What should we do with Halloween?
There are few more controversial holidays in the Church as Halloween. It seems that many people have some very strong opinions on both sides of the issue. What was it like for you as a child? Was Halloween a celebrated activity? Did you grab your bucket and costume and march down your street, or did you have some form of an alternative? Was your upbringing full of Fall Fests and Trunk or Treats instead?
My childhood was a generous mixture of both. I can remember going to the Church functions where we had to dress up as Joseph or a wise man, and also going out on Halloween night as a punk rocker or bag of M&M’s.
While I believe it is important to have the discussion within your household of whether or not you will participate in Halloween, this article isn’t concerned with that. Instead, I would love to zoom out and look at what occurs on Halloween night and how we can best serve Christ in the midst of this Holiday.
On the eve of October 31st, about an hour before the streetlights turn on, something magical and foreign begins to happen. All of your neighbors with children will exit their houses with buckets and flashlights in hand. For the next 1-3 hours, they will be walking up and down the rows of houses, knocking on doors, and collecting candy. In a society that infrequently exits our houses with the intention of a relationship, this is odd. It is the one night in a year that it is acceptable to knock on someone’s door without first calling or texting them or trying to sell them something. As our world has become more insular, Halloween hasn’t seemed to wane. In the year 2019, it is estimated that Halloween expenses will total $8.8 Billion. According to the National Retail Federation, 69% of consumers plan to hand out candy, 32% plan to attend or throw a party, and 29% plan to take children trick-or-treating.
We often think of this Holiday in regard to should we or shouldn’t we participate. If I told you that you would have an opportunity to meet almost a 1/3 of your neighbors, would you think that was worthy? Or what if I said that you had an opportunity to knock on 2/3 of your neighbor’s doors?
If you are against dressing up and walking the streets to knock on your neighbor’s doors, I understand. Is there maybe a way for you to still participate though? What alternatives can you do to still connect with your neighbors? How can you redeem the fact that many of your neighbors are actively leaving their houses to interact with others at their doorsteps?
I know of one Church that encourages their people to grab the BBQ grill and set up shop in the front yard. What if instead of handing out candy, you grilled some hotdogs and handed them out to the parents as they lug around buckets of candy, and scattered pieces of costumes by the end of the night? Maybe you could just grab some lawn chairs and a cooler and sit out front to pass out water bottles.
There are many different ways that we can use this Holiday as a method and means of sharing the love of Christ with neighbors that normally are secluded behind their front doors. I’m all for fall fests and trunk or treats, however, is it possible that we have secluded ourselves into our Christian bubble and avoided the world? Is it possible that by doing these things we have unknowingly told our neighbors that we don’t care enough for them to leave our light on the porch and give away some goodies?
This Halloween I would love for you to consider yourself to be on mission. What will it look like for you and your family to proclaim the love and truth of the Gospel to your neighbors this season?