Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The debate — and the two extremes everyone can accept

• The question posed (in the host's frame): is Halloween just harmless fun? Or should Christians avoid any sort of taking part, related to this holiday? The host's question: so, today is Halloween. And here, at least (the question sets the scene on this continent), we're going to see a lot of children. They're going to dress up in costumes. They're going to spend the evening, going door to door, trick-or-treating, and asking for candy. And all that good stuff, that goes along with this particular holiday. And people are probably seeing ghosts, and jack-o-lanterns, and skeletons, and witches, and all the other Halloween related displays, on houses in their neighborhoods. Now, a lot of Christians are divided over this. On one side, we have the people who see it all, as just harmless fun. And on the other side, there are people — believers — who have very serious concerns, about the spiritual side of this holiday. And some of those folks are adamantly against, any kind of Halloween celebration — including any sort of possible substitute. As a pastor, you probably had church members, that fell on both sides of this debate. How did you handle that disagreement, and keep the peace, between both sides? Do you have any advice, for people who are conflicted about this? The answer: yes, this can be quite a heated issue. And I want to use this question, to answer broader questions. Because this is a simple example. But there are a lot of situations, that Christians face, in our modern society. So let's see if we can find common ground, where people on all sides of this issue should agree, or could agree. So let's talk about two extremes. So, on the one hand: the Bible strongly teaches against witchcraft. Against necromancy, which is an attempt to contact the dead. For example: if you read Deuteronomy (the chapter as he gives it), you have some very strong condemnations. So I think all Christians should agree: anything that promotes the devil, Satanism, genuine witchcraft ('genuine rich craft', as heard), magic — and by Magic, I don't mean sleight of hand, like card tricks, and, you know, children's games, that we often — are Illusions. That's not what I'm talking about. But magic, in the sense of trying to alter nature, or control nature, using spiritual forces, that are not out of God — then anything like that should be off limits, to Christians. So we talk about: horoscopes, astrology, Ouija boards, seances. We should 100 avoid that kind of stuff. All Christians should agree. On the other hand: there are things, that originated with Pagan Customs, or have some Pagan connotations. But nobody realistically thinks of them, as Pagan worship, today. And so we participate in them, just as part of modern culture. I would say: everybody who's listening or watching has some things in their life — they may not know. But for example: if you use the days of the week, in English — Sunday was to honor the sun god. Monday, the moon God. Wednesday, the Norse god woden (as the letters carry the name). Thursday, the Norse god, or Germanic God, Thor. So everybody is doing — Saturday, the God Saturn. Or January, the Roman God Janus ('the Greek or the Roman God Janus', as spoken). So nobody that I'm aware of — there may be somebody out there — would say: refuse to say Monday, and insist on saying, second day of the week. Why? Because we don't think of that, as honoring the moon God. And the people we talk to don't think it was — 'don't think it was on the moon God' (as the sentence stands — honoring the moon god, in its sense). Now, if we're really honoring the moon God, that would be a sin. Or that the people we're talking to honestly go away thinking: wow, that Christian worships the moon — well, that would be wrong. So I've given you two extremes. One, where we clearly should avoid Pagan, or satanic, involvement. The other, where we have divorced whatever the original context, or connotation, was. We've eliminated that. And we've appropriated, for our own culture. And nobody realistically thinks, that it is promoting paganism. So those are the two extremes. So where do you meet, in the middle?

