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There is no question if Halloween is an evil and pagan holiday at it’s worst. After reading the history of Halloween years ago, our family chose not to participate. We would not participate in any type of activities for Halloween.
Two years ago, our family decided that we REFUSE to ignore this holiday all together. We are called to spread the Gospel daily and Halloween is not an exemption.
I want Christians to realize that just because we don’t ignore the holiday doesn’t mean we are participating in the evilness of it all.
We all have choices to make and each one must be guided by the Holy Spirit. I only write this honest post because for years I thought we were honoring the Lord by ignoring the holiday all together.
No, we are not going to participate in any activity that does not glorify God. We do not allow our children to dress up in anything that goes against our beliefs, we do not carve scary jack o lanterns to keep the evil demons out, we do not cast evil spells on anyone, and we do not honor all Saint’s Day by praying to the dead. We pray to Jesus!
And we will honor Him on this evil day, too!
Christian Alternative Activities for Halloween
- Host a Reformation Day party
- Christian Pumpkin Carving – we carved 2 of these and handed out candy at the end of our driveway. It was a HUGE hit. The Christians really appreciated our efforts.
- Participate a local church’s Fall Fest – this is a HUGE opportunity to show Christ’s love to the non-believer. All parents are looking for a safe place to take their children.
- Hand out tracts wrapped in Candy to the trick or treaters – our family did this 2 years ago and passed out 75 tracts until we finally ran out.
- Go on a hayride
- Host a campfire cookout - invite your neighbors
- Bible Hero Dress Up Party- have each child dress up in their favorite bible hero and have them do a skit.
- Family Harvest of Blessings Party – this looks so FUN!
I found these 10 TOP ten Christian costumes that are so creative.
I found several FREE printable tracts here, here, and here.
Please note: I respect others opinions on this subject and I know that the Holy Spirit convicts each of us differently.
Please pin this post if you feel led to celebrate Jesus this Halloween.
What are your activities for Halloween this evil holiday?
Here’s how we celebrate: We do not allow our children to dress up in anything that
goes against our beliefs, of course – this year my girls are a cheetah, a penguin and a butterfly at their choice. My son chooses not to dress up because he doesn’t want to. We do not carve scary jack o lanterns to keep
the evil demons out – no, we carve funny face pumpkins because it’s fun to do and one of my fondest memories with my dad. And it’s fun to touch the slime inside a pumpkin! We do not cast evil spells on anyone, of course. We do
not honor All Saint’s Day by praying to the dead – my kids would tell you it’s ridiculous to pray to anything other than God/Jesus. We do discuss the cultural celebration of Dia de los Muertos and remember special things about Grandma and PaPaw (and deceased pets for that matter!), but that’s not part of our Halloween celebration. We make no glory out of evil things and the kids know if it’s scary, it’s not part of our Halloween. We also host a party the 2nd weekend of October for the kids to wear their costumes, eat yummy and healthy food, and play games with their friends.
I agree….this is a heart issue. And most conservative Christians have a hard time recognizing the difference. And I only say that because I was once the person who hid. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE your ideas – last year, we went to a reformation party – it was wonderful….we do not hide, but we do not celebrate this ‘holiday’…..for the same reasons you mention.
I would love to hear about your Reformation Party.
We had gone back and forth when the kids were younger. We took a strong stand on no witchcraft ever. No disney, Wizard of Oz, etc. Halloween increased that, so we stuck to family homes and harvest parties. Always trying to tell the kids what we were NOT doing. Now that they are older, and can understand the full picture – we partiipate in alot more. We don’t live in a neighborhood to pass out candy, but we did go trick or treating last year. It really is the only day of the year that you are welcome in everyone’s home for the night – except hard core conservative christians. Their homes are locked up tight, with two cars in the drive, with the curtains drawn and the only light on in the baseent. It hurts my heart – really hurts. Open the Doors, Fling open the curtains, Meet the neighbors, bless those who drive to your neighborhood – Joy. Joy. Joy. Let people know your home is a safe haven for the weary. God did not create us to be a people of fear. ) Great Post1
Thank you for sharing your heart on this topic. It’s one of the most important day to celebrate Jesus and spread the gospel in my opinion.
