To answer the question I posed? Halloween is 100% a holiday I will not participate in. You can do whatever you want to do. You have free will. But I said SHOULD a Christian celebrate Halloween not CAN a Christian celebrate Halloween.
So.. let’s look at Halloween through the lens of Scripture, I cannot separate the celebration from what it openly glorifies: death, darkness, fear, witchcraft, occult practices, demons, ghosts, divination, sorcery, and the macabre.
Now before somebody says, “But Christmas has pagan things too!” keep reading.
Unfortunately, Christmas and Easter have also accumulated customs that have questionable or non-Christian origins. Cue the sad music.
But the Holy Spirit really began dealing with me about something deeper than simply asking, “Does this have pagan roots?”
If you are easily offended, here’s your chance to dip out now.
Here we go.
NEWS FLASH
We live in a fallen world that has been heavily influenced by pagan cultures throughout history. If our only test were, “Has a pagan culture ever been associated with this?” we would have quite a mess on our hands.
Just look around. The names of several days of the week have connections to ancient gods. Several months were named for Roman gods, rulers. Wedding “customs” (not the act of a covenant) have developed through cultures that were certainly not Christian. There are everyday customs people practice without having the slightest idea where they originated.
My point is this: simply discovering that something somewhere in history had a pagan association is not enough for me to settle every question. It’s part of it!! For sure!! How can it not be. But, to remove every pagan origin from our lives we’d have to live in a cave somewhere off grid.
I will say this. If your personal conviction before God is that you want nothing whatsoever with Halloween just because it’s pagan (meaning that’s your reason alone) then follow your conviction. 100% I am not trying to talk you out of it. I got your back!!!
But when I am discerning something, I ask more questions.
- 1. What does it represent?
- 2. What is being celebrated?
- 3. What fruit does it produce?
- 4. What am I participating in?
- 5. What am I teaching my children through my participation?
- 6. Does it glorify God?
- 7. Does it imitate darkness or expose darkness?
- 8. Can I genuinely do this unto the Lord?
- 9. What spiritual message are my actions communicating?
Listen… Halloween does not require some deep archaeological expedition to discover its darkness.
Walk through Walmart. Target. Heck even Hobby Lobby. Walk through a Halloween store. Look at the decorations. Graves. Skeletons. Severed body parts. Witches. Ouija boards. Demons. Possession. Blood. Murder. Death. Horror. Fear. Sorcery. Ghosts.
Now… Look at the costumes. The movies. Haunted attractions. Look at the themes marketed to adults and children.
I do not have to travel hundreds of years into history to fully determine what Halloween represents. The modern celebration alone tells me what it represents.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:8–11
Hear what Paul says… Walk as children of LIGHT. Find out what is ACCEPTABLE TO THE LORD. Have no fellowship with the works of DARKNESS.
That’s a lot heavier than just asking, “Is it technically a sin to give somebody a piece of candy?” Because, that is usually where these conversations get stuck.
- “Well, candy isn’t demonic.”—Correct!!
- “Dressing like a princess isn’t witchcraft.”—Correct!!
- “Having fun with my children isn’t sinful.”—Correct!!
Let me ask you this: Why are you choosing this particular night, participating in the customs associated with this particular celebration, while the celebration itself is overwhelmingly characterized by darkness, death, fear, horror, witchcraft, and the occult?
See.. That was the issue for me. And I hear you. I once defended all this too. But read this…
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2
We are supposed to look different. BE SEPARATE. NOT FAMILIAR. There is a difference between living in a world where darkness exists and intentionally participating in a celebration that makes darkness entertaining.
We cannot completely remove ourselves from a fallen culture. Paul actually addressed that kind of thinking. But we absolutely can decide what we celebrate. What we imitate. We can decide what we normalize in our homes. What we put before our children. What we call entertainment.
I understand that somebody putting on a firefighter costume is not literally practicing witchcraft. That isn’t what I am saying. What I am saying is that our actions have meaning.
Throughout Scripture, clothing can represent identity, position, mourning, righteousness, shame, authority, or what someone has “put on.” we repeatedly see in scripture the imagery of putting something on because what we clothe ourselves with can symbolically communicate identification. What if dressing up on that particular night is more than innocent fun? What if, spiritually, it functions like a prophetic act, outwardly participating in and coming into agreement with what that night represents?
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Romans 13:14
For me the question became: Why am I dressing myself for a night whose dominant imagery celebrates things Scripture repeatedly tells me to reject? Why do I need to make myself FAMILIAR with it at all?
Christians are called to live among people who do not know Christ. We are called to love them. Serve them. Feed them. Help them. Preach the Gospel to them. We are absolutely NOT called to hide in our houses terrified of darkness. But being present in the world is not the same thing as becoming FAMILIAR with its darkness.
FAMILIAR aka FAMILIAR SPIRITS. People would dress up on this night to become familiar… To blend in with the spirits that they believed were roaming the night.
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.” Deuteronomy 18:10–12
Yes, somebody can say, “But my child isn’t actually practicing witchcraft.” I understand that. My question is why Christians should take imagery representing things God explicitly condemns and turn it into entertainment.
Jesus has authority over the kingdom of darkness, and believers belong to Christ. But freedom from fear is not permission to play with darkness.
“But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:20
Our participation matters.
“Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22
TEST IT!! Do it.
- What is the fruit?
- What does it glorify?
- What does it normalize?
- Where does it point?
Does it draw my attention toward what is pure, holy, righteous, and Christ-centered, or does it make darkness entertaining and familiar? At the end of the day. Like I said, at the beginning, you can do whatever you wanna do. But me and my house we will serve the Lord.
