Here's yet another situation where I wish I could just shoot Jesus a quick FB message:
"Hey, Mr. Awesome Dad! This Halloween thing... what's your take on it? Hollerback when you're not so busy. (lbvs) Love you loads!!!"
There are sound arguments on both sides; the pro-Halloween Christians and the anti-Halloween Christians. This year I even saw an article in Huff Post where our patron saint, Kirk Cameron, urges Christians to reclaim the holiday. Listening to Christian radio this morning, one of the DJs expressed her experience building relationship with her neighbors in celebration of the holiday.
So why am I still uncomfortable with it? I celebrated Halloween as a kid and young adult, and I certainly wasn't doing anything wicked, let alone sinful. Well, wait... Was I? Maybe it's worth taking a look at what Halloween has meant for me...
I grew up in a Section 8 neighborhood. My grandmother raised me on her Social Security income, so there was no room in our budget for Halloween candy or costumes. As a kid, on the years my aunts could not provide me with a costume, I would make one myself. Then I would go around the neighborhood, collect candy, quickly head home to remove a few of the best treats for myself, and dump the rest in a bowl so I'd have something to pass out. That was Halloween for me as a kid. Pretty innocent. Things go blurry in my young adult years, though. Every year I wore some "sexy" outfit. This was the one day of the year where I could get away with dressing, well, slutty - Give me candy and give me attention, either way I can temporarily soothe my brokenness.
Fast forward to more recent adult years. My walk with Christ is more mature and growing. I'm more vigilant in regard to how I represent Him as a follower and what I model for my children. I always try to point them back to doing things for God's glory, as that's our purpose as His children. So how, then, do I reconcile this holiday? Historical roots (either pagan or Christian) aside, what is it in 2014? What I see is a holiday about gluttony and idolatry. I'm absolutely sure my perspective is biased, as it's tainted with the personal history I just described, but all I see is: give me stuff, fill my sack, let me fill my belly, and look how sexy I can be. Granted, most days in America, those are the themes; unfortunately on this day, it's actually celebrated.
Let me be clear, I'm not saying the motives described above are indicative of everyone who celebrates Halloween. Clearly, there are those who use it as a community building and/or family activity. To those folks, I say "rock on!". As for our house, I have no plans for little guy to trick-or-treat (though Dad may overrule me). I will not be dressing up, nor decorating our house. What I will do, is truck on down to LifeWay for some "Jesus lollipops" (as they're called in our house), like I do every year. Each trick-or-treater svisiting my house will get a little bit of the word mixed in with their candy. Straddling the fence??? IDK. Jesus uninstalled his FB messenger app, so I'm on my own here.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, at least this year. Happy Halloween!
