Oh Halloween, the church doth despise thee, but why?
Halloween or All Hallows Eve is a much debated topic in the church as to whether The Church, being the Catholic Church, stole it from pagans or the other way around. For me the argument is not which came first but why does the church get so upset with it’s existence, pouring time and energy into fighting it and/or competing with it.
When my kids were little, and not so little, every October 31 I woke them up singing this little song,
This the day
This is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made,
I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it,
This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day, this the day that the Lord has made
Why did I start such a crazy tradition? Because I wanted them to understand that the Devil doesn’t get his own day. He does not make the sun to rise or to make it set, therefore, no credit for the day should be attributed to him.
How Halloween was celebrated hundreds of years ago is not how it’s practiced today. Kids do not see Halloween as the day when the supernatural line between the netherworld and our world is at it’s thinnest so fairies and such can cross over to our world.
If a kid shows up at your door on March 4th wearing a Spiderman costume asking for candy, are they practicing Halloween? No.
Kids just want to dress up and grab some candy, one day a year, with no ill intent to practice witchcraft. To actually practice witchcraft you have to be intentional, present of mind, you can’t accidentally practice witchcraft any more than you can accidentally practice Christianity.
One of my students asked their grandmother if they could make a Jack-O-Lantern this year or are pumpkins the devil’s fruit.
That’s how many churches view Halloween, low hanging devil fruit.
Every day evil is celebrated by someone or some group. Many witches and pagans practice all year long and not just on one night a year, but I imagine their are some, like Christians, who only participate in religious services twice a year.
So, does God hate Halloween? No. He hates when people, especially his own people, get obsessed with a day of the year but put little effort into the rest of the year into things that matter most to Him, people.
If you’re interested in taking back Halloween or All Saints Day as the church has called it for hundreds of year, I have a four week series called Bringing Back The Dead, where I offer lessons on Biblical and Historical Christian Martyrs. A perfect series for the season and you can pick up the series here
If you’d like to engage with your students on social media for 31 days in October, check out my 31 Days of Halloween Themed Would You Rather Questions.