What shall We Do with Halloween?
By Pastor Rolly
Well, it’s that time of the year once again when children in costumes come out to knock on your doors and with a grin happily say, “Trick or Treat?” How could you ever turn away or ignore those cute, smiling little ones? But then, of course, it depends on what you believe about Halloween as a Christian.
Halloween is one of those things that Christians are divided about. On one side there are those who don’t want to have anything to do with it, treating it with contempt, because of its pagan origins. On the other side are those who find nothing wrong with it and join in the “festivities” for the sake of the children and so children are dressed up as angels or some harmless or biblical character.
The problem with arguing that Halloween should be condemned, or ignored at best, because of its pagan origins is that it is untenable. The reason is that Christmas has for centuries been celebrated by Christians everywhere but its origins are pagan too. December 25 was celebrated in the ancient Roman Empire as the birthday of their sun god Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”). The week prior to this was the feast of Saturnalia, a period of wild revelry and unbridled celebration in honor of another god, Saturn, where there were gift-giving, feasting, intoxication, gambling, sexual indulgence and even human sacrifice. When the Roman Empire increasingly came under Christian rule, the early church felt that light can overcome darkness by ascribing Christian meaning to and adopting some of these pagan practices which resulted to pagans being won over to Christ. Now, of course, no Christian even ever thinks of Christmas' pagan associations come Christmastime.
So, what should we do then? We can be in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-15). Obviously, I’m choosing the other side. Having three little children, I’d like them to also have some good fun but at the same time I want them to be aware of their role in influencing others. What my wife and I do as we accompany our children around the neighborhood is that when the door opens and the person inside the house gives out the candies, one of us hands out a Halloween-themed gospel tract to the person. Ninety percent of the time, the person accepts the tract and most of the time, we are able to strike a conversation with them. We are neighbors, after all, and they are just too glad to accommodate us. But if they don’t take the tract, then no big deal at all. It happens. In the same way, when children come knocking on our door, we give them bags of candies with a gospel tract inside of it. In both instances, we’re hoping and praying that both grown-ups and children will take the time to read the tract. And make a decision for Jesus.
This is just an example of how we can redeem this day for the Lord. Some churches hold a harvest festival or something similar in order to take advantage of the opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Children and adults are out on the streets and we can seize the moment to interact with them. Who knows, given enough time and enough believers, this celebration of darkness and death can turn into a celebration of light and life in the future in the same way that Saturnalia had turn into Christmas.
Halloween is one of those things that Christians are divided about. On one side there are those who don’t want to have anything to do with it, treating it with contempt, because of its pagan origins. On the other side are those who find nothing wrong with it and join in the “festivities” for the sake of the children and so children are dressed up as angels or some harmless or biblical character.
The problem with arguing that Halloween should be condemned, or ignored at best, because of its pagan origins is that it is untenable. The reason is that Christmas has for centuries been celebrated by Christians everywhere but its origins are pagan too. December 25 was celebrated in the ancient Roman Empire as the birthday of their sun god Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”). The week prior to this was the feast of Saturnalia, a period of wild revelry and unbridled celebration in honor of another god, Saturn, where there were gift-giving, feasting, intoxication, gambling, sexual indulgence and even human sacrifice. When the Roman Empire increasingly came under Christian rule, the early church felt that light can overcome darkness by ascribing Christian meaning to and adopting some of these pagan practices which resulted to pagans being won over to Christ. Now, of course, no Christian even ever thinks of Christmas' pagan associations come Christmastime.
So, what should we do then? We can be in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-15). Obviously, I’m choosing the other side. Having three little children, I’d like them to also have some good fun but at the same time I want them to be aware of their role in influencing others. What my wife and I do as we accompany our children around the neighborhood is that when the door opens and the person inside the house gives out the candies, one of us hands out a Halloween-themed gospel tract to the person. Ninety percent of the time, the person accepts the tract and most of the time, we are able to strike a conversation with them. We are neighbors, after all, and they are just too glad to accommodate us. But if they don’t take the tract, then no big deal at all. It happens. In the same way, when children come knocking on our door, we give them bags of candies with a gospel tract inside of it. In both instances, we’re hoping and praying that both grown-ups and children will take the time to read the tract. And make a decision for Jesus.
This is just an example of how we can redeem this day for the Lord. Some churches hold a harvest festival or something similar in order to take advantage of the opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Children and adults are out on the streets and we can seize the moment to interact with them. Who knows, given enough time and enough believers, this celebration of darkness and death can turn into a celebration of light and life in the future in the same way that Saturnalia had turn into Christmas.