Each year questions arise about participation in Halloween. Is it really the Devil’s holiday? Well, it is in the sense that every day where he rules in the hearts of unbelievers is his day. But it is also true that Christ has triumphed on the cross and brought defeat to the dark enemy of our souls. So it is important to look a little deeper if we are going to find a satisfying answer.
At its best Halloween is time for creativity, joy, friendship, and fun. At its worst, it is about death, fear, darkness, and the celebration of evil. Again, for the Christian, this is like every other day. Each day we are to choose between life and death, good and evil. What we need to sort this out is to follow Paul’s direction to think and dwell on only those things that are excellent and praiseworthy.
God gave us the gift of music, but he didn’t tell us how to arrange the notes. He gave us creative abilities, but he didn’t write the script or paint the images for us. He gave us the capacity to celebrate and be joyful, but he didn’t specify all the particular ways in which to celebrate.
He actually gave us something much more wonderful than scripted specifics. He has instructed us to use our human creative potential to bring honor to his name. So, by focusing on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise, we have the guidelines for celebrating Halloween or any other activity that we may engage in.
This keeps us from the fearful, dark, and evil side of Halloween or any other activity we embrace. Pursuing what is excellent and praiseworthy, with passion, will keep us from the deceptive trap of evil without engaging in legalistic rules that make us doubt others and bring praise to ourselves.
Make Halloween about the Glory of God. Martin Luther did!