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 18

The middle — his Korea childhood, and the church's wholesome alternative

• Now, it's interesting: I was raised in Korea. There was no Halloween. That is an American, or Western, culture. Now, in very rare occasions, we were allowed to go into the U.S army base. And there was also a Baptist missionary compound, that had American style living. And so there were occasions, where my parents would let us dress up in costumes, and go door to door, in these limited cases, get candy. Now, my mom was pretty strict: nothing to do with death, or witches, or demons, or anything like that. But just: you know what, there's nothing wrong, in principle — there's nothing wrong with the costume party, in principle. There's nothing wrong, with giving candy, in principle. There's nothing wrong, with a fall festival, and bobbing for apples, or whatever traditional games you want to do. So that was what my parents said: if you can find a way, to do something that's wholesome, that's not demonic, that's not satanic, has nothing to do with that: okay. Now, if we were doing this on, you know, July 31st, or August 31st: then probably nobody would mind, if we said: let's have a costume party. And let's bring some hay, have a hay ride. And let's have some pumpkins. And let's Bob for apples, on August the 31st. Then I don't think anybody could justly condemn that. Those are wholesome activities. So the question becomes: what if you do it on October 31st? So somebody says: oh, you're caving into the culture. And others say: no, you're taking that day away from Evil, and you're promoting Godly values. Now, I personally, as a pastor, thought: that's a good strategy. So typically, what we did — I would teach, and say: look, there's an area of Christian Liberty. And I'll talk about that, in a moment. I'm going to let each family decide, what you want to participate in. But nothing demonic. Nothing satanic. And nothing with genuine witchcraft, or evil magic, Etc. Nothing that promotes death. But here's what we're going to do, as a church: we're going to have a fall festival. A harvest fest. We're gonna go out, in the parking lot. And we're going to have games. And we're going to have little booths. And we're going to have car trunks, decorated open ('car trunks dedic open', as heard), with little games. Like you might see at maybe some fair, or some special event. Like you're throwing at a goal, or at a Target (as he instances them). And we're gonna have candy. We're gonna have ice cream. We're gonna have cotton candy. Various things. And so you can bring your family, in a safe, Christian, wholesome environment. Because today, you know — as some neighborhoods are perfectly fine — but other neighborhoods, it has become more secular, and more demonic. It's not like years ago, when I'm talking about my childhood, even in America. The average person might have seen it, just — it's just a neighborhood walk. And it's just a neighborhood event. Where today, it has — many people do use Halloween, as a time for evil, and for wild parties. And even, it's not always so safe. So this provides a Christian alternative. Also, it provides an opportunity, to invite unsaved family, friends, neighbors ('invite unsafe family friends neighbors', as heard) to be exposed to the church, in a wholesome way. To see: look what the church can do. So, personally, I thought: we're not compromising. Actually, if anything, we're being counter-cultural. We're saying: these are Christian values. If you want to know what Christian values are — if you want to know what Christian fun is — if you want to know what wholesome family is: here's where you go. So you got a choice, of going to something evil, or a choice to go into something wholesome. I really see nothing wrong, with a church, or a family, providing a wholesome alternative, for these key times. Now, somebody might even disagree with that: well, you shouldn't do anything. You shouldn't even recognize there is such a day. Well, we live in the real world. Everybody knows about it. So I don't really see what the problem is, by the church promoting Christian values. We would do that 365 days a year. But I do think — so, I've tried to give you a spectrum, where two extremes we can all agree. In the middle, we might differ, on how do we choose to operate, as a family, or as a church? And I think there's room, for Christian Liberty.

