So this is kind of a hard post for me to write as I know a lot of eye roll will be induced, but considering I’ve always been a bit of a square peg I guess I should be used to being looked at funny. Many of you will think we’re being silly, maybe even ridiculous. I told my 6-year-old the other day, when she mentioned how every cartoon on TV was celebrating Halloween, that sometimes when you’re a Christian you may be called to be different from the rest of the world. And that’s ok.
We have decided in our home this year not to participate in Halloween, but it’s important to me that you know I don’t judge you if you do. I figure God speaks to all of us different things at different times. This just happens to be something He’s been speaking to us. So we’ll be sitting out on Halloween this year, and I just wanted to share with you why.
First off, this is really an unexpected decision for me to come to. I was raised enjoying the holiday immensely. I had the best Halloween parties around when I was a kid, and some of the makeup my mom did was seriously worthy of Hollywood horror films. It was pretty epic, and it coincided with one of the best-decorated porches in our town. Like, kids were afraid to trick-or-treat at our house. My mom loved Halloween, and subsequently so did I. For the record, I have good memories of Halloween.
My favorite author in my teens and twenties was Stephen King, and he was followed by Dean Koontz. Scary movies were my jam, and if it was Halloween I was decking the halls with cobwebs and finding the perfect costume.
Since we had children six years ago my husband and I have taken them trick-or-treating, and we’ve had just as much fun as them getting all dressed up. It’s been a tradition for us to celebrate Halloween, but it seems that God is doing something new in our family.
Somewhere along the time that He began to convict us about the movies or television shows we watched, He also began to speak to us about Halloween. The interesting part was God was pricking my heart, but I didn’t talk to my husband about it because I was sure he’d think I was being overboard. He had told me once before that a strict upbringing made him wary of imposing too many restrictions, and I was sure he wasn’t on the same page that I was finding myself. Instead of bringing him my concerns I just prayed about it. Then one day he brought it up to me.
So what brought us to this decision? Well, I think there’s a number of reasons. We did both happen to see separately a former Satanist speak about the holiday, and that had a lot of bearing. The guy spoke of how important Halloween was to Satanists and how much evil they performed specifically on that night. We definitely didn’t want to celebrate a night that was a favorite of devil worshippers. But it was more than that.
Kind of like how the books, music, television, and movies we watch have changed over time, we saw Halloween the same. Sometimes in this world, we become blind to evil among us because we’re just so used to it. We see demonic possession as entertainment and don’t blink an eye at blood, gore, and sex all rolled up in one as a popular tv show. Ouija boards are just a game, tarot cards a bit of fun, and before we know it we’re putting stock in things that are not of God. Sometimes something that seems like “just fun and make-believe” can actually be an open door for evil to affect you.
Matthew 12:30
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
For us, it became a thought that if we were placing value in things not of God, then it was like we were opposing Him. The fact is that many decorations, origins, and pagan traditions celebrated on Halloween are not Christian in nature. I have read positions concerning All Saint’s Day held November 1, or heard people describe it as a celebration of harvest and fall, but for us, it was like, why try so hard to make something sound all good when in reality a lot of it is not.
Again, not trying to offend anyone; just sharing my personal thoughts and convictions.
Then there’s the question of what you’re allowing into your life. What’s feeding your thoughts, and how is your entertainment affecting your mood? Does your music make you angry? Does your book of choice cause you to feel hopeless without cause? Are you waking up depressed for no apparent reason? If you feed your body good food you’re energized, but if you feed it junk you’re sluggish. I believe our minds are the same. What we take in is what we put out. So then much like how certain movies may open the door to evil in your life, we felt like a lot of the things celebrated on Halloween were similar in pulling down our spirits.
So why couldn’t we just dress our girls like pretty princesses and go to trunk-or-treats at churches? Well, we could I suppose, but why? For us, the verse I stated above came to mind, and I wondered why we would bother trying to etch out a good corner in which to celebrate Halloween. In the end, I guess it didn’t matter that much to us. We decided that feeling like we could give up a holiday that might have aspects of it that were against our belief system was more important than going door-to-door for candy.
What about the girls? We had a discussion with the 6-year-old about it, and she was quick to say she didn’t want to celebrate Halloween either. They agreed they could put on costumes and eat candy any day, but doing it on a night that so many evil doors were open was something they could let go of too.
I’ll be honest, I worried for a moment if they would feel left out from something so many other kids were doing. But then I thought about the state of the world we live in. Sometimes it’s better to be different. Most of the time actually.
I guess in the end it came down to the fact that if we had to ask ourselves “should we be celebrating Halloween,” then maybe it wasn’t worth the worry. I’d rather be overboard any day than risk being complacent. I want to have my eyes wide open to anything that could separate me inadvertently from the Lord.
We decided as a family to sit Halloween out this year, but again we don’t judge anyone who is celebrating the holiday. God puts different convictions on different hearts, for different reasons, at different times. This happens to make us feel good in our spirit, so we’ll most likely have a cookout as a family on the 31st.
