What’s a Canadian Baptist to do with Halloween?!

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

Acts 17:22-24

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2

Halloween. Replete with ghosts, witches and monsters it is a celebration of death, of darkness and of our deepest human fears. Movies are released that are designed to terrify us, graphically depicting brutality, sorcery and other abominations. There is little in Halloween that seems appropriate for a Christian to get excited about, which is precisely why I had decided to swear off Halloween entirely. But then I read a blog post by Christian musician Steve Bell that changed my mind.

You may or may not agree with everything he said, but this much is true: the rest of the year, we need to take mission to others. On Halloween, people are shouting on our doorsteps, demanding that we meet them. What a great opportunity to meet our neighbours and perhaps make that first point of connection where we live!

Maybe you feel that Halloween is an unredeemable festival. But if you have some wiggle room in your budget and a barbecue with a side burner, consider this – when else would all the kids and parents in your neighbourhood drop by for a cup of hot chocolate or a hot dog? How better to share the love of Jesus than to reach out with warmth and kindness?

So consider this: when you are faced with a shivering (it’s supposed to be cold), excited eight-year-old zombie or a nine-year-old bride of Frankenstein, look past the gore and see the child.

This Halloween, let’s be the light in the darkness and shine brightly.

 

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