Thoughts on Christians and Halloween: part 2

Here is part 2 of the continuing saga of, “Can we expect treats at the Pastor’s house or what?”

So, does anything go? Absolutely not! You can be full out “Christ transforming culture,” but I don’t think you could ever really do a ‘strippers for Jesus’ ministry, unless it was recovering strippers who stayed clothed. There are elements of culture that are so corrupted that redemption means their absence. However, this means that some things in culture are left alone, but we always hope and pray for the redemption of people. What is the test? I think the right answer for Christians is always, “Jesus.” Jesus ate and spent time with sinners. Jesus was available to the prostitutes. What does this look like for elements of culture such as Halloween? Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Another piece of scripture before moving on – Philippians 4:8b “if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” The closing of Philippians encourages us to put our minds on things that are good and worthy of praise. As I shared above, the experiences that I relate to Halloween – fellowship, family, sharing, friends – are all things worthy of praise.

So, does anything go? Or, pastor, don’t you believe in the powers and principalities? I very much do. How do we take them on? Like I said, there are some things that are corrupt or just plain wrong, but how do we engage them? Do you remember the psychic John Edward? He claimed to speak to the dead and he would tell people what their deceased loved ones were saying beyond the grave. This practice is directly engaging in an occult practice. I don’t participate in “speaking to the dead” or encourage others to. I don’t think this is a small deal. So, how do you engage this? While in Kentucky, Anne and I took our college group to a book signing and question and answer event with John Edward. It was astounding to see the number of people (in the Bible belt mind you) who showed up for this event. This tells us that there is a hunger out there and people who are grieving as well (which is why I wonder how we can engage people instead of pull away). What did we do? The whole time that the event was going on we prayed. We prayed for the people there. We prayed for Mr. Edward. We prayed for God’s Holy Spirit to be present there and to mess up the powers and principalities. We prayed.

Before I get into some history of Halloween, I do want to address a fear that is out there – “I’m afraid my loved ones will get into wicca or the occult if they do this or that…” As a parent I totally get the fears of your children falling into things that lead to the powers of darkness. As parents or role models for younger people, we all must figure out when to shelter children (and I mean this in a positive way – we don’t let Elijah watch violence or scary images on tv, we shelter him, and it is entirely appropriate), and when to help them process something in order to encourage their ability to critically think (because after all at some point they do leave and must think on their own). I wish I had access to the statistics, but I could not find them with the time I have, but the Harry Potter series doesn’t make people witches, Halloween doesn’t make people witches. People who are already into dabbling with the dark arts can use those things and many others to further their cause or to cause trouble, but the pathway to New Age, wiccan, or occult practices is different. Here are some elements that actually do contribute to people joining those movements:

1. A need to be loved, belong – this is felt by everyone, some more than others. When this need goes unmet, people seek ways to meet it. Some are healthy, some are not. One thing that any New Age movement seems to really do well is be accepting, especially of the outcast (hey, that’s supposed to be Jesus’ gig – come on Christians, we need to get it together!)
2. Dissatisfaction with organized religion, especially Christianity – this can especially occur for women who have suffered very real sexism (and abuse) within the church. The wiccan movement is tied with goddess movements – and these things do something that many times Christianity falls sadly short on: they affirm the feminine. Other areas of discontent may come from rigid rule systems, hypocrisy, close mindedness (or perceived as such). With the New Age/wiccan movements you can have a spiritual affirming, feminine affirming, not so judgmental, and even empowering experience.
3. A realization that creation is good – the wiccan movement strongly affirms creation (albeit in a non-Christian understanding). When the church ignores the stewardship aspect of our relationship with creation the doors are left wide open. When the church behaves as if all of creation is ours to consume, use and abuse, we are not only behaving in an unbiblical manner, we are sending a message to spiritually seeking people who care for the environment that Christianity is not for them.

It is very possible to not participate in Halloween in any way and to do so because of motivational factors that are not fearful and paranoid. Reread that last sentence before continuing…
Ok, but I would challenge this. Much discussion of avoiding Halloween that I have heard or seen does center around fear, control, and paranoia. In doing this, I would argue, you are actually contributing to some of the factors that lead people away from the Christian faith and towards others. We should not be led by fear, but rather love of God.

What does love lead us to do?  Tune in tommorrow for the thrilling conclusion of, “Pastor Andy: desparately seeking chocolate!”