Here we go again. It's that time of the year when we start seeing lawn figures for Halloween. The decorations arrived in stores over a month ago, along with Christmas decorations, but it's the scary Halloween items that bother this preacher. 

We began last month’s article by telling about frightening blow-up creatures in people’s front yards, but the Halloween decorations continue to sprout and spread like a plague. If you're a Christian, does this bother you?

Years ago, I loved the holiday. There was a vacant house down the road, and I even considered making it into a haunted house. And why didn't it come about? Because corn harvest and fall farming work took place during the holiday and, there was no time for such folly. I did, however, mess up in other ways. I hosted a ghostly Halloween party for our church youth group, complete with frightening skull candles, spider webs, and skeleton figures.

Huh? I hosted a Halloween party for our church youth group with those scary decorations. Really? Sadly, yes. Another time, I dressed as a mummy for our adult church Halloween party – in the church basement. Really? Was that appropriate?

I always enjoyed Halloween and made the best of it until a Christian at church ruined the holiday. The person explained that ghosts and goblins have no place in a Christian’s life. Of course, I bucked the thought, arguing the holiday wrecker had placed too much Christian emphasis on the fun holiday. But then, I kept thinking about it. And I thought about it. And I thought about it.

I finally realized that Christians should have no place in their lives for the goolie side of Halloween. The Bible teaches that evil spirits actually do exist. The Bible teaches that Satan is the leader of those evil spirits (Mt. 25:41), so how can Christians celebrate a holiday that emphasizes evil?

Ridiculous, you say? Well, think about Jesus and His dealings with evil spirits. He cast demons out of the men from the country of the Gadarenes (Mt. 8:28-34). Jesus cast demons out of the mute man (Lk. 11:14). Jesus cast demons out of many people (Mt. 8:16). We could name many more examples. 

Then there was the incident in the book of Acts when the seven sons of Sceva tried casting out demons in the name of Jesus, but the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up so badly that the men ran away naked (Acts 19:11-20). This incident was so frightening to people that many who had practiced magic burned their books.

With these few examples, and these are only a few, are you convinced that Christians should avoid having anything to do with evil spirits? Let’s face it, demons are evil and from Satan.

Over the centuries, people have taken Christian holidays and turned them into seasons of make-believe. For example, what does the Easter Bunny have to do with the resurrection of Christ? Where does Santa Claus fit in with the birth of Christ? Sure, you can possibly trace some non-Christian practices back to a time that declared some connection with Jesus Christ in the holiday, but do these holiday traditions give any more meaning to the Christ story?  Santa might slide down the chimney and give gifts (representing the kindness of the magi), but that’s a pretty weak connection, especially when the world gets so hung up on Santa and his reindeer.

My purpose is not to wreck your holiday. Rather, it is to make you think about what you're doing with the holiday that so many adults and children enjoy. I doubt I'll preach a sermon and tell kids that Santa and the Easter Bunny are bad and that they are made-up characters, but as we rapidly lose our Christian traditions to pagan practices, it's time to consider taking back our Christian holidays and make an influence for Christ on Halloween as well as Christmas and Easter.

Our Trunk or Treat here at RCC has a rule we must continue to observe. As we decorate our trunks and interact with the kids that come, we must show them Christ. That means we must not decorate our trunks with ghostly embellishments and dress in frightening outfits. But it also means that we must somehow show them the love of Jesus, and for the most part, we've done well. Let's continue that. Let's always keep Christ in mind during the holiday.

If asked to attend Halloween parties that highlight ghosts and evil, we must also consider what we do and how we carry ourselves. Let's act like Christians. I'll not tell you that you must avoid such parties, but is it possible for you to attend and not dress like an evil person or evil monster like I did years ago?  

While many enjoy Halloween dressing as dead people that came back to life, mummies, zombies, or witches, Christians can show them the real way for someone good to enter us. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Galatia about giving ourselves to Christ. Let's read what Paul wrote.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

-Galatians 2:20

As Christians, we give ourselves to Christ. He does not come and possess us as a Halloween monster or demon of Satan that seeks to destroy us. We welcome Jesus into us – literally. We give ourselves to Him to live in us and help us live as He lived in unison with God, His Father. As Paul says so well, we've been crucified with Christ. Our past life is dead. We are dead to our past sins and the past that we lived in opposition to Christ. But now that we've welcomed Christ into our lives, He lives in us. We have given and continually give ourselves over to Him. We live as He wants us to live. We live as He lived. He gave Himself for us, so we now give ourselves for Him, and as a result, we live a much better life in unison with Jesus.

This all means that we don’t pretend to be ghosts and goblins.  We don’t play evil games, dress like witches, or walk around like zombies. Rather, we live as Christ lived. We give ourselves to Him, so let's live like it. 

^20a I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

- Galatians 2:20^a

Love you,

Kenny