Halloween? Yes Or No?

Length: 5 Minutes

In the church, Halloween is something of a controversial holiday. But many of the reasons Christians give for their skepticism are not well founded. This is a simple and biblical way to see it.

One big reason for why many Christians don’t celebrate Halloween is because of its origins. Of course, if you trace it back far enough, it has its origins in pagan traditions. I won’t go into that now, but I don’t think that’s too much of a leap for one to believe. While this may sound like a good reason to not celebrate Halloween, according to scripture, that’s not well-founded. Paul addresses something similar.

In Paul’s time there was a dispute about whether it was wrong to eat meat if that animal had previously been sacrificed to an idol, in a pagan tradition. It bothered the conscience of many Christians to think of partaking of meat that had been previously used in a demonic ritual. But Paul’s advice might surprise you. Paul essentially tells them that meat is just meat. The meat is not evil in and of itself regardless of what it was used for previously. He tells them that, of course, he doesn’t want them partaking in idolatry or demonic activities, but as far as they are concerned, they should be able to eat any food without question to their conscience. There’s nothing wrong with any food, even if it was used for something evil previously (1 Corinthians 8 and 10).

Likewise, we should not cite the origin of something to say that it is evil today. Just because something was used for a pagan activity in the past does not make it evil today. If you stay with me through this whole article, you’ll realize this is not an advocacy for Halloween, but quoting its origins is not what makes anything good or evil.

Just like meat sacrificed to idols, Halloween may have had a satanic origin but what something was used for previously does not make it evil now. It’s just not a good reason to abstain from something. Christmas is a good example. Christians will ardently defend Christmas, but many of the traditions in the Christmas celebration originally revolved around pagan activities as well. That doesn’t make Christmas evil. Not by far. Just like meat sacrificed to idols, it’s OK to use something for a good purpose now, even if it was previously used for a demonic one.

So let’s not talk about something’s origins. It’s only important what it is today. And, as we know, Christmas is quite a different celebration than Halloween. While we live in an increasingly secular culture which does not acknowledge Jesus to great degree, Christmas is generally understood as a celebration of Jesus’ birth. Not everyone’s vocal about it, but it’s just about the only time of year you’ll hear music on mainstream radio, speaking about the Messiah saving us from Satan’s power when we were gone astray. Not bad.

Halloween on the other hand, regardless of its origins, is a celebration that revolves around fear and death. I don’t think that’s even an exaggeration. Walk into a store in October and you’ll see what I mean. Walking through those Halloween displays starts triggering my resurrection reflex to put some plastic sinews and skin on those plastic dry bones.

Now, I’ll address the candy aspect in a moment, but Halloween is a celebration that revolves around witches, evil spirits, dead people, and fear. I’m certainly not saying that’s why everyone celebrates it, but that’s the theme. It’s pretty hard to argue that when the holidays motto is “Boo!”

Then again, I don’t need to tell you this. We all understand that. But many people are just dressing up because it’s fun to get into costume. They’re going door-to-door to get free candy. Who doesn’t want free candy? 

So what’s the verdict? What Halloween used to be doesn’t matter. Neither does it matter what Christmas used to be, any more than it mattered to Paul the origins of that meat. What matters is whether the thing we are partaking of is agreeable today. 

If you go out for candy on Halloween you’re not suddenly defiled. The candy isn’t evil. Dressing up isn’t evil. All of that can be totally innocent. But I’ll tell you, the more I grow in the knowledge of the life and peace that Jesus has given me, the more distaste I have for anything that advocates for fear and death. The free candy simply isn’t worth it. It’s not because I’m not allowed to. It’s because I don’t relate to it. So I don’t want to participate in a celebration that has its basis in everything I’m not. 

I don’t want to look at your decorations of dead people. I’ll be home learning how to raise that kind of stuff.

I don’t want to attend your haunted house. I prefer to clear those out.

And as for your demonic looking porch prank, in the real world, demons are scared of me. 

I just don’t relate to it, so thanks anyway. I’ll be buying my kids some clearance costumes when Halloween is over, treating them to whatever candy they want, and then we’ll heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils on the way home. I like that better.

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