The Christian Response to Halloween
Published Oct 30, 2000
How should devout Christians deal with Halloween? For years, many have searched for an appropriate response to what is widely perceived as a pagan holiday.
In many ways, that response has mirrored the response to popular music: Condemn it as beyond redemption, unable to be used to communicate faith-based messages and boycott it.
Citing its association with witchcraft, many Christians chose to turn off the lights or go out to dinner on Oct. 31. As fellow members of the community went door to door as witches, goblins and ghosts, many believers withdrew.
More recently Christians have hit upon a more interesting idea that carries with it the possibility of at least drawing in members of the community who don't share their faith.
Instead of pretending the holiday doesn't exist or spending inordinate amounts of time exposing its dark origins, many churches have turned it into a celebration at the church, offering games, booths and free candy, recasting the holiday to reflect their beliefs.
In many ways it's the same response as the one offered by the contemporary Christian music world, which took rock music and changed the lyrics. The idea of embracing a "secular" form, gutting its content and filling it with new meaning is an important and wise move. Indeed church hymnals owe a few staples of their existence to that same process which turned bar songs into standards of the faith.
But what is missing in the transformation of Halloween is the same thing missing from contemporary Christian music -- true believers have forgotten Christ's admonition to go into the world. Rather than taking their messages into venues where non-believers congregate -- such as the "secular" music world in the case of music, or neighborhoods in the case of Halloween -- they have constructed a paradigm that assumes a non-Christian will be willing to cross over to their world to get the messages they would like to give out. Fortunately, in the music world at least, a new generation of devout Christians are rethinking that idea, moving beyond their subculture and taking their faith-based messages into the center of the music culture. In so doing they are finally beginning to see their ideas affect the mainstream of American life and for the first time many Americans who may never darken the doors of a church concert or listen to a "Christian" radio station are hearing messages of faith.
Perhaps it's time for Halloween's Christian response to follow that lead. While giving out candy at church and allowing some in the community to join in a church-based alternative celebration is a move in the right direction, there is an even more effective solution waiting to be tried that will be even more consistent with Christ's notion of going into the world. After all, celebrating at church is still essentially a cultural retreat -- withdrawing from the community at large and the practice of trick-or-treating.
What would be far more effective would be for churches to encourage their members to bring their faith to the holiday in their own neighborhoods -- infusing the celebration with new meaning.
They might consider giving the holiday a whole new meaning -- urging families to celebrate Halloween as Hallows Eve, a night spent celebrating the lives of heroes of the faith.
The night could begin with parents reading to their children and perhaps their friends in the neighborhood the stories of the Biblical characters their children have chosen to dress up as. Fortunately the Bible is full of colorful characters -- enough to keep moms busy sewing costumes for their kids to walk around in.
As they then fan out into their neighborhoods, from a pint-sized Jonah, dragging along a large fish behind him, to a young David carrying a sling-shot and a replica of Goliath's head, young Christian children could have quite a celebration as they go from house to house in their communities asking for candy and explaining to their non-Christian neighbors the meaning of the costumes.
Imagine the conversations that might ensue.
"What are you tonight, Johnny?"
"Oh, I'm Jonah and this is the great fish that swallowed me because I was disobedient to God," he might say, reaching into a bowl of candy held in front of him. "But when I said I was sorry, God helped me get out, and I helped the entire city of Ninevah believe in Him. And you can believe in Him too."
The neighborhood -- and the culture -- would never be the same, but it remains to be seen whether a Christian sub-culture trained by years of bad theology to flee the world God has placed them in will be willing or able to stop retreating and instead advance -- taking their faith into the center of their neighborhoods and reclaiming a popular holiday in a way that allows their communities to be affected by their faith.
Do you know the history of Halloween? Does the Bible have anything to say about it? Read the Spiritual Life article, "Trunk or Treat" for more information.
What level of participation do you think Christians should have in Halloween? Give us your thoughts in Forums.
In many ways, that response has mirrored the response to popular music: Condemn it as beyond redemption, unable to be used to communicate faith-based messages and boycott it.
Citing its association with witchcraft, many Christians chose to turn off the lights or go out to dinner on Oct. 31. As fellow members of the community went door to door as witches, goblins and ghosts, many believers withdrew.
More recently Christians have hit upon a more interesting idea that carries with it the possibility of at least drawing in members of the community who don't share their faith.
Instead of pretending the holiday doesn't exist or spending inordinate amounts of time exposing its dark origins, many churches have turned it into a celebration at the church, offering games, booths and free candy, recasting the holiday to reflect their beliefs.
In many ways it's the same response as the one offered by the contemporary Christian music world, which took rock music and changed the lyrics. The idea of embracing a "secular" form, gutting its content and filling it with new meaning is an important and wise move. Indeed church hymnals owe a few staples of their existence to that same process which turned bar songs into standards of the faith.
But what is missing in the transformation of Halloween is the same thing missing from contemporary Christian music -- true believers have forgotten Christ's admonition to go into the world. Rather than taking their messages into venues where non-believers congregate -- such as the "secular" music world in the case of music, or neighborhoods in the case of Halloween -- they have constructed a paradigm that assumes a non-Christian will be willing to cross over to their world to get the messages they would like to give out. Fortunately, in the music world at least, a new generation of devout Christians are rethinking that idea, moving beyond their subculture and taking their faith-based messages into the center of the music culture. In so doing they are finally beginning to see their ideas affect the mainstream of American life and for the first time many Americans who may never darken the doors of a church concert or listen to a "Christian" radio station are hearing messages of faith.
Perhaps it's time for Halloween's Christian response to follow that lead. While giving out candy at church and allowing some in the community to join in a church-based alternative celebration is a move in the right direction, there is an even more effective solution waiting to be tried that will be even more consistent with Christ's notion of going into the world. After all, celebrating at church is still essentially a cultural retreat -- withdrawing from the community at large and the practice of trick-or-treating.
What would be far more effective would be for churches to encourage their members to bring their faith to the holiday in their own neighborhoods -- infusing the celebration with new meaning.
They might consider giving the holiday a whole new meaning -- urging families to celebrate Halloween as Hallows Eve, a night spent celebrating the lives of heroes of the faith.
The night could begin with parents reading to their children and perhaps their friends in the neighborhood the stories of the Biblical characters their children have chosen to dress up as. Fortunately the Bible is full of colorful characters -- enough to keep moms busy sewing costumes for their kids to walk around in.
As they then fan out into their neighborhoods, from a pint-sized Jonah, dragging along a large fish behind him, to a young David carrying a sling-shot and a replica of Goliath's head, young Christian children could have quite a celebration as they go from house to house in their communities asking for candy and explaining to their non-Christian neighbors the meaning of the costumes.
Imagine the conversations that might ensue.
"What are you tonight, Johnny?"
"Oh, I'm Jonah and this is the great fish that swallowed me because I was disobedient to God," he might say, reaching into a bowl of candy held in front of him. "But when I said I was sorry, God helped me get out, and I helped the entire city of Ninevah believe in Him. And you can believe in Him too."
The neighborhood -- and the culture -- would never be the same, but it remains to be seen whether a Christian sub-culture trained by years of bad theology to flee the world God has placed them in will be willing or able to stop retreating and instead advance -- taking their faith into the center of their neighborhoods and reclaiming a popular holiday in a way that allows their communities to be affected by their faith.
Do you know the history of Halloween? Does the Bible have anything to say about it? Read the Spiritual Life article, "Trunk or Treat" for more information.
What level of participation do you think Christians should have in Halloween? Give us your thoughts in Forums.
Originally published October 30, 2000.
