Sacred or Sinful?

The tragedy of hallowing Halloween—A Christian perspective

Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash

This might lose me subscribers, will probably offend people, and is significantly more blunt and opinionated than what I generally publish.

I apologize in advance, not for what I’m about to say, but because I can’t figure out how to make it any softer or more palatable. I don’t seek to offend. But I can’t ignore this either.

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Last night, thousands of Christians participated in a holiday that glorifies evil.

A holiday they would have been stoned for participating in if they lived at the same time as their Messiah.

A holiday that is the epitome of everything Satan would like the world to become.

Death.

Destruction.

Witchcraft.

Corrupt and depraved people have dedicated this day to the Dragon, giving everyone a taste of his rule before he’s even won the throne. He won’t have full sway until the last Tribulation, a time shortened for the sake of the Elect, lest no flesh should be saved (Matthew 24:21-25).

But Satan sure wants everyone to know what he’s like before we get there.

He hasn’t changed over the past 2000 years. He still hates followers of the Way as much as he did then. He’s still out to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

He’s still out to deceive.

Deceived: Harmless, Tolerable, Entertaining

How often have you heard, “It’s harmless entertainment, God knows our hearts”?

Brother, the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart, and the fruit of our actions show whether we are a good or an evil tree; show which master we serve.

“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?”

Luke 6:43-46, NKJV

Think of what you celebrate with your actions on Halloween: ghosts, witches, sorcerers, necromancers, human sacrifice, ghouls, vampires, monsters.

Has such ever been allowable, let alone celebrated, by those who profess Christ and not condemned by scripture? No, rather, it has been spoken against as evil from the antediluvian days of the fallen angels, through the days of the Patriarchs of Israel, through the times of Moses and the prophets. Messiah spoke against it, his disciples spoke against it, for generations after it was spoken against, and in the prophecies of the end, it’s still condemned as evil.

Now, it’s not only culturally acceptable again (as it was in polytheistic pagan nations such as Babylon, Egypt, and Rome) but is even celebrated by those who lay claim to a crown of salvation bought by the blood of the Son of God.

Have we sunk so low?

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:19-21, NKJV

“But it’s a Christian holiday,” some might say, appealing to the Catholic tradition of the Day of the Dead.

No, it’s not. Show me in scripture where worshipping saints, praying to the dead, the dead walking again, or any of the other Catholic practices surrounding this day are allowable, let alone considered godly.

It’s not there.

Why?

Because the dead don’t walk among us, the saints don’t pray for us.

“As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, So he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, Nor shall his place know him anymore.”

Job 7:9-10, NKJV

We die, we rest. One day, we will resurrect. But not now, not before that day, not before the last trumpet.

“For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, NKJV

When has sorcery, celebrating death and destruction, ever been a way to show the world what God’s true power, what life, and peace, and creation, are? When has participating in darkness led someone to the light?

Slaves to Fear . . . of Death

From Pinterest

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Hebrews 2:14-15, NKJV

The fear of death.

Whether fear of dying or of the dead, this fear is one of the most powerful. Perhaps the most powerful. Death has hounded mankind through the millennia, from the days of Adam and Eve until now, and will do so until death itself is destroyed at the end of time.

Yet death is celebrated. Why?

Fear is a strange and cruel master. It controls those who give in to it. When we are afraid, we either fight, flee, freeze . . . or fawn. To fight is to overcome, to become fearless; to fawn is to be overcome.

To celebrate death, is to fawn. To pander to our fear until we deceive ourselves into believing we are unfazed by it.

As Christians, we are called to fight. Not from fright but from freedom. We are freed from the fear of death, from the power of death, through Messiah. Even when we breathe our last it is with the peace of the rest to come and the resurrection to follow. Not that we will never feel fear, but that we will face it with courage, knowing that at the last, we will conquer.

Why celebrate death with those who are held captive?

You celebrate what you do not know and what you ought to despise.

Death is a thief, the opposite of the light of life. The opposite of what Messiah came for.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 10:10, NKJV

Ministers of Death

Demons.

Chilling to consider if God doesn’t have your back. Yet a laughing matter, a joke, something to dress up as, mimic, even talk to, for many. All in fun. Nothing serious.

There is nothing fun or lighthearted about demons, nor any of their teachings, any of their practices. Christians have no business dabbling in demonic darkness, whether in “fun,” for “one day a year,” or in earnest, 24/7/365.

Throughout history, there have been countless superstitions in cultures worldwide regarding good and evil spirits. Many of those superstitions have become traditions, such as carving pumpkins to ward off evil spirits or nailing a horseshoe to the doorpost to bring good luck.

Need an example? Check out this video on fairies. Not for children, by the way. No, Disney fairies are not cute. They are the sugar-coated version of a much deeper, much more horrific, much longer tradition.

On Halloween, they are just a costume for Christians.

Really? Are we so blind?

Video content warning: not for children, graphic content.

Today, there are hundreds of Christian denominations and sub-denominations, each with its own perspective on the spiritual realm. Angels, demons, fallen angels, satan, spiritual gifts, blessings, curses . . .

There’s a lot of debate on what exists or doesn’t, how it manifests, and what role it plays in our lives.

What can’t be denied is that the spiritual realm exists.

And it has a dark side.

That’s the side Halloween celebrates and glorifies.

I can’t help but wonder, how many believers are oblivious to the depth of evil represented by this day? How many have never met the supernatural in battle in the natural world? How many, in the luxuriant folds of Christian homes, at ease in an unchallenged—even stagnant—faith, are unaware of the horrors of those held captive by the demons worshipped and glorified on Halloween night?

Ignorance is bliss.

Have you ever heard the testimony of someone set free from the darkness? Someone rescued from the world of witchcraft? Someone who has looked death in the face and lived to tell the tale?

They aren’t for the weak of heart.

Neither is Christianity.

Those in scripture who turned their lives over to God burned their magic books. Burned them. It wasn’t a half-hearted thing for them.

“Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

Acts 19:19-20, NKJV

You can’t serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or love the one and despise the other. Choose this day whom you will serve.

“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:14-15, NKJV

Still undecided? Here is the testimony of one sister in Messiah who knows firsthand what it means to stand face-to-face with demons.

Video content warning: not for children, graphic content.

Celebrating Halloween is playing with fire. Get an extinguisher.

Get off the fence.

