The Halloween havoc that is. What I mean is that Halloween can sure wreak havoc among the people of God, can't it? Lots of things can, but there's nothing more polarized as the opinions of Christians when it comes to Halloween.
I don't have all the answers for even myself, much less other people. My friend Brock posted about it the other day and I rambled on non-stop some of my thoughts.
People's opinions and convictions, though, range from "It's no big deal...dress your kid up as a witch and go get some candy dangit" to "Dress up and go get candy, but dress up in non-horror/non-evil costumes" to "Have an outreach at church...maybe even dress up but only as Bible characters...but, none of this trick-or-treating or pumpkin carving for heaven's sake" to "That is the devil's holiday and Christians don't need to do ANYTHING...I can't believe you are even discussing this." :) I've seriously heard the extremes of this (and even more) and all in between. I'm sure you have too.
What's a sweet little Christian to do?
Well, up until I read this post, I had no idea either. But, this post on my friend's blog seems the MOST like Jesus that I've ever heard...and the most logical for every family on the face of the planet. It's not just what they did...as you'll read in her post. I do love what they did to celebrate (or not celebrate...whatever you may label it) Halloween. But, I most love the approach they took to it...and the non-condemning approach that they have toward what they feel other families should do.
Personally, I am not on either extreme. I've never felt right about doing nothing. I detest that approach actually. Seems to me we should counteract instead of boycott...I personally hate the "call to" boycott...it just rubs me the wrong way. I'm obviously not on the side of "going all the way" with Halloween either. I do not take the devil and his schemes lightly. We are supposed to be on guard at all times, are we not? We are supposed to guard ourselves and we, as parents, are responsible for the guarding of our children and teaching them to do the same. So, be reassured...it's not a light subject to me...hence, the pondering of the topic for literally years.
We've gone to Fall Festivals when we were part of churches that did that. We've seen some really impressive results of those kinds of outreaches actually. We've never actually dressed the kids up, although we've never lived anywhere where our friends did that at all when it was Halloween. If we'd ever spent a Halloween in Saline, would we have dressed the kids up and taken them to our relatives' houses to get candy and show off their costumes? I really don't know. Maybe so.
Again, personally we've never really done anything at all (other than the Fall Festivals...sometimes circumstances just weren't right...bad weather, sickness, just had a baby, etc.). But, I've always thought about the possibility of meeting people where they are. Sometimes the "great divide" between Christians and non-Christians is a bit too wide in my opinion. Maybe dress the kids up, go door-to-door, maybe let the kids get candy and maybe not, but instead of only taking something, we could pass out teaching tapes (nothing lame mind you) or really cool anointed Christian CD's (Delirious, etc.). Maybe even really talk to them and get to know them (our neighbors after all). I mean, when else in the year are your neighbors sitting on the edge of their seats just waiting for you to come to their doors? Talk about some prayer walking/outreach possibilities. If worried about giving the devil a foothold in "participating" in Halloween...well, I don't think the devil would actually be that happy about this approach. In fact, I'd say you'd do quite a bit of damage to the devil's plans. Or...there's my friend's option, as earlier mentioned.
The point is that there are so many different creative ways to do something and not nothing. If one feels that nothing is definitely what they should do, by all means, don't go against your convictions. But, I do hate that some feel this "nothing" approach is the only way.
What would Jesus have you do for Halloween next year? Maybe it just isn't so black and white.
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4 comments:
There IS SO much controversy over halloween. I've never been so bogged down in it. I don't even think it is such a horrible thing for a child to dress as a witch. Witches don't even look like that. If we put Jesus in our children's hearts and teach them about the real witches and other "Halloween" things I don't think the playing dress-up is anything but that - playing dress-up. We can't take our children's childhood away in everything we do. We just have to be very careful that they know what to believe and what is "play like". The blog you mentioned was very good. I don't think the answer is to ignore it and sit in darkness. We had a Fall Festival and let our children dress up - with limitations. A few came as the "bad guy" but they heard the same story sitting outside on hay bales while the "story teller" told the story of the Jack-o-Lantern in terms of what Jesus does for us. They had a hayride over to the old gym where we played carnival games (ring toss, etc.) and won prizes and got candy. It also involved parents that never come to church. The kids all knew we loved them and they had fun. Oh, yes, we also fed them pizza as they came to the church. Fun night! As a child, we had those terribly uncomfortable plastic masks. I remember being a witch at times. It was great fun -we growled at each other and tried to scare each other. All fun and make-believe. I miss the trick or treat thing. That was messed up when crazy people started putting razor blades and pins in the candy. Not necessarily devil worshipers, just mean people. So, I guess I'm kind of in-between. I don't believe in parties in homes that are dark and eerie but I don't see that bobbing for apples, etc. is harmful. Enough said. We just have to keep Jesus in front of our children and in their hearts so Satan has no room.
Another point worth mentioning...
Another factor for us would be where we are or where we are living at the time. I know that some countries and some places view Halloween truly as a demonic holiday...that's the ONLY way it is viewed...by EVERYONE. Therefore, obviously, that would have to be considered...another factor to remember when praying about what to do for that year. Sometimes when in extreme situations extreme measures need to be taken. But, personally, I've never lived anywhere like that. I think that's a rare case, not the usual. Still, something worth mentioning...I do know those situations exist.
You might hate my opinion, but I think it's no big deal in the fact that non-Christians think we judge them over everything they do. I'm not about to make it worse by telling some kid they shouldn't dress so evil, or boycotting the thing altogether. I didn't read your link, but I know that the second of God's greatest commands drives what Johan and I think and what we do for things like this. Jesus would have been out there doing what he always did, no matter what was going on...loving people and telling them the truth. If I had my way and had the money, I would have brought the carnival to my neighborhood. We would have spent time with our neighbors, loving them and investing our time in getting to know them. We also would use the opportunity of knowing them better to share the truth of Jesus's salvation with them. Do we do this? NO. I am ashamed that we don't do what we want to do and think is right in God's eyes. Last year we did trick or treat on our street, and I could tell it was an honor for our neighbors to see us at their doors. It's funny how much they just wanted to get a visit on America's #1 night for going to see your neighbors. I never thought about it that way. Love you girl.
I just read Lidia's post about what they did. Awesome. It's challenging and encouraging to see them being obedient to God's Spirit in this!
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