Should You Celebrate Halloween?
Holidays are so fun for families! Traditions, fun food, crafts, visiting family and so much more. We are about to enter the season where there's a holiday every month! The first one that comes though is one I often get many questions about. Halloween is almost here and every Christian parent is probably wondering quite a few things...
Do I let my kids trick-or-treat?
Do I let them dress up?
Do we decorate the house?
How do we handle this day?
For some, this is an absolute "No, we don't celebrate at all!"
For others, they lean more towards, "Yes, it's fine!"
The rest just aren't sure. As parents, they feel conflicted. They don't want their children to miss out, but they also don't want to celebrate something that can definitely be a bit dark and scary.
When I was a child, my family didn't participate in halloween at all. My wife, Lauren, however, dressed up and got tons of candy by going trick-or-treating each year. So needless to say, we came into the halloween season with our children from two totally different perspectives.
I'm sure there are other parents who have similar stories, with one parent who doesn't think it's a big deal, while the other one wants nothing to do with it.
Is it possible to participate in some halloween festivities without partnering with anything evil?
For our family, we feel like there's NO BETTER OPPORTUNITY for us to teach our children how to carry their own atmosphere. How to see scary things but not allow them to impart fear. How to walk in freedom, joy, and peace in the midst of darkness.
One thing we need to keep in mind no matter what day it is, is that long before the devil attempted to make it his day, it was the Lord's. "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Ps 118:24)
I'm not saying at all what you should or shouldn't do for halloween! Both Lauren and I feel like this is a very personal decision for each family. What might be completely okay for one, isn't okay for another. And that's okay!
One way I've chosen to look at it for my family is... I don't throw away my TV because it can show me bad things, I choose a channel that doesn't. Is there a way to participate in halloween where it isn't dark or scary, but instead we shine the light of Jesus?
What if halloween became somewhere you evangelize?
What if you just got your kids a bunch of free candy and have a fun night?
What if you go to a harvest celebration instead?
There are so many different ways to participate during the holiday without partnering with the fear and darkness often associated with halloween. Again, I am not telling you what is or isn't right. Honestly, my wife and I are still walking through what we want halloween to look like for our family. But we talk and pray about it, and then make decisions from there.
We want to protect our kids, but we also want them to know they are the light of the world! And halloween is the perfect night to shine for Jesus.