What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word Halloween?
Do you think about costumes and candies or do ghosts and evil spirits come to mind?
Halloween celebrations have always divided Christians.
Some believe that it is not a big deal for people to dress up in cute costumes and go around collecting candy. It is just a day for them to have fun around their neighborhood with their friends and family.
While others believe that Christians should not celebrate Halloween because it promotes evil. (Romans 14:1- 4)
You are probably here because you would like to know if it is okay for you as a Christian to celebrate Halloween or not.
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I’m going to show you the pros and cons of Halloween celebration and leave you to decide whether these celebrations are right for you or not.
To begin with, Halloween has its origin both in the pagan world and Christianity.
In Christianity Halloween, originated from All Hallows Day or All Saints Day a day that Catholics remembered Christian saints and Martyrs.
The celebration would happen on 1st November, but they started on its vigil, 31st October.
In the pagan world, the Celtic festival of Samhain is the root of Halloween. This day marked the end of the harvest season and the initiation of winter.
People believed that the spirits of dead people could visit earth on this day. They would wear costumes and light fire to wade off ghosts.
People around the world started celebrating Halloween actively around the world in the 1800s. These celebrations included fortune-telling, costumes games like bobbing for apples.
The celebration was introduced in America by Irish immigrants that were fleeing their country, which was experiencing potato famine in the 1840s.
One thing’s for sure these celebrations have changed over time. The changes have caused Christians to face the question of whether they should celebrate Halloween or not.
Before you go out to celebrate or shun the holiday altogether, consider the pros and cons of Halloween so that you can determine the level of your family’s involvement in the celebration.
Here are the key points to consider.
9 Pros of Celebrating Halloween as a Christian
1: Christians Traditions and Celebrations
Isn’t it sad that the world has taken over most Christian celebrations?
What if we stopped cowering in fear and started taking back our Christian traditions?
What if we stopped going back and forth among ourselves and started looking for ways to rebuild Christian traditions like Halloween?
If we keep off these celebrations just because the dark world has taken over, we will have nothing to celebrate as a family in years to come.
Celebrating Halloween means that you are choosing to uphold Christian tradition.
2: Halloween Celebrations can help strengthen relationships
We are a busy society that barely has time to interact with one another. Gone are the days when people could spend time talking and interacting physically with their neighbors and people in their communities.
Halloween is an excellent time for people, especially Christians, to interact with their neighbors and spread the love of Christ to people in the community.
3: Focus on Heavenly Things
The Bible tells us to focus on things above. (Colossians 3:2)
Halloween holiday is a great time for you and your family to focus on heavenly things.
Children need to know about God from a tender age, and celebrating Halloween can be a great way for parents to share the gospel of Jesus with them.
As they dress up in their angelic costumes, teach them about heaven and hell. Let them know that angels and demons are real and that the supernatural realm is more real than the physical. They should also know that the choices they make in life have eternal rewards.
4: Memorable Times
Creating costumes and moving with your children around asking for candy impacts them positively.
Honestly, your children don’t care about the deep stuff that old Christians argue or say about Halloween. All they care about is wearing costumes and going around to find some candy with daddy and mummy.
Look at this holiday as a chance for you to bond and create memories with your family.
5: Help the needy
Halloween celebrations do not have to be about skulls and ghosts.
We can take advantage of this day as Christians to be light in our neighborhoods. Churches can organize charity events for the less fortunate in the community.
Choose to be a blessing to other people in the society during Halloween.
6: New Connections
Moving around the neighborhood opens up opportunities for Christians to meet new people that they can connect with and even invite to church.
This doesn’t mean you go around being preachy, but you can take advantage of this time to interact with people in your community that you have never talked to before.
7: Gift of Receiving
We teach a lot about giving in Christianity, but this festive teaches a lot about receiving.
As your children receive candies from neighbors, take this opportunity to teach them how to receive our heavenly Father’s love. The lesson for receiving should not just be for children but also parents.
8: Fun Family Projects
Do you ever wish that your family could have more time to do projects together?
Well, this is the best time for the whole family to spend time together. You can decorate your home and make costumes together.
9: Time to Rest
Taking a break even if it is just for a couple for hours to unwind is great, right?
The holiday offers that to us. We get to do fun things that help us to relax, and when we are well-rested, we become more productive.
6 Cons of celebrating Halloween as Christians
1: Halloween Affects other Believers Negatively
The Bible says if what you are doing affects your brother’s faith negatively, then don’t do it. We should be more concerned about our brother’s faith than our pleasure. (Roman 4:15)
So you might not have a problem with Halloween, and that is okay, but if it is going to make someone close to you who is a Christian to sin then don’t do it for their sake.
Will it be easy?
No, if you enjoy these celebrations, you will find it hard to miss but remember we are to act in love.
2: Pagan Roots
While some Christians refute the idea of Halloween having roots in paganism the truth is it does have its origins in the pagan world.
It doesn’t mean everyone that celebrates is a pagan or supports paganism, but it is something worth keeping in mind.
The Celts would make animal sacrifices to their gods at night, and they would use the skins of the animals they had slaughtered to make costumes. That is how the tradition of making Halloween costumes came about.
3: Witchcraft and Wicca
A man or woman who is a medium or spirits among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads. (Leviticus 20:27 (NIV)
The truth is while people all over the world mindlessly celebrate Halloween, witches, and warlocks practice satanic ceremonies, they communicate with spirits and also do rituals to bring a spiritual attack on the church.
The Bible says light and darkness cannot mix. So as you go about celebrating this day, know that there is a dark side to it too.
You can choose to pray for churches in your neighborhood this day.
4: Mockery of the Spiritual Realm
When Christians create costumes of angels, they do it as a way of acknowledging the existence of the spirit realm. The same cannot be said about the people of this world. The god of this world blinds them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
When unbelievers dress up as angels, demons, and the devil, they do it as a way of mocking the spirit realm. They believe there is nothing more than what we see in the physical realm, and angels and demons are just myths.
5: Increase in Crime Rates
According to the Huffington Post, death rates increase during Halloween compared to any other Holiday. Crime has been reported to be 50 percent higher during these celebrations in some cities.
You may have to think about this if you are mixed up about going out to celebrate with your loved ones this Halloween.
6: Fear
Let’s be honest; Halloween celebration is becoming darker and scary as the years go by. From scary movies to scary costumes of Satan, zombies, and demons, and let’s not forget weird decorations like tombs.
Some children also hide in bushes and scare others who go for trick or treat.
These things may look harmful, but they do instill fear in people.
The Bible says that there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). Fear is what the devil uses against us. We should be cautious because some of the things we embrace may be opening doors for the enemy.
In short:
Halloween is a holiday that comes with a lot of controversies. Some Christians struggle with the whole concept, while others find this day to be fun.
But nowhere in the Bible are we told to celebrate Halloween or not to do it.
If you have any misgivings, hold off celebrating this day. Take time to think about Halloween and what it means to you. Ask your heavenly Father to show you what to do about this holiday and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The ultimate decision on whether to celebrate or not to lies with you.
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I’d love to know your thoughts on celebrating Halloween as a Christian, so please feel free to leave a comment below.
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