Retreat or Reach Out: The Conundrum of Halloween

I grew up torn about Halloween.  As a young child I dressed up as a cowboy and went door to door for candy.  Oh, how sick I was that night.  But as I grew older my parents and my church began to withdraw from Halloween.  We began to see this holiday for what it truly was, a celebration of the demonic forces in this world. 

But as I moved into my college and adult years I began to become torn.  The question I began to ask about my life in general was, "How can the children of God go on the offensive against Satan and his dominion in every aspect of life?"  In other words, how can we reach out to others with the gospel of Christ in every aspect of our lives?

Halloween was no exception.  How can the children of God turn this celebration of evil into a time of gospel living?  David Mathis has a great piece on the Desiring God blog which asks some very good and pertinent questions about Halloween and our reaction as believers.  Check out the small portion of it below and read the entire piece here.

What if we saw October 31 not merely as an occasion for asking self-oriented questions about our participation (whether we should or shouldn’t dress the kids up or carve pumpkins), but for pursuing others-oriented acts of love? What if we capitalized on the opportunity to take a step forward in an ongoing process of witnessing to our neighbors, co-workers, and extended families about who Jesus is and what he accomplished at Calvary for the wicked like us?

What if we resolved not to join the darkness by keeping our porch lights off? What if we didn’t deadbolt our doors, but handed out the best treats in the neighborhood as a faint echo of the kind of grace our Father extends to us sinners?