Boo!!!! That is what everyone seems to say on Halloween. The parents “boo” their kids as they try to scare them and the kids “boo-hoo” when their parents take and eat all of their candy that they got. But is Halloween just a night full of “boos”? Or does it perhaps have a more sinister, and dare I say it, even demonic side?
Halloween is very controversial. Even in our own school there are people on both sides of the issue. I know people who have never been allowed to dress up and consider it devil worship, and then I know people who still dress up. But knowing what other people think does me no good. What do I believe? Why do I believe that? Do I have scriptural basis for my beliefs? All of these are questions that I must ask myself.
What do I think of when I think of Halloween? Truthfully? Candy, in particular the candy that always “disappeared” *cough* mommy and daddy *cough* *cough* during the middle of the night. My first thought when I hear the word Halloween is not “devil worship” and “demons”. To me Halloween is just a fun time for people, everyone, to have fun.
Now I realize that I am human and therefore prone to error so I will next list a Bible verse that I believe shows my point of view.
John 4:1-26. This is the passage where the Samaritan woman is at the well and Jesus speaks to her. Now pay attention to what I’m about to say next. She was a PROSTITUTE the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst. In fact she honored Satan so much with her actions that you could almost say she worshiped him with her actions.
Luke 9:1-10. Jesus talks with Zaccheaus. He TALKS with him!! A traitor!!! A thief!!! Zaccheaus was evil! He stole from his own people; he served the evil Roman government that was oppressing the Israelites. This guy was not nice! But Jesus still talked to him.
Now, please allow me a moment to explain. I’m not saying that Jesus would have loved Halloween. In fact I’m sure that there are several things about it that would have had him flipping over tables. My point is simply this. Jesus used every opportunity to minister to people. He didn’t avoid people who had sin in their lives; those were the people he came to save. He didn’t only go to the “good” ones; he went to the worst of the worst, the badest of the bad. Why? Because they needed him.
All of this is not really justification for celebrating Halloween. I know that, I recognize that. But the fact is we are on this earth for one reason, and one reason only. To glorify God. And one wonderful way to glorify him is to lead others to Christ. Non-Christians think Christians are stuck-up when they don’t participate in Halloween. That doesn’t mean we should participate just because of that, but it is something to think about. We are to interact with these people, love them, and eventually, if its God’s will, lead them to the Love of Christ, but we can’t do that if we alienate people.
So in answer to the question “What do I believe about Halloween?” I believe Halloween is a wonderful chance to interact with people, and maybe, just maybe, give them a glimpse of the love of Christ through our actions. Now I know that seems to take a lot of fun out of the celebration of Halloween, but really, what could better, more satisfying, or more uplifting than seeing a new soul come to Christ.
