Happy Halloween!
The year before last, I wrote about how we “celebrate” Halloween as a Christian family, I didn’t get a lot of flack from it thankfully but I have noticed on facebook that it is a huge discussion amongst people.
I get it, the roots are pagan, along with almost every other holiday on the calendar. Does this mean we should turn our heads with what our culture celebrates? No matter what your choice, neither side should condemn the other.
My pastor talked for a few short minutes about this a couple of weeks ago and said there are 3 ways we can look at Halloween:
Receive it– go ahead and go all out, haunted houses, scary costumes, do whatever culture is doing.
Reject it– do not get involved, turn away from anything to do with Halloween
Redeem it– be the light in a lost world, participate and show the love of Christ
Here are a few snapshots from our trip to the pumpkin patch:
 tractor race track |
This year Lincoln our 5 year old is dressing up as a knight (the three musketeer kind) and Julia our 3.5 year old is a rosebud princess. No matter what you choose, be the light in the darkness!
Do you “celebrate” Halloween? Why or why not?
About Rachel
We do not celebrate it. I wrote all about it in a Series on my blog. Check it out sometime! http://www.jensjourney77.blogspot.com
I will check it out Jen, and glad we can both be the body of Christ and not condemn eachother for choosing to do different things! Blessings to you!
i love your post…
Thanks! 🙂
Our family also chooses not to celebrate or observe Halloween. I do feel that it is a decision each family must make, based upon their own convictions.
I agree with you!
I get what you are saying as far as the three choices we have. But… can you explain more clearly how you “redeem it” – I just don’t understand how dressing up or a trip to the pumpkin patch shows the light of Christ. Neither one of those are bad things at all, in my mind, but they are just neutral to me. We let our son dress up all year long when he feels like it. We take regular trips to get pumpkins, play at Pumpkintown…but none of these feel particularly Christian OR Halloween to me.
I came to this post looking for some more ideas on HOW to redeem this holiday, and I’d love if you do a follow up post on this topic. Thanks.
Hi Julie! I love your question! (and I second it… because it doesn’t seem redemptive to me; just another option of something TO do.)
Our little guy is 16 months old, so he’s pretty oblivious to it at this point. But we are hoping to celebrate Reformation Day (November 1) in the future by studying the life of a missionary. I wrote a post about it a couple years ago if you want to search my site for “Celebrating Reformation Day.”
We choose not to participate… So of the 3 options, I guess we’re “rejecting” it.
Blessings!
Glad you chose to redeem it! The holiday actually has very Christian roots, in that it’s the celebration of the saintly souls that have passed before us. November 1st is the celebration of “all hallows”, so the 31st is the eve of that celebration. As a family we hope to make that the main focus of the celebration, but also join in on the fun of pumpkin patches and dressing up in fun costumes. I know some families have their children dress up as saints, so their children learn about faithful christians that have gone before us.