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God does not leave us alone. The Christian has all the resources needed to think through any concern or perplexity in their lives. The Spirit of God gives us clarity (2 Peter 1:3). The Father’s authoritative and sufficient Word comes alongside us to guide our thoughts (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). We have each other to bounce off our ideas (Proverbs 11:14).
This interconnectedness of God, Scripture, and community provides us with unassailable wisdom to formulate a biblical response to Halloween, which is excellent news because collective perspectives and approaches can be all over the map like every other secondary issue.
If you have questions about how to respond to Halloween, please seek out those who are competent in God’s Word. If you’d like to talk to us, we’re are a 24/7 sanctification center in cyberspace. Take advantage of our resources, and if you have questions, we’re a dialogue ministry, too. Jump on our free community forums and ask the questions that are vital to you.
What did you think when you heard the stories about the different responses to Halloween? I am asking this question for two reasons: you probably have friends who represent most, if not all, of them, and how you think about them affects how you engage them.
Emoting about Halloween in nonconstructive ways is easy. Passion is fantastic, but humble self-awareness—an awareness that reminds you of who you were without Christ in your life—should temper enthusiasm.
Without humility, passion creates disunity, which is why it’s helpful to consider that even if you are categorically opposed to Halloween, you need to remind yourself that you have a little bit of Halloween in your heart. We all do.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29).
It’s not wise to speak about evil as though we do not participate in evil somehow. The darkness of Satan impacts our lives throughout the year, not just on October 31. My appeal is for us to guard our hearts before we pontificate about Halloween. If we do not sprinkle our minds with grace, our communication will be harsh and nonredemptive.
Halloween should not be about winning arguments, splitting hairs, or flaunting theological knowledge. Our primary goal is to position ourselves for God to use us to redeem lives, making Halloween an opportunity to put Christ on display by our attitudes, words, and actions.
Dear Lord, I have an opinion about Halloween, but you know me. Will you guard my heart and control my tongue as I speak on this subject? I want the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be acceptable in your sight (Psalm 19:14). I also want to help, not hurt people.
If I were close friends with Biff, Bart, Mable, Brice, Marge, Bert, and Billy and had the context, time, and relationship to speak with them, here are a few things for their consideration, which I trust will benefit all of us.
#1 – Flight Approach – Biff is going to have to deal with Halloween. He cannot bury his head in the sand and pretend it does not exist. He can herd his children upstairs while they are young, but his children will not be forever young. They will eventually tire of The Sound of Music. He needs to be wiser in his parenting approach, which should incrementally introduce them to the world. Biff needs to lead his children by teaching them about life and culture. Halloween is an excellent opportunity for him to do this.
If he does not, the culture will teach their ways, as they pressure the kids to follow them in their worldview and practices. It could be that some of his children may not be able to withstand the pressures placed on them by their culture, mainly if they have not received teaching, encouragement, and discipleship, or if they are susceptible to fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). Though they may be able to recite and even act out The Sound of Music, they will be at a loss regarding cultural engagement.
#2 – Engage Approach – Bart is overreacting to Biff’s unwillingness to engage by letting his children become the anti-legalist poster children. I have encountered many Barts in my life. They usually come out of legalistic environments and are easily tempted to over-correct their practices through misuses of grace. The “grace mistake” is where grace becomes an excuse to live how you want to. This view does not mean you should leave Bart just as he is. A close friend should come alongside him to help him work through his thought processes. For example,
#3 – Ignore Approach – Being all alone in this world is asking too much from anyone. This problem is part of the reason there is a local church. Mable needs the body of Christ surrounding her, helping her to parent her children. She is too overwhelmed to think about Halloween while hoping it will not be a big deal this year. Her local body needs to perceive her struggle and come alongside her to care for her family.
#4 – Succumb Approach – Somebody needs to come alongside Brice and Marge, too, and carefully walk them through the underlying issues in their collective lives. How to respond to Halloween is not their primary problem. Halloween is a seasonal litmus test they fail each year. But this failure points to the broader issue of insecurity, which leads to their frail relationship with God. Like Mable, they need biblical friends who love them enough to help them mature in Christ. If they cave to the cultural expectations and pressures surrounding Halloween, you can bet they are failing in other areas.
#5 – Passive Approach – Bert is slowly losing his family, but he does not see it. He may not care. Bert will be difficult to help because he needs a compassionate kick in the seat of the pants. Motivating a passive person is hard. Bert is the anti-gospel man. The gospel is about going, giving, intruding, impressing upon, and getting to the heart of the problem while seeking to transform lives. Bert is not doing any of those things. Bert is about Bert.
#6 – Arrogant Approach – Billy is Bert’s opposite. Billy loves being right, being in control, and coming across as impressive. Pursuing, creating, and sustaining redemptive relationships are not his strengths. From the outside looking in, he appears to have the best answer, but his heart is in dire need of gospel-centered transformation. The apostle Paul spoke to people like this in 1 Corinthians, who were more about being right than being redemptive (1 Corinthians 8:1-3).
Some people in Corinth knew it was not a big deal to eat meat, but their attitudes were wrong. Having the correct answer is only part of the solution. Having the right attitude is essential because knowledge can puff up the inflatable mind, while love can build up the needy soul. Our friend Billy should be more careful, engaging, involved, and definitely more humble.
A few years ago, one of our small group members humbly asked about our views on Halloween. We had different opinions, which they knew. Rather than making them feel dumb, unusual, or wrong, it was an opportunity to walk through what we believe, why we think what we believe, and how we practice our beliefs while anticipating the Lord to work in their hearts in whatever way He wanted to.
Also, I chose a different approach for this Halloween article. Many arguments circulate during this time of the year about how Halloween is of the devil and why you should steer clear of it. I could have written from that angle, but it would have been rehash-ad-infinitum. That information is public domain and easily accessible. I typed in “Christian perspective on Halloween” and got over 3.5 million possibilities in 0.17 seconds. If you want to gain a Christian perspective on Halloween, please take the time to do the research. It will benefit you.
My point in writing this piece is to discuss how our attitudes toward others differ and the need to submit our minds to Christ. If you are living out humility, you will redemptively position yourself to compassionately and competently engage in culturally-related issues.
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Rick launched this training network in 2008 to provide life-changing resources that equip Christians to help others. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.
In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology, and in 1991 he received a BS in Education. In 1993 he was ordained into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, CA. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).