Well, my family does not participate, but it’s not because we are afraid. At root, it’s simply because Halloween is a Pagan holiday (i.e., not using the word “pagan” in a pejorative way, just as a label for a certain set of religious beliefs), and we’re not Pagan. It’s no different than not celebrating Ramadan because we’re not Muslim or not participating in Diwali because we’re not Hindu. It’s one thing to let those people have their holidays, but another entirely to join in; the former is religious respect but the latter is syncretism, and Jesus spoke against that. True, most people today don’t know that they’re reenacting Pagan religious rituals with their Halloween festivities, but that doesn’t make it less true. Satan loves to lull us with subtlety and “innocent” participation in Halloween is one way he’s having a field day with that. As far as being a witness, people don’t pay attention. The tracts get thrown away with all the healthy treats some folks give, and the alternative parties look like nothing more than “Halloween at church” to the surrounding community. Besides that, my first responsibility is to my own children, and I cannot stand before the Lord one day saying I knowingly allowed them to glorify other religious practices, no matter how veiled. In addition, all the gore and such scares them. No, my family lives Oct. 31 as we do every other day; we don’t pretend to be another religion for one day a year simply because “everyone else” does.
I appreciate your honesty and I respect your decision. But I disagree with several of your points for our family.
Absolutely not, do we “pretend” to be another religion. This is a heart issue. I do not agree that Christians who choose to participate in some sort of Halloween activity are pretending to be another religion. Are you carving a pumpkin to keep spirits out of your home? If so, than it’s a problem.
Second, there is absolutely no way you can say that all the tracts are thrown away. If just one was read, it would be a blessing. We are to plant seeds not convert.
Christmas started out as a pagan idea along with the tree. Like I mentioned before it is a heart issue. I am not going to stop celebrating Christmas, the day we have chosen to celebrate the birth of our Savior because of it’s origin.
And I hope I am not coming across as argumentative because that it not my intent,
Not all tracts are thrown out. I have a friend who was saved because of a tract she received! That one soul was worth all the tracts that were sent out that year! Very judgmental to say that others are pretending to be another religion because they participate. Do you celebrate Christmas?
I say this gently but I find this post very judgmental. I think it is fine for you to participate but I think it is also fine for others not to. We all feel called to different things. I grew up participating in Halloween but grew knowing it was something I didn’t want my kids to. We apple pick and have focus on beautiful fall at this time of year but we don’t do anything on Halloween. I think this falls into the Romans 14:23. What is sin for me may not be for you and vice verse. I look at Halloween a lot like the high places talked of in the Bible. God was pleased when they were pulled down and destroyed. But as I said I see no problem with other Christians participating in Halloween. Why be judgmental about our differences? That is the beauty of life, we all get to make our own choices.
Hi Kristina,
I really did not intend to come across judgmental. I am sorry if you felt that way. And indeed I respect others decision as I stated in here… *Please note: I respect others opinions on this subject and I know that the Holy Spirit convicts each of us differently. *
We participate in that we are hosting a fun dress-up party. We do a little trick-or-treating and then head to the church for our harvest party. We don’t allow scary costumes or scary decor, only fall stuff for the most part. We will carve pumpkins simply for the fun of it, for no pagan reasons etc. We won’t hand out candy because we are too far removed from town for anyone to come down our big long driveway. I respect each Christian’s right to decide what is best for their children. I too think it’s important to bring Jesus into the mix. One year our youth group did a reverse trick-or-treat by giving a bag of candy to those who answered their doors. We had several new families come to our church after that because of it. It struck a chord with them. Thanks for talking about such a touchy subject.
