Should Christian families participate in Halloween festivities?
Many families struggle with this question, with some seeing opportunity for service and community outreach, while others express convictions to refrain from participation. How your family makes this decision is just as important as what decision your family makes.
This is a critical opportunity for family dialogue and conversation. As parents, we need to be thoughtful, intentional, and prayerful as we guide our family in decision-making and tradition-setting amid cultural chaos. Whether you engage or abstain, there is opportunity for your family, friends, and neighbors to see Christ in you as a beacon of light on a day celebrating darkness.
Your family should answer these questions together:
▶What are we doing?
▶Why are we doing (or not doing) it?
Halloween in America is an estimated $12 billion holiday (second to Christmas at $900 billion), with almost $700 million spent on pet costumes alone! According to a survey from the National Retail Federation, approximately three-fourths of Americans plan to participate in Halloween, with 68% passing out candy, 53% decorating their home or yard, 50% hosting or attending a party, and 28% taking their children trick-or-treating.
Most of the debate surrounding the celebration of Halloween focuses on this holiday’s unhealthy fascination with evil and fear, both of which are clearly oppositional to our Christian faith. In Acts 8, Christians are clearly instructed not to associate with the occult or witchcraft. But in Romans 14, we read instructions about following our convictions amid disagreement over cultural customs. We are given guidance to both honor the Lord and avoid being a stumbling block to others.
The first things you should do are to seek the Lord’s wisdom, ask Him to search your heart’s motivation, decide on your convictions, and commit to follow through.
Secondly, you should share those convictions with your family and foster a nurturing environment so that your children have confidence to live them out. Talk together about how to demonstrate love and respect for families who disagree while still standing firm in your decisions. It’s also perfectly OK to reset boundaries. If you’ve done something in the past but have new convictions, gather your family and share that you’ve learned some new things that change the way you feel about engaging as a family in that activity. Share the convictions God has given you, invite discussion on any questions they may have, and seek united hearts and action in moving forward.
You can use these questions as a guide:
▶ Is what we are doing honoring to God?
▶ Is what we are doing a potential stumbling block to others?
Regardless of what you decide to do about Halloween, there is always opportunity for your family to invest in precious time together with fall-themed, service-oriented activities. Some ideas include inviting guests into your home for a party, having a pumpkin-carving contest with neighbors, creating a bonfire for s’mores with friends, organizing a fall-themed recipe contest with other families, delivering ding-dong-ditch-style treats for homebound persons, visiting the elderly at a nursing home, hosting an outdoor movie on the driveway for people in your community, or simply enjoying a family game night.
If you want to know what I’m doing for Halloween … our family tradition is putting up our Christmas tree. I know it’s quite controversial for those of you who are strict “after-Thanksgiving” adherents, but for us, it’s never too early to wish joy to the world!
(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the October 2024 print edition of The Stand. Click HERE for a free six-month subscription.)
