Halloween Reflection

by Andy Morgan

I wonder if you engage in the season of Halloween or not? I often get asked about this as Youth Ministry Lead at CBC, and as a parent, and thought this reflection could help others think about their approach to Halloween too. As we have observed in our series Practicing The Way at Chichester Baptist Church we can be shaped, moulded and carried along by our environment and the stories we hear. The celebration of Halloween is impossible to miss, from October you can see it in schools, shops and in the media.

So, do we just join in with those around us?

I remember deceiving my Christian parents by going to a friends house to go and join in a Halloween party as a child, knowing they were against the practise of Halloween. This was a decision I regretted as I made my way through fake cob webs, decorations of scary faces whilst surrounded by children and adults alike dressed as devils and witches. But why did my parents say no to all this ‘fun’ and more importantly sweets?!  Let me encourage you to take a moment with me to think carefully about Halloween and what it means to Let our Lights Shine at this time of year, and why I should have listened to my mum and dad.

Apprentices of Jesus don’t celebrate evil. Halloween may have its origins as a festival that aimed at scaring off ghosts, before honouring the passing of saints (and google will tell you several stories of its origins), but it is now a commercial celebration of all things evil, scary, and dark along with spiders and pumpkins. Jesus called his apprentices to be a light and set people free from the oppressive powers of darkness and evil, and James urges us to resist the devil. Halloween can deceive us about evil – making it all seem a game, when the devil is real, the practise of the occult is very much active, and fear has a major hold in far too many of us. For followers of the way evil is not something to belittle or celebrate.

Apprentices of Jesus celebrate the victory of Jesus. Halloween denies the defeat of evil, death and all things scary. It dresses up evil and can raise lots of questions about spiritual reality without giving answers. The perfect love of God casts out all fear and there is nothing to be afraid of because Jesus through his death and resurrection has defeated evil and death. Let’s not dabble in darkness, but love living in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Apprentices of Jesus have a better story to tell. At Halloween let me urge us not to get sucked in to celebrating and normalising what is evil and dark, but to celebrate Jesus the light of the world. Halloween is an opportunity to teach our children that we don’t celebrate evil, we don’t pretend it’s not real, but we have a better story to tell. We can tell this story of Jesus in our homes and to our neighbours. Halloween can be a window into a conversation about the spiritual realm that does exist and the light that came into this dark world that we can experience ourselves. Some may understandably choose to pretend they are not in when trick or treaters come, others will choose to give gifts and be a blessing to those celebrating Halloween. I remember one year giving out the 4 points gospel bracelets, another year glow sticks and another year pretending we weren’t in! Some will choose to decline invites; others will choose to attend dressed as angels – looking to bring light into darkness.

Whatever you do, or don’t do, let me urge you not to belittle or celebrate darkness and evil, but to Let your Light Shine for Jesus on 31st October.