Why I Celebrate Halloween

October 31st is right around the corner, and this is my first Halloween with an empty nest. But I'm still planning to carve a pumpkin and be ready for trick-or-treaters to come knocking. 

I realize many other Christians with whom I share much in common feel compelled to not celebrate for a variety of reasons, so I thought I'd offer a few reasons why the party will still be happening at our place.

First, for over twenty years Halloween was a fun event to celebrate with our kids: the costumes, the candy, the pumpkin carving, sometimes just as a family and sometimes with friends. Second only to opening presents on Christmas morning, this is a kids-centric event. Go have fun!

Second, Halloween is one of the only events that brings out the neighborhood. I don't want to miss the little ones coming to my door, saying hello to the young parents and cheering them on. We want to be the generous neighbors, not the dark-door neighbors, so we give out the big candy bars.

But what about all the witches and ghouls and Freddy Kruegers and all the over the top stuff? Well, you don't have to dress or decorate that way yourself. This is a 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 moment. It's a ready opportunity to show kindness to your neighbor, thinking more of him than of yourself.

Finally, however grisly and gruesome the world tries to make Halloween, it turns out that God has the last laugh, as he always does (Psalm 2:4). The origin of Halloween is thoroughly Christian which is captured in the original name All Hallows Eve, or the Eve of All Saints Day. The European tradition of dressing up as ridiculous devils on that day was to taunt and tease the Accuser of the Brethren on the day before celebrating the life and witness of those Brethren. In Christ the devil has no power over us, and in God's plan his doom is sure.

Martin Luther, who nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenburg on Halloween in 1517, thought that we should ridicule the devil, even breaking wind to send him running. I think I'll send him running with a jumbo Snickers given in the name of Christ.

Finally, for any parent out there who abstains from Halloween because the candy is not healthy, I think two and a half years of Covid should give us pause on how well our modern scientific culture actually understands health. I'm all for more vegetables and less sweets, but that Snickers bar, with all its fat and sugar, still fits squarely into the author's intended meaning in 1 Timothy 4:4, created by God, good, and to be received with thanksgiving. Especially on Halloween.