Redeeming Halloween
Posted by Mark Stephan
This Halloween, like last Halloween I threw a big Halloween party for International Students. Several Missional Communities joined in to really make the International Students have a good time, and feel loved.
Halloween is controversial in Christian circles, and rightly so. It’s a sketchy holiday that has some rather sinister roots. So the question is, what should be the Christian’s answer to Halloween?
I don’t mean to suggest I know everything, and what would Jesus do is sometimes an enigma, but the way I look at this is simple. In all things one does, display the love of Christ, and point to Him as the root of it.
So we don’t celebrate Halloween, we celebrate a reason to bring those together who don’t know Christ, build relationships with them, love on them, and show them that the world is a very spiritual place.
Ultimately, I think Halloween is a gift from God in that it is one of those times in the year when the spiritual world collides with ours. When we can talk about spiritual things and not seem out of place. While we did have a costume contest, pumpkin carving contest, bobbing for apples, and told Ghost stories, spiritual conversations abounded. The height of the night was the Ghost stories, where I told several stories all of which were absolutely true. I related several spiritual encounters I’ve had in this world with the spiritual world. How in Turkey demonic forces were clear and displayed in their violent war to take the lives of others. I spoke about possessions that I saw in Turkey, how prayed and the power of Jesus had expelled those forces, how good and evil vied and evil lost. The edges of the gospel were shared, and many opportunities to share the gospel for other believers in the crowd were given.
So at the end of the Halloween party, was Christ glorified? I’d like to say yes. Relationships were created, and I look forward to a Christmas party we are planning where the full message of Christ can be displayed.
More pictures can be seen on my facebook page.
Please be praying for this opportunity.
