As all of the Halloween activities begin to surface, I thought that the rambling I wrote last year would be worth sharing again!!
Morgan asked me the other day if she could have a Halloween party. Aside from the thought of punch and pizza all over my new floor, I thought it was a great idea. Then there was a comment made from someone about allowing her to celebrate ‘Satan’s Day’. I know there are all sorts of opinions and I can see both sides of the coin – so I did a little research. There are opinions out there that range from locking your house up and you’ll go straight to Hell if you hand out a single piece of candy or show your face – to the other side of the spectrum where you should be on the street corners preaching the gospel and handing out Bible tracts in an attempt to ‘save’ all of the little trick-or-treaters.
So what do we, as responsible Christians, do? I don’t have the answer, but for what it’s worth, my take has always been that although All Hallows Eve has a dark history, so do some of the traditions of other holidays we celebrate. But the point is, they are children – and their purpose is to dress up, be creative, have some fun, laugh and get candy. If Morgan were to dress up as a witch – she’s not promoting witchcraft. I’m not fearful of her converting to the wicken belief. But I understand the other side of the coin, too. Is it pleasing to God to dress up like His enemy?
In my trip through the internet, I stumbled upon an article, and it had this quote in it from Martin Luther. "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." Satan demands to be taken seriously – teasing and making fun of him would just drive him insane!
Hmmm – isn’t that kinda what we do at Halloween? Make fun of all of the costumes – laugh and jeer and flout? How do you ‘flout’?? “Ha ha ha – look at your devil costume – one of your horns is crooked – ha ha ha laugh laugh laugh.’ I wonder what Satan thinks about that? I wonder if he’s sitting down there – angry - thinking ‘you silly people – I don’t have a tail like that – and my horns aren’t PLASTIC!!!’ Do you think he gets mad at us for making ‘his’ day so fun and jovial and we make so much fun of him?? Do you think it makes him sad that for all the children, it’s about silliness and candy? And now, we’ve even brought ‘his’ day into the church for more fun and laughter. Do you think it makes him angry that all of these precious children are filling the halls of WGBC and other churches that offer such a positive way to spend the evening?
I’m pretty sure that Satan doesn’t like all the fun and frolic, but I’m not sure what God would say. Then I think of Matthew 18:19, “Where there are two or more gathered in my name, I will be there”. Our children, whether they are trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, attending Hallowed House (where we could use a few more volunteers, hint, hint) or having a party – they are still gathering in the Lord’s name. God is still in their heart, and their faith is still as strong as it is on Sunday mornings. And I’m sure that God is there with them, even if they dress up as ghosts and goblins.
Now, I’m quite sure that there are some radical people in this world who spend the day in celebration of Satan – and I’m sure that makes him quite happy to see. But if you look at all the children who are making fun and laughing at him – compared to the few radicals who give credit to him – I would think that based on Martin Luther’s logic, Halloween does more to take away from Satan than it does gives it credit.
Have a wonderful day!
TGIF
Thank God I’m Forgiven
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