Halloween: the gleeful yet misguided celebration that tinkers in evil as though we somehow maintain and exert authority over its theology and presentation. This is the day many will make a point to willfully revel in grotesqueness and everything not assignable to the nature of our Creator God…a day where we encourage children to dabble in its dark imagery and participate in its seemingly innocuous customs, sadly believing it to be without emotional or spiritual consequence.
Neatly nestled amongst the truckloads of colorful candy and Walmart’s hypnotic, never-ending seasonal aisles of costumes, we are conditioned to believe we possess the power to manipulate the nexus, extent, and limitations of everything ungodly simply by mimicking it as something of which we’re not afraid or to which we’re not held accountable. Evil is deemed harmless and even fun.
Truth is we cannot hope to control evil no matter how hard we try…we don’t have the nature or authority. On one hand, you may be able to keep a zombie from eating your brains in the “killing fields” of a local farm or you may be able to approach a pint-size Penny-wise tonight without fear of harm, but the spiritual essence behind those images are in fact uncontrollable to us. For us to believe we sit in leadership of how and to what extent evil plays out around us is sad and unfortunate. In actuality, that mindset gives evil greater control over us (especially our children who follow our example) as we render it unable to harm us or that it is subjugated to our will.
I understand my opinion on this will not be popular even among some who are Christians, but in the events you plan for this evening, consider who/what you or your children will personify and therefore glorify, as the sun goes down. It IS important. On this day specifically known for trick-or-treating, Halloween does in fact represent a “trick”…the greatest trick ever played on humanity as image-bearers of the Most High. Don’t trade the image of God in which you’ve been created for a caricature of Evil, even in the name of a fun size Snickers bar and a short rush of adrenaline.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” –Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Landon <><
Amen! I completely agree!