5 Things I Can Appreciate About Halloween As A Christian

If you are a Christian you have likely struggled with Halloween. It has undeniable pagan roots, and unashamedly celebrates evil, death, witches, and darkness.

But isn’t Halloween an innocent holiday where we dress up and pass out candy?

As American culture has turned this into its own holiday, much of the original pagan beliefs have been lost, but more folklore has been added to the holiday. Admittedly, many consider these ideas to be innocent superstitions. However, one cannot ignore that for many communities of witches, Wiccans and the like, celebrating this holiday is a religious matter.

The Christian community has responded a number of different ways to Halloween — “harvest” parties, trunk or treating in church parking lots, a parable about the pumpkin, etc. My husband grew up ignoring the holiday completely. There was simply no celebration or recognition of it. No candy, no costumes, lights out, no ones home. Every year my husband and I have some kind of discussion about Halloween and our children. After 14 years the discussions still continue, but we’ve settled on a few things.

We do not appreciate the origins and influences of Halloween, however, viewing Halloween as a cultural holiday there are many things I do appreciate about it. As Americans, we have chosen to celebrate the aspects of the holiday we appreciate. As Christians we have put boundaries on what that looks like because of our faith.

What we appreciate:

1. Community– I love the community that happens on Halloween. I love how neighborhoods come alive with chatter, laughing and catching up with one another. In our town, many people sit on their porch and chat with each other while passing out candy and guessing childrens’ costumes. We’ve become far too isolated as a culture, so this special night of socializing is a much-needed break from the norm.

2. Children– I love that we have an entire night that is essentially kid-focused! Children are a blessing and they are worth celebrating.

3. Candy– No deep reason here. I think candy is fun and delicious. That’s all.

4. Costumes– I value creativity and in our family, we encourage our children to make their own costumes as much as possible. Each year someone in the family gets an intense sewing lesson as they scramble to create a ball gown or a Lord of the Rings outfit.

5. Reflection- Though it certainly doesn’t compare to the natural reflectiveness of holidays like Christmas, I do appreciate what Halloween does cause me to reflect on- my culture, my community, my childhood, my love for my children, my love for fall, my love for candy, etc.

Boundaries:

1. Financial- We are not going to spend a lot of money on Halloween. It is simply a night of fun and it doesn’t need our financial investment.

2. Costumes– Our children know we do not allow scary, evil costumes. There are plenty of fun, positive characters to choose from, there’s just no reason to dress up as a witch.

3. Decorations– Fall is BEAUTIFUL, especially in Upstate New York, so any and all decor is fall oriented. Nothing is scary, gross or dark.

This is what we’ve have settled on in this stage of our life. That said, there may come a day when we choose not to acknowledge the holiday at all due to a change in conviction. We’ll see.

I love the insight that Paul gave the church in Corinth regarding cultural practices that intersected with Christianity. I believe it can to some degree be applied to celebrating Halloween. Consider Paul’s words in regards to eating food sacrificed to idols: “we are no worse if we do, and no better if we do not.” Likely the same could be said for Halloween.

If your conscience feels convicted, then do not participate, whether that’s for your sake or your brothers. Those who opt out are no “better,” they are just following their convictions. In the same way, those who do not share those convictions and do participate are no worse. As Christians, we are called to live alert and intentional lives. If you are torn about how or if to celebrate, pray and talk it over with other believers and make a decision you feel right about.