Well, it’s that time of year again, the time when Christian YouTubers and bloggers put out material on whether or not it’s okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween. For once I thought I’d join them and share some of my thoughts on the subject. So… is it okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween? Many would say ‘no’ and default to the ‘celebration of evil’ argument, but I think it’s a little more complex than that. Let me explain…
Firstly, real evil, evil in its purest and rawest malevolent form, is so much more than just witches and ghosts. The Bible tells us that pride is an evil, that covetousness is an evil, that atheism is an evil and unbelief. At heart, evil is simply living life on our own terms without God. And honestly, this is something all of us do every single day. We are so much more evil ourselves than we recognize by far, even after conversion.
Secondly, the evil that is acknowledged in Halloween, is (I believe) interpreted correctly – with warts and all. We don’t worship and glory in death. Death is something bad, something to be avoided and dreaded. In this light, you could hardly call Halloween a celebration of evil at all. Rather, a terrified, and emotional, knee-jerk reaction, a sticking out of the tongue in open defiance to an insurmountable adversary, as real and terrifying as evil and death. This (by the way), is precisely how you should interpret evil and death, that is… if you don’t believe in the resurrection.
I think Halloween offers us Christians a unique opportunity – to engage with those around us and ask neighbors, family and friends some of the big questions: “What is evil? Where does it come from? What is death?” and “If death is a natural part of life, why do we fear it so much?” Who knows, this may even lead to a gospel conversation. And maybe with every minute step towards courage, we may yet redeem Halloween.