Rethinking Halloween for Our Christian Family

If I were to tell you that I feel like our family should have soup for supper, would you feel judged?

No?

Even if you are going to be serving pot roast and not soup?

What if I gave you a lengthy list telling you the reasons why I feel like soup tonight would be the best meal plan for my family. Would that make you feel like I was judging your dinner-time choice?


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You'd probably have to admit that you would not feel judged simply because my family chooses to have soup at supper while your family chooses to have something else. I am merely stating a choice we have made and giving some specific reasons why we have made that choice. I am making absolutely no references to the fact that I think your choice is good or bad. NO JUDGEMENT. JUST INFORMATION.

With that in mind, I would like to publicly answer a question I have received privately in hopes that you might know how the celebration of Halloween has evolved in our home...and most importantly, in our hearts.

Celebrating Halloween: The Early Years

The Hubs and I both grew up in homes that did not celebrate Halloween. For the most part, our parents chose not to indulge in costumes, candy, or crowded parties. If truth be told, we both grew up believing that Halloween was for the World and we were not to be of the world. END OF STORY.

Neither one of us feel like we ever missed out...certainly, our dental hygiene was better off having skipped the mounds of sugar.

But then, when we had a little one of our own, the choice to celebrate or not celebrate was left to us. We knew that avoiding witches, ghosts, and goblins in our decorations and costumes was non-negotiable. But, we thought it would be so much fun to dress our little darlin' in something "innocent" and parade her around to all the relatives' homes. What momma doesn't want to show off her baby?

It seemed harmless. No witches. No goblins. Just simple fun with a few Tootsie Rolls thrown in for good measure.

And so, our tradition of whippin' up homemade costumes and showing off our smiling tot(s) continued for four years.

In fact, one year, Little Miss Muffet and her spider sidekick ended up on the front page of the town newspaper because of "all the cuteness!"

Hiding From Halloween:  The Transition Year

And then our little cuties began to grow up, as all little cuties do. And with their growth came curiosity. Our daughter began to ask those infamous why questions about our pattern of living.

• Why do we light fireworks on the 4th of July?
• Why do we celebrate Jesus' birthday in December when we think He was probably born in the spring?
• Why do we get to stay up until midnight on this night and no other night of the year?

Why, Daddy and Mommy?  Why?

As we approached our fifth Halloween season, The Hubs and I knew that the WHYs of this holiday were sure to come. We preemptively began to formulate our answer before the question was even posed.

Ummm...because it's a chance to dress up in silly costumes? But we play dress-up every day. What makes this day any different?

Ummm...because we get free candy? But Papa will give me free candy any time I ask for it? Why do we need to have a special day for him to give it to me?

Ummm...

And no matter how hard we tried, neither one of us could come up with a logical reason why we celebrated Halloween. The fact of the matter is, we could proudly proclaim the historical or Biblical significance of every other holiday we chose to celebrate as a family. But, the "heritage" of Halloween was certainly not a tale we wanted to tell to our children. With its deep-rooted history of witchcraft, divination, and occult worship, the true story of Halloween was one we were embarrassed and ashamed to admit. We knew our curious kids would eventually find out the "back story" to this dark day, and felt sure that our pathetic attempt to put a "smiley face sticker" on it would make us look like hypocrites to them.

After seeking Scripture and praying about the fast-approaching "holiday", The Hubs and I decided to put a permanent halt to our Halloween tradition.

In fact, we were so convicted of our choice to "flee evil" that we, sadly, locked our doors, turned out the lights, and refused to answer when any costumed tots knocked. We buried our heads in hopes that the entire evening would pass quickly!

Redeeming Halloween: Our New Tradition

Fast-forward to the next fall. The morning of October 31st, The Hubs and I felt ashamed once again. Not because we had participated in a holiday that the devil has sought to claim for hundreds of years, but because we let him claim it! We looked back on that "lost" Halloween year and realized that we had let him win.

We are Christians. We are followers of Christ.

CHRIST.

The very Man who died to redeem the world. The World and all the sin in it--that includes the sin of witchcraft. And divination. And occult worship. 

He died, rose again, and won the victory over sin, death, and the devil and any day he attempts to claim. All Christ asks of us, who have received His free gift of salvation, is to GO and TELL.

Go and tell. Simple.

And isn't that what we, as Christians, seek to do? Go and tell? Some days are harder than others. Let's face it, some weeks...or even years...are harder than others. As a homeschool mom who spends 80% of her days in the same four walls, it's often difficult for me to find anyone to Go and Tell, other than my own children.

But, on this day.

This one singular day, I have dozens of eager little faces coming to my door. Eager little faces who might not know the Good News because they have never been told. So why, on this one day that God made, that Christ redeemed, that God sustains--why on this one day would I choose to lock my door, turn out the lights, and refuse to tell? I don't even have to GO! They are coming...no they are running...to me.

Didn't Christ come to seek and to save that which was lost and in darkness? I can't think of any day darker than Halloween? Can you?

And so, as Halloween loomed once again, we chose a different path. We chose to "overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21b)

That afternoon, we quickly hand-wrote several Bible verses on festive fall paper and gathered up what tidbits of candy we could find from around the house in hopes that our "five loaves and two fish" would be multiplied in our neighborhood that night.

We sat all of our children down and in the simplest terms explained to them that we each had an opportunity to be a LIGHT in the DARK. We practiced our plan of answering the door and sharing Christ's love for our neighbors and prayed that God would be glorified on His day by our little efforts.

That was three years ago.

Halloween This Year

In just a few short days, we'll be lining up at our front door. Like last year, we've purchased several packs of Halloween-themed Gospel tracts (like this one and this one) and the biggest and best candy we can afford. We've budgeted big because this is a big deal! After all, how often do you get to share the Good News with so many people in one night? We anticipate dozens of kids knocking on our door eagerly hoping for a gift. I can assure you, they will get one. Along with cavity-inducing candy treats, they will also be given the Truth.

My kids will each takes turns helping to answer the door. They will smile, pass out our gifts, and say "God loves you" in their own unique way, and in doing so, they will get to see firsthand how bright God's love can shine through the darkness. There will be no judgment. No criticism for those who celebrate or don't celebrate. It will just be us...answering our door...doing what God has called us to do.

This Halloween, our light will be on. Will yours?

*Disclaimer: Occasionally, we have a few gory-looking costumed kids come to our door. While we definitely want to give them a Gospel tract, we also make it a priority to shield the eyes of our own children from costumes that would frighten them. For this reason, The Hubs and I take turns monitoring the approaching children through the window. If an oncoming costume would potentially scare our children, The Hubs or I answer the door alone without the assistance of one of our five kids.