Confuseen Halloween!

How many of you will be celebrating Halloween?  How many of you will be going around with your kids dressed up like ghosts or some kind of monster, and accompanying them house to house ‘trick or treating’ and getting candy? 

 

Have you asked yourself, “what or who are we actually celebrating on Halloween?”  Have you asked yourself, “How did this holiday come about?”  Is Halloween a time that we celebrate demon worship, or is it just a time of innocent fun and harmless games that people do every year?  What exactly are we observing? 

Well, let’s think for a moment of what Halloween means to our society. Halloween in general is big business!  In America, it’s ranked the second biggest holiday—second to Christmas, in terms of sales.  Americans spend a lot of money on candies, costumes and other related items on Halloween. So on the surface, it looks like another  commercialization effort to just make money.  So what exactly is the meaning behind this holiday?  Why do we do what we do?   

    

If you ask a Roman Catholic parishioner what this holiday means, they would probably say that it’s the celebration of the memories of loved ones who have died.  This is true considering what Pope Gregory the 4th did in 835AD when he attempted to “Christianize” a pagan festival called Samhain by moving the ‘Feast of all Saints’ from Spring to November 1^st.  The Festival of Samhain (the lord of the dead) being on October 31^st became the day right before (All Hallowed Eve) the day of the revered Catholic ‘Feast of all Saints.’ 

 

We don’t really hear about the Feast of all Saints in America today, but it’s alive and well in the Hispanic world.  Mexico calls it ‘the Day of the Dead.’ I personally think they take it to another level by dressing up like the dead and participating in eerie processions………….very spookyK

 

 So what we have here is a combination of a Pagan festival and a Christian holiday.  It looks, feels, sounds and smells like a compromise to me.  No wonder we have so much confusion today as to what Halloween means.  One thing is for sure, someone is making money from selling skulls and cross bones, and oh yes, with some Hershey’s chocolates on the side.   

With this brief historical backdrop, Christians face a dilemma: to be or not to be! 

 

Obviously, there are three ways Churches today approach Halloween: There are those churches who say that there is no problem with the holiday; they put on masks and go trick or treating, and eat lots of candy. The second group say ‘absolutely not!’  There is no way they are going to celebrate this holiday because of its demonic influence.  And then there are those who find a middle ground and celebrate the holiday by modifying some of its aspects.  For instance, they dress up like biblical characters and even change the name of their events to either Fall carnival or harvest festival.       

 

Whatever you decide this Halloween, be sure that your perspective is to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

The beautiful thing about God is that He looks at our heart’s motives and intentions.  He has given us His Spirit so that we can make the best decisions for us and for our family.  Ultimately, it’s up to the Christian’s conviction! 

 

 Here are a couple verses to consider when making decisions for you and your family during Halloween:

 

1 Corinthians 9:22-23: 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

 

But be careful……….

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 says, “14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”17“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

 

 Ephesians 6: 12 says“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Happy All Hallow’s Eve to you too!