By Bro. Colin Wimberly
Over the last 20 years, Halloween has become a major American holiday. Stores are filled with candy, costumes, and scary Halloween decorations. Everywhere we go, we are confronted with Halloween. How is a Christian to react? Of Course, there are some who have absolutely no problem with it, allowing their children to participate in trick-or-treating, watching horror movies, and even attending haunted houses. On the other hand, there are some who see Halloween as evil and irredeemable. They feel that Christians and Churches should have nothing to do with such a demonic and dark holiday. What is an appropriate response?
On one hand, I agree that Scripture calls the Church to be the light of the Gospel in a dark world. We are to avoid even the appearance of evil. Isaiah 5:20 states, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, and light for darkness, but put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Believers should not make the mistake of calling Halloween another harmless or innocent holiday. Today’s celebration of Halloween celebrates gore, demonic activity, and even death. Dressing up as vampires and ghouls, watching dark and bloody horror movies, and visiting haunted houses that glorify the demonic, should not be a part of a Christian’s lifestyle. Ephesians 5:11 states, “Do not take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
However, I do believe that the Church has the responsibility and a calling from God to penetrate the darkness with the light of the Gospel. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said:
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and praise your Father in Heaven.”
In other words, we are to engage our communities with the love and light of Jesus Christ. For our Church, holding a Fall Festival is a great opportunity to do just that. We feed people, set up bounce houses, have a hayride, and play music for everyone in our community. We do this to show the love of Christ to a dark world at a very dark time. Our goal is to invite people who have no church home to visit New Life Church and experience the love of Christ. Also, we pray for opportunities to have Gospel-centered conversations with people who do not know Him. We are going to show them the love of Christ in hope that they will be changed forever. We want to let our light shine brightly, and we are not compromising anything in the process.
By the way, you are invited! New Life Church in Hall Summit would love to have you come and celebrate Christ with us at our Fall Festival on Oct 29 from 5-8 pm.
