A few years ago, my wife and I made the strategic decision
to participate in Halloween. Big deal,
right? Let me set some context. You see, there are some within the Christian
culture that believe that Christians should not participate in Halloween. After all, this holiday has some pretty
dark/demonic roots. I don’t disagree
with that. There are some downright
spooky costumes and decorations out there. As a
result, many Christians choose to opt out of Halloween and instead participate in “harvest parties” and such –
which are void of any demonic ties. And
I’ve enjoyed some of those parties! And I
won’t talk down to or disrespect anyone who chooses to do that.
But the conclusion my wife and I came to a few years ago was
this: October 31 is the one night of the
year when the entire neighborhood is out in the streets, socializing, having
fun, and going door-to-door no less.
What kind of followers of Jesus would we be if we, in our attempt to avoid
the evils of the world, turned off the lights, locked the door, and essentially
protested the holiday? What kind of
statement would we be making to the neighborhood we believe we’ve been called
to?
I will say that we are careful not to celebrate the holiday on its terms (and inadvertently giving evil a foothold in our home), rather we engage it on OUR terms. We don’t decorate our house with creepy stuff. We don’t let our kids wear
spooky costumes. We spend time with our
children, educating them about those things. We also spend an equal amount of
time educating them on why we choose to engage our neighborhood. We don’t fear this holiday, no matter how
dark or evil the roots may be. Nor do we
fear any powers of darkness that may be present that evening. Those powers are submissive to the one who
lives in me/us. And like I said, we're careful to do this on OUR terms.
On Halloween (which our family has nicknamed “Ween” – since there’s
nothing hallowed about it), we don’t just pass out candy… we also pass out free
hot dogs to whoever wants them. Last
year, I passed out about 150 dogs, and it wasn’t nearly enough. So this year, I’m planning for more. I don’t make a lot of money – which has
affected how we give, and what we give to.
But this is one of the things we choose to give to.
It has been received so well, that I’ve actually gotten
repeat “customers” who’ve driven in from another area, just to stop at my
house. And what’s cool is that we’re not
the only family on our block that does this kind of stuff. One of our neighbors throws a party and hands
out cookies and popcorn and such. Our
other neighbor on the corner has handed out full-sized candy bars and glass
bottles of Coke! We officially have the
coolest block in town... I know that because I’ve had people tell me so.
It has really been a lot of fun. We’ve met a lot of people, and strengthened
some existing relationships… by simply being present. I’ve even had an opportunity to talk with
some young men who were planning to “beat down” another young man in our
neighborhood one Halloween. They had
some hot dogs, and thankfully, cooler heads prevailed.
So maybe think about how you might make the most of this incredibly
relational opportunity to be salt and light on a very dark night.
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