The liberty principle — meat offered to idols, and the weaker brother

• If you read First Corinthians (the two chapters as he gives them), the Apostle Paul dealt with a very real issue, in his culture. And again, I come from a different perspective, because that very issue exists in Korea, where I grew up. And that is: people would go to a pagan temple. In the case of Korea, Buddhist temple. But in ancient times, they would go to the Temple of a Greek and Roman gods and goddesses ('the Temple of a Greek and Roman gods and goddesses', as spoken). They would offer food, to the idols. It was a form of worship. Of course, the idol couldn't actually eat the food. So the priest would take it, and eat it. And then, if there was extra food, the priests would sometimes go sell it, on the market. And this typically happened with meat, which was rare, and costly, and extravagant, luxurious. So the question rose, in Christian circles: if you buy some meat, in the marketplace, it could have actually been offered, to an idol. Or, if you go to a feast, at your neighbor's house, your neighbor might well have either dedicated that meat, to an idol. Or he might have purchased that meat, from a temple. And so you're eating meat, offered to Idols. What should you do? So Paul explained: now, wait just a minute. We're Christians. Evil doesn't have any power, over us. Idols are no Gods at all. Although demonic forces can be connected. But he said: in principle, eating meat, that had been offered to an idol ('offered to an aisle', as heard once), isn't going to hurt you. Because Idol has no power. And Jesus does. However: if you knowingly eat that — so, if your neighbor says, I dedicate this meat to this God — and then you eat: well, then, for that neighbor, it would appear, that you are condoning idolatrous worship. Or maybe there's a new Christian, that's just been converted from idolatry, and he watches you eating this food: he's going to think, oh, it's okay for Christians to worship idols. And so Paul says: don't do it. Not because that meat can hurt you. But you don't want to leave the impression, that you're participating in idolatry. And for the sake of a weaker Christian, that might look at you, and not understand that eating meat can't hurt you — and he thinks, wow — and it will cause him to stumble, and go back to idolatry. So even if you aren't worshiping idols, and you know it: if you can leave a wrong impression, on the unbeliever you're trying to win, or a fellow believer that's new in the faith, and weak in the faith, then don't do it. He said: I'd rather not eat meat again, my whole life, if it would cause another brother to stumble. The King James says, offend. But it doesn't mean, make them mad ('make a mad', as spoken). So we're not talking about someone says: I'm mad at you. You shouldn't be doing this. You're a compromiser. No: it's talking about someone that says: well, I'm going to lose my faith in God ('I'm gonna comprom you're compromising the faith I'm going to lose my faith in God', as the telling's letters run). I'm going to go back to idolatry. In other words: it's the weaker brother. The person's weak in faith, that would have this problem. Not someone who's supposed to be strong in Faith. Someone strong in faith should say: you know what, I'm not going to worry about what that guy does. It's not going to bother me. I'm gonna do what I feel is right. So if you go around protesting your brother, you're kind of saying: well, I'm the weaker brother, that can't stand this example. I'm going to backslide over this. So you better stop. But anyway: then, so Paul goes on to explain — so, if you go to your neighbor's house, and he says, I'm offering this to an idol: don't do it. But what if you go to your neighbor's house, and you don't know what he might have done last week? Or what if you go the market, and you buy some food, and you don't know where it came from? Don't worry about it. Just eat. Your conscience is clear ('just eat your conscious is clear', as heard). You are not worshiping Idol. Nobody looks at you, thinks you're worshiping Idols. So you don't have to worry about it. Idol is nothing. The meat is nothing. Just glorify God. Your conscience is clear. But if someone tells you it's offered to idols, and thereby they would think you're worshiping Idols, then don't do it, for conscience sake. Not your conscience, but the conscience of the person that is observing. So I took a long time there. But I think we can apply this, to things here, today. So: if we know we're not promoting paganism, or idolatry, or Satanism, and we feel a good conscience, about doing something, that's one thing. But if there's an observer, who's weak in the faith, or an unbeliever who would be confused, then we shouldn't participate. So even though we have the Liberty to participate, we shouldn't do anything that will be a stumbling block. Now, that's for us. But when we look at another family in the church, or maybe another church: so we might make a decision, for our family. Or our pastor might make a decision, for our church. And by the way, nothing I'm saying is trying to undermine what a pastor decides is appropriate, for their Church. Their culture. Their City. The families that they've won. And their background, of those families. You know, the pastor will be the best one to know, what's appropriate. And so I think you should follow him. But what if a different Church does something different? Well, it's not up to us to condemn them. It's up to us to say: we're going to make the right choice, for our family. And we're going to follow our pastor, in what he has guided our church. And if you're a pastor — you know, as a pastor, I will make what I think is the best decision, for our church. I don't want anybody attacking me for that. On the other hand, I'm not going to go out and attack somebody else.

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 10

Romans 14 — each fully convinced, and no condemnation

• So Romans (the chapter as he gives it) — and I'm not just strictly talking, about your original question. But I'm giving you a broad answer, that would help, in a variety of cultural issues. So the chapter: I've got the new King James here (as he takes up the version). Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes, over doubtful things (as he reads). For One Believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak ('he was weak', as the reading's letters stand) eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who eats. For God has received him. Who are you to judge another servant? To his own Master he stands or Falls. Indeed, he will be made able to stand. For God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced, in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. And He who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord ('he who eats east of the Lord', as the reading's letters stand) — for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not — he — and gives God thanks ('he does not he and gives God thanks', as the reading's letters run). So you can read the whole chapter. But that just kind of sets the tone. And so I would make an application: that if you feel like doing nothing at all, on October 31st — is different from what you normally do (as the application runs) — that's fine. If you choose to have a wholesome opportunity, to gather with family and friends, and church. And you do it unto the Lord: I don't think that's wrong. I think we have Liberty, to choose what we think is appropriate. And we shouldn't ridicule people, for their choice. And we shouldn't condemn people, for their choice. Now, nothing I say means you should promote Satanism, witchcraft, magic, Etc. But I am talking, in the context of worshiping God, and walking in Holiness. And I do believe, there is an area of Christian Liberty, that each local Pastor guides the church, and each —

Scriptures: Romans 14

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• The delivered capture ends here, mid-sentence, inside the closing application of Christian liberty. No closing summary and no podcast outro were captured. The record is published from the capture as it stands, under the truncation flag on its face; the re-capture decision rides with the checker gate (her desk's flag, carried into this batch's routing).

Scripture index: Deuteronomy 18; 1 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 10; Romans 14.