Christian Halloween?

Read Psalm 136

It is believed that this Psalm may have been written around the time that Solomon dedicated the temple to the Lord. (1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 6-7) It recapitulates the history of Israel and their exodus from Egypt up to where God had brought them to their own land, which was a place of peace. This chapter records their praise and exaltation of the Lord as they remember Him and His mighty works.

God is continually performing mighty works in His people. America is another example of how God called out His children from a place of persecution to a land of freedom to worship Him. Yet, just as Israel drifted back into idolatry and paganism, America has done the same. Every Independence Day celebration in the Church we hear the famous verse:

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The American Church has been quoting this verse for years, trying to apply it to our country’s moral decline. Yet our nation continues to drift farther and farther from the truth of God’s Word.—Why? Though this verse is a promise God made to Israel back in the dedication of Solomon’s temple, if the Church today is being the salt and light we are called to be (Matthew 5:13-16), we can have an impact in our current culture for Jesus. Christians often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 , but do we really apply it? One way that I question the American Church’s application of this verse is how we respond to the worldly celebration of Halloween.

Halloween, along with some other American holidays, have their origins traced back to the Catholic Church. Constantine was the emperor of Rome from AD 306 to 337. He made Christianity the legal religion of Rome. Prior to this time, Christians were persecuted and martyred. In hopes to influence the pagans of the day, Constantine took their celebrations and tried to Christianize them. The most celebrated American holidays, (Christmas, Easter, and Halloween) were created by Constantine.

Since these holidays were derived from pagan festivals, the early Baptist and Puritan Churches in America, outlawed the celebration of these catholic holidays. Over the course of time these celebrations were gradually brought into a lot of Churches. This seems to be the continual progression of God’s people. We dedicate ourselves to God, live holy, set apart lives, but then with each little compromise we drift away from His Word. Christmas and Easter have their own pagan origins. However, Halloween is a holiday in which it is very obvious that its origins come from evil.

October 31 was the last day of the year for the ancient Celts. This was the eve of the festival of Samhain, the god of death, and the beginning of their winter. The Druids believed they could communicate with the dead. Samhain, the god of death, was believed to judge and dictate the afterlife of souls. The afterlife would either be human or an animal, depending on how they lived. The Celts also believed that evil spirits were sent out to attack humans. They could escape by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. They could also offer them treats, such as food to avoid being attacked. Many thought that faces carved into turnips would charm the evil spirits away. Do you see any similarities here? Catholics celebrate November 1 as “All Saints Day” in honor of dead saints and brought about “All Saints Eve” in an attempt to Christianize the pagan practices of their day.

Though, we do not see these pagan practices right in front of our eyes today. We get a glimpse of them on Halloween every year, and there are people who do practice demonic activities all year round. In fact, it’s becoming more and more acceptable in our current society. Witchcraft and other demonic practices are being propelled into our culture through media and entertainment.

Disney is probably the best example I can give you. They began their demonic influence with the casting of a spell by a good witch, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo in “Cinderella”, and are now blatantly glorifying antichrist with a show titled “Little Demon”. I personally have seen books of witchcraft in retail stores, right in midst of popular magazines and newspapers. Our culture is being desensitized to the occult. Yet we will look back at the Israelites in the Old Testament and wonder why they kept drifting from God’s commandments.

There is a lot of history about pagan rituals and the worship of false gods over the centuries. Pagan practices have been around since the times of the Old Testament. I think every Bible believing Christian should learn the history of world religions, and how God would have us respond to them. It is because of the ignorance of God’s children, nations have fallen. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

The exodus from Egypt was the beginning of God’s cleansing of the paganism that they had developed in their time spent with the Egyptians.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

God was clear, “Do not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.” The things God listed in these verses are still practices of pagan worship today. There may be new gods and new methods of worship, but the end result still leads to destruction. Look below at the new terms to old practices.

1. Abortion– Maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire.
2. Fortune telling, crystal balls, tarot cards, palm reading, astrology, ouija boards- Divination, Observer of times
3. Wiccans, Wizards, Paranormal, Enneagram Personality Test, Psychology- Enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

God stated that He did not want Israel to do these things. God tells His children in the Old and New Testament that He does not want us to partake of pagan worship. He promised Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if His people, would humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways… God would hear, forgive, and heal. Could one of the reasons God has not healed America is because the Church is ignorantly partaking in the abominations of the pagans?

The celebration of Halloween can be a divisive topic in the Church. Some Christians are oblivious to its origins or consider it harmless fun. Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “I believe that one reason why the Church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.” Christians who do not partake are sometimes labeled as legalistic. Leonard Ravenhill, a powerful evangelist said, “When there is something in the Bible that churches do not like, they call it legalism.”

The Christian’s decision on how to respond to Halloween is ultimately a personal conviction, and our convictions should come from God’s Word. This is why the Holy Bible was given to us. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” How we respond to the teaching of the Scriptures will affect our personal relationship with God, but as we read throughout Bible history, our personal response to the Scriptures has an affect on our nation too. Here are just a few passages that can be applied to our personal response to Halloween:

2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

Since I’ve been following Jesus, my choices on how to navigate through this evil world have changed over the years. I guess it can be called my sanctification process. My convictions have changed, and I’ve been judged harshly on some changes by fellow Christians. I’ve been rejected and my feelings have been hurt. Following Jesus is not easy, and He is still working on me!

In the verses where Jesus tells His disciples that they are salt and light, the verses just prior to them, He tells the disciples that they will be reviled and persecuted for His name sake. (Matthew 5:11-12) In the world’s eyes, obedience to God’s Word is radical. However, if we are not obedient, we will look like the world, thereby having no influence. We each will stand before God one day and give an account for our choices.

This blog post might offend some of you, and for that reason my flesh doesn’t want to post it. But I need to obey what God is impressing upon my heart. I love Jesus more than my popularity. I pray that you will seek the Lord in how He would have you respond to Halloween.