The Halloween Debate
October is here, and with it comes the start of the annual debate among Christian's involvement in Halloween. Some hold that Halloween is a harmless time of fun for young people, while others see significant spiritual concerns!
What we need to remember is we are involved in real spiritual warfare daily as believers! A battle against what the Bible calls "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" Ephesians 6:12. You either believe this or your don't!
Personally I believe that Halloween celebrates and exalts those very same enemies! So partaking in this Holiday (aka Holy Day) would be ignoring or even accepting of this dark spiritual warfare instead of fighting back against it.
Many 'Christians' have attempted to trivialize the association of Halloween with the occult. But lets be honest! You can NOT deny the association of Halloween with exaltation of death, the occult and pagan practices. You can not even turn on your Television this month without viewing programs and commercials containing witches, ghost, vampires, and so on. You are not able to take your children to the store without seeing some type of Halloween decorations involving creepy blood and gore, demonic mannequins and skeletons, some that talk and even scream, that terrify young children. Most neighborhoods will have at least one haunted house. Many people place scary items in their yards such as fake dead bodies, ghost, bloody items, jack-o-lanterns, and so on, for one reason alone, to scare others! And worse, most don't want to admit it, but Animals and even Children are taken and sacrificed yearly at this time by satanists. How can a 'Christian' justify taking part in this day by stating… 'But I'm not worshiping satan' and 'God knows my heart'?!
In the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 The Father commanded His people to avoid involvement in the occult practices of their Pagan neighbors. And in Romans 12:9 and Ephesians 5:11 it tells us to have no association with evil and darkness. We are instead to come out from among them and be separate, 2 Corinthians 6:17.
Today we have 'Christians' that are trying to 'Christianize' something evil instead of removing themselves from it. Are we trying to make a unholy wicked thing holy by bringing this into the church and renaming it a Harvest Festival?! Must we have a substitute for this day?! We are not to conform to this world, Romans 12:2. Clearly, the celebration of Halloween has no place in the life of a genuine Believer!
This month, may we be faithful to The Father's command to be separate from practices that are associated with evil. Let us stop making excuses to satisfy the flesh, and refrain from participating in activities that exalt spiritual darkness. May we focus on exalting our Savior, The Messiah, Jesus!
And for what it's worth… No, I'm not condemning you. No, I'm not stating that you are sinning. And no, I don't claim to be holier than thou. I am simply sharing how I view this day and I urge you to pray on it and study it for your own self.
Pray for discernment and keep watch. Much love!
