Should We Celebrate the Most Evil and Sexualized Holiday of the Year?

By: Kristen Clark

I’ve been inside a “haunted house” one time and I’ll never do it again. I was in high school on a church missions trip when the youth pastor decided to take our entire group to one of those Halloween scare houses. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I reluctantly joined the group on the tour.

After all…everything was fake, right…how scary could it be?

Let’s just say one of the girls in my group finished the tour in tears because of how awful and morbid it was.

To this day, I’ll never know why the youth pastor took us there. What I do know is this: I’ll never go into one of those places again.

There isn’t one bone in my body that enjoys walking through eerie scenes of death, skeletons, dungeons, torture chambers and demonized faces.

It was awful and disgusting. It was a place of darkness and a celebration of evil.

Over the years, Halloween has become famously known for scenes like this. You don’t have to walk into a “haunted house” to see it either.

My neighbor’s yard features a dead man being hanged by a rope from a tree. My other neighbor has a graveyard with protruding bloody limbs coming out of the ground. Lovely.

Not only is Halloween the most evil and death promoting holiday of the year, it has also become the most sexualized holiday too. Somehow evil and sexual perversity always go hand in hand.

It’s hard not to notice the growing popularity of women’s “lingerie” like costumes during this season.

Somehow it has become totally acceptable for women to strip down to almost nothing in the name of a costume. We’re told it’s okay to dress up as a raunchy nurse or scantily clad vampire.

Halloween has become an extremely sexualized holiday in many ways.

I’ve talked to Christian guys who refuse to go to any Halloween parties simply because of how immodest their Christian girl friends’ outfits are.

So here’s the pressing question: Should we, as Christian girls, celebrate the most evil and sexualized holiday of the year?

I know this is a tricky question because there is a variety of ways to “celebrate” this holiday. Not everyone who participates in it choose to dress up as witches or wear seductive costumes.

I realize that.

I have attended innocent “Christian” Halloween parties in the past where I dressed up in perfectly modest and non-evil costumes.

However, as I’ve studied God’s word and grown in my understanding as a Christian, my personal convictions and views about Halloween have changed. Personally, I would no longer attend a Halloween party (even if my costume was fine).

Here’s why.

When I step back and look at the overall theme and purpose of modern day Halloween, I see a holiday that is steeped in darkness and evil. The holiday itself is an opportunity for our culture to glorify wickedness, horror, death, and demonic powers.

Let’s be honest. It’s not a happy holiday filled with cheery lights and smiling faces.

It’s awful, disgusting, and seductive.

Sure, we can dress up in a modest costume and participate without promoting or celebrating evil. But why do we need to? Why do we need to join in the overall celebration of something so dark?

As Christians, we serve a God of light. We serve a God who has conquered death. A God who has overcome evil with good.

“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

Since we serve a God who is adamantly opposed to darkness, should we take part in such a dark holiday?

We, as Christian girls, need to remember Whom we serve this Halloween day. We need to remember our testimony to a lost and dying culture. We need to remember our call to be in the world but not of the world. We need to be shining lights in a culture of darkness.

In closing: Your decision on this issue is ultimately one that you have to make for yourself. This is just my personal take. I challenge you to study your Bible, search your motives, and carefully consider your testimony.

Instead of celebrating Halloween, you can get creative with how to use this day. A fun idea is to use the holiday for evangelism by passing out tracts and candy to the people who come to your door. Or maybe throw a “fall festival” or host a non-Halloween party instead.

There are lots of creative ways to honor Christ on this evil day.

How about you? It’s your turn to share!

Do you think it’s a good or bad idea for Christians to celebrate Halloween. Why?

What alternatives have you come up with instead of celebrating Halloween?

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