our kids but to shine our light as a family in our neighborhood and community. I encourage you to LIVE what YOU BELIEVE 100%, this is called INTEGRITY! Our kids need to know how we walk the talk, but WHY we do what we do!
Why make a big deal of this? What’s wrong with kids having fun?
Do some basic Google Research on this topic and search: “Halloween Pagan Holiday”
“Samhain is a pagan religious festival originating from an ancient Celtic spiritual tradition. In modern times, Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”) is usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.” Celebrants believe that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down during Samhain, allowing more interaction between humans and denizens of the Otherworld.”
There is also historical Christian background to Halloween with All Hallows’ Eve. That background mostly stems from Catholic history which has its inherent issues of worshipping saints and doctrinal conflict with Evangelical Christianity.
- This is a great read on All Hallow’s Eve: https://www.littlewaychapel.com/blog/all-hallows-eve
The Bible teaches us:
“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12
This conversation on this popular holiday desperately needs to go to the next level. It is important that we acknowledge the occultic history of Halloween. We need to pause and think about what it means to us as Christians and what we should do about it when it comes to our participation, our children and our community.
Everywhere I look, Halloween is on full display with death, witches, black cats, demons, masks on display. Do you really think it’s cute to let your daughter dress up as witch or your son to wear a demonic monster costume? Don’t be surprised if you they have issues later, such as nightmares and rebellious attitudes. In cooperating with Halloween, we abdicate the covering over our family and allow demonic spirits to have access to our kids by our cooperation with this holiday.
In our ministry we have encountered people coming out of the Occult / Wicca and we’ve even employed former Wiccan Priests on our staff who have many stories about demonic rituals they do during this holiday.
It’s become en-vogue in our popular culture to open oneself to the occult https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/samhain-pagan-rituals
DOES THIS MATTER OR DOES IT NOT?
Everyone in our culture is circling the drain accelerated with the advent of trending social media and Instagram worship. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/halloween/
Christians often find themselves out-numbed from the onslaught of exposure, and just go with the flow either to “not rock the boat” or even willingly join the celebration of something clearly opposed to God.
One of the big allures of Halloween (especially for my kids) is trick or treating, going around the neighborhood and getting free candy, toys and trinkets! Some people love wearing costumes, they love candy and they love the kids in our neighborhood, how do you say no to that? How do we make this work?
Take a minute and think about the true reason you particpate in Halloween and at what level? Don’t just do it without thinking!
- Also consider the age(s) of your kids and realize that as they grow, our approach must grow appropriately and no matter what, our kid’s must know we LOVE them , we are NOT punishing them, they should understand WHY we make our decisions and it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks, it matters what conviction Holy Spirit leads us to is RIGHT not SIN and Judgement.
- This is critical to understand that it is not our job to judge people, but it is our job to use good judgement! It is the job of the Holy Spirit to show us and others what is righteous and what is sin! If we work together with Him, then we can walk in grace and walk with them towards righteousness and away from sin.
- In choosing HOW to participate in Halloween, the RIGHT decision will give you PEACE and JOY by the Holy Spirit! *Not evil spirits or religious spirits!
As a parent there are many decisions, we must choose that affect our kids!
- Do we participate?
- What do we do?
- Where do we celebrate?
- With whom?
- Do our kids get a costume?
- What kind of costume?
- What are we representing?
- What message does this send?
- What is the nature of your character you are choosing to represent?
- Does this matter?
Here is the thing…I am NOT saying that we should be afraid or scared of Halloween! We can be confident of who we are IN CHRIST!
- We need to be aware of the reality that this is a real occult/ pagan holiday and that we need to make informed decisions as Christian families and communities.
Use FAITH to create your family plan
- Pray and ask God what you should do! – Without Faith it’s Impossible to please God & Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the (spoken) word of God! (Hebrews 11)
- Do what He says – We should be DOER’S of the Word! (James 1:22)
- Be in agreement with your spouse (if you are married with kids) “again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” Matthew 18:19 – this gives power to any decisions we make together!
- Choose age (+spiritual age) appropriate ways to educate your kids, neighbors and fellow believers
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” I Corinthians 13:11
- Don’t over-do-it to the point of being a religious bible thumper telling everyone what to or not to do. Approach this WITH LOVE – Let the Children come unto Jesus! Be aware of your influence and how your tone and attitude can project onto our kids understanding of God’s nature.
YOU HAVE CHOICES
- 100% participation = Do nothing and just go with the flow 100% participation
- 0% Participation = Do not participate whatsoever
- Somewhere in between 1 and 2
- Do something with your church community – I encourage this with younger kids
- Do an outreach approach – I would encourage this with older kids
- Display your faith in a creative way
- Give a thoughtful gift to your community
SCRIPTURES TO CONSIDER
- Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might now the things that have been freely given to us by God. – 1 Corinthians 2:12
- “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
- “For you were once in darkness, but now you are the light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” – Ephesians 5:8
- “Abstain from every form of evil”- 1 Thessalonians 5:22
- “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16