I think, as with anything, it begins with our heart, regardless of whether one ignores or participates in the day. We do Halloween. We don’t do “evil” costumes, we carve pumpkins because it’s fun (not to keep demons at bay). Nothing we do on Halloween is out of fear of evil.
Also, we are called to be a light in this world. This world is dark, evil and sinful, we have to show others there is good, that it is Jesus.
We choose not to celebrate but we don’t “hide”. Your post makes it sound like if you don’t participate then you are hiding and not “celebrating Jesus”. Some of us who choose not to participate feel as though we ARE celebrating Jesus by not participating. We don’t “draw the curtains” or “lock up our homes”, we simply treat that day no different than the rest.
I agree. We treat the day as if it’s no different then other day. I share the gospel on that day like I would any other day. I don’t make it a habit just to hand out tracts on halloween. I never get trick or treaters at my door and if I did, I’m not sure if I’d answer just for the fact that some costumes are really scary and I don’t want my children or even myself looking at such evil. I have to protect my family first and foremost. Maybe I can leave some tracts with candy outside? I truly believe we are honoring the Lord in our decisions. And if He lead us to do something else on that day then we will honor Him in that too.
I don’t often comment on posts but I think this issue is important because as someone said earlier, Satan does like to lull us with subtlety. Just because we don’t do anything to celebrate on this day doesn’t mean that we are ‘hiding’. I think this idea is why others here have disagreed. We don’t turn out lights and hide away but we don’t turn on our front porch light to let others think we are celebrating along with them. If someone comes knocking on our door I would have a tract to share with them if they are interested but no candy because the giving of candy is part of the halloween tradition. Jesus has called us to be pure and holy as He is and I think trying to mix the Lord’s ways in with the world’s ways is not staying separate and pure before Him. If our family does anything different on October 31 it is to pray for those in our neighborhood (and where ever else the Lord leads), that Satan’s strongholds will be knocked back on this day, for less evil to be done.
And I do say this with love and humility but, unfortunately, I think that a lot of people will be surprised to find that Jesus was/is one of the ‘conservative christians’ that so many talk about.
There’s a fine line between a “heart issue” and something the Bible teaches specifically against. Halloween is evil and you ARE celebrating it by acknowledging it. Abstain from the appearance of evil. We don’t hide- that sounded harsh- but we do not have anything to do with the day. I don’t stop celebrating my Lord that day either. ‘A heart issue’is a cop-out that many people use to do what they want. It’s clear in the Bible that we are to be set apart- different- and we aren’t if we celebrate this day- in any way, shape, or form. I realize my point isn’t popular
This has been an issue for our family as well. Ultimately we decided that we would not participate in “Trick or Treat, or dressing up” Honestly this has as much to do with health and happiness as anything else. 1) I try hard to feed my family a healthy diet. Going out to collect a bunch of cheap candy doesnt make much sense to me. If we are going to have a treat, Ill buy good chocolate we all love! Not deal with the whining over junk sugar. 2) When we did go in years past our little ones where scared of some of the kids costumes and even adults dressed up at different houses. – We have an extensive dress up trunk, the little dress up multiple times a week or more. I just dont see the need to make a huge deal of it. My oldest understands that Halloween is a pagan holiday but we have never said, “We are Christians and dont celebrate Halloween!” We just make different choices about celebrating the harvest season. We decorate with pumpkins,mums corn and gourds in the fall, just like we do daisies and tulips in the spring and evergreens and berries in the winter. We still go to fall get togethers, potlucks, hayrides and such. We go to the pumkin patch, just like we go to the Christmas tree farm. Oct 31 is like any other day, we live in the country so there are no trick or treaters (which in town is never on the 31st anyway) Since we homeschool we dont have to deal with the school aspect. Sorry so long.
Enjoyed the thought provoking posts and comments. I wrote my own post, and referenced yours. We take differing views, but that’s okay.
Love your heart.