Halloween :: What is a Christian Family to Do?

Halloween is one of those hot button topics for Christians.

Should we participate in halloween festivities? Should we hide in the living room with the doors locked and the lights out? What is the history of halloween and what are the modern day implications and practices? Are we to engage our communities during this celebration or create an alternative to our neighborhood practices? Are we doing enough? Have we gone too far?

What in the world is a Christian family to do with halloween?

Before you read any further, I want to be clear — there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of halloween. I will not tell you which side of the argument you should land, and I can not make the decision for you.

However, as part of the body of Christ, we need to recognize three things as it pertains to halloween —

1. Be Spirit-Led

Whether you fully abstain from halloween, encourage halloween, or participate but don’t celebrate halloween, the decision you make can not be based on someone else’s choice.

Don’t celebrate Halloween because a friend tells you to celebrate or because your neighbor is throwing a gathering or because your kids’ school has a classroom party. In the same vein, don’t withdraw because of your best friend’s opinion or because of that blog post you read on the internet. Your convictions need to come from God.

Yes, seek Godly counsel. Read at length about the halloween debate and learn why other Christians have made the choice they’ve made regarding how they will avoid or participate, but don’t base your decision on other people’s opinions.

Romans 14 talks about this idea at length.

If you are a disciple of Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God is living in you, guiding you in the best way of living. Seek God — read His Word, talk and listen in prayer. Wrestle through the issue. You might want to participate, but God is leading you to abstain; inversely, you may always have avoided halloween, but now God is urging you to engage your community on this day. God doesn’t always lead us the way we want to be led, but we are still called to obey His leading.

Have you asked God what your family should do about halloween? Have you wrestled the decision through with God in prayer?

Abide in Christ. Struggle through the issue with Him, and follow His leading. Then? Let others do the same.

2. Be grace-filled

Have you come to a Spirit-led decision on your family’s participation in halloween? Give other families the space to do the same, even if their conclusion is different than yours.

Give your brothers and sisters in Christ room to wrestle through their convictions and an opportunity to follow the Spirit’s lead in their life without your criticism or judgement.

You’re right. Many believers jump to conclusions concerning halloween without thinking through the implications.

Whether hiding out or jumping in blindly, many haven’t prayerfully considered how God is leading them regarding halloween — but that doesn’t mean it is our place to judge, criticize, or condemn. Rather, it is our opportunity to pray, to engage in grace-filled conversation, and leave room for the Spirit to work in other believers’ lives.

3. Be prayerful

No matter where you fall on the issue of halloween, the one thing we can all agree on is that we need to be prayerful.

We need to be praying for the safety and protection of God’s people, deliverance for those who are deceived and enslaved by the devil, and advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus conquered sin and death. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer slaves to fear. Jesus came that we could have life to the full!

Pray that on a day when evil is celebrated, the righteousness and love of Jesus will be demonstrated in us and the light of life will pierce the darkness, opening millions of eyes to their need of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Question for you:

What is your conviction regarding halloween? Do you lean one way or another, or are you still wrestling through the issue?

{Please be gracious in your comments below. We are a community of Jesus-followers seeking to obey His leading in our lives, and we want to encourage one another as we seek Him! Let’s allow Ephesians 4:29 and Colossians 4:6 govern our conversation here.}