Is Halloween for Christians?

Holiday gives opportunity for Christians to live in the world for God’s glory

Oct. 31 is a day celebrated with guts, gore and candy. But along with all the spooky celebrations comes the mob of Christians with their torches and pitchforks protesting every ghoul, goblin and ghost out on the street.

“Evolving from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, modern Halloween has become less about literal ghosts and ghouls and more about costumes and candy,” reads History Channel’s website.

“The Celts used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, and also believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead. Over the millennia the holiday transitioned from a somber pagan ritual to a day of merriment, costumes, parades and sweet treats for children and adults.”

Yes, Halloween was once a pagan holiday; however, would you go up to a 6-year-old girl dressed like a bumblebee in 2015 and condemn her for partaking in unholy activities? I did not think so.

The truth is that now Halloween is no longer used to worship pagan gods or sacrifice to Satan, but instead it is a holiday where children roam the street with their parents knocking on doors for candy. This act is not reprehensible, unless, of course, you are a dentist.

Liberty University even finds a way to celebrate the occasion.

Stephen Vandergriff, the director of Liberty’s Scaremare, an annual haunted walk-through event in Lynchburg, said the university has been running Scaremare since 1972. Vandergriff said he has been working with Scaremare for 15 years and had done similar so-called “haunted houses” in the past in other cities.

Vandergriff said Scaremare has always been used as an outreach event in the month of October. He noted the controversy in the Christian realm about the month of October, but he believes
Scaremare is a way to reclaim the holiday.

“We all see the secularization of holidays like Christmas and Easter,” Vandergriff said. “We want to transform Halloween to use it for God.”

Scaremare focuses on phobias and fear rather than the dark spiritual side of the holiday, according to Vandergriff.

“The (overall goal) of Scaremare is to challenge people with their mortality,” Vandergriff said. “The end game is to present life through Christ, and we are crystal clear with that message to everyone who enters (Scaremare).”

So can Halloween really be reworked to bring glory to God? Well, I believe so.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will (NIV).” I believe that as Christians, we can be in the world yet not be of the world.

Vandergriff said that people do go overboard with Halloween, and he believes there is a limit to how far one should go in celebrating the holiday. However, that should not keep someone from celebrating Halloween at all.

“We can enjoy the fun part,” Vandergriff said. “(And we can) shine a light in on the dark part of Halloween.”

Christians try too hard to be apart from the world yet fail to realize that they are still living in it. Not celebrating holidays such as Halloween gives the impression that Christians cannot have fun but more importantly, that they are too restricted in their views. If Christians can become a part of Halloween and use it to spread light and even the message of the gospel, then I propose we make the most of these opportunities.

So, this Halloween, try sharing Jolly Ranchers, not judgment.

Foley is the asst. news editor.