I am a Baptist pastor and I love Halloween. Many Baptists would find that statement to be heretical. Halloween is the Devil’s holiday- right? Some believe that Halloween represents evil and darkness and good Christians either ignore this day or pass out Bible tracts and tooth brushes. Some churches have ‘optional’ activities that evening so the kids can ‘escape’ the whole thing. Our church has a Fall Festival every October that involves costumes and other activities but never on the actual night. That night is free for folks to go out with their kids, to attend parties, and to pass out candy to friends and strangers.
I’m glad we do it that way. Halloween is the one day a year where neighbors actually come out and speak to one another. It’s a night when televisions are turned off and people sit on their porches and socialize and have fun. It’s a great community time and I am glad that we get to do this each year. I wish we had more days like Halloween.
And I like the costumes. I like to see kids pretend to be everything from Captain America to aliens. I’m glad to see kids get creative and come up with new ideas and express themselves. I love the games and I love candy. I love to watch my kids have fun and get excited going door to door.
Christians really need to have more fun. We need to get out and enjoy one another and our neighborhoods. We need to use our imaginations and be creative.
So this month we will attend several parties. We will decorate our house. We will buy candy and my sweet tooth will be very happy. My kids will laugh. I will laugh. My wife and I may watch a few scary movies. We will have some fun. And the church needs to not fear any of this.
The real bad stuff is out there. But for one night our kids can play, pretend, and actually be kids.
Trick or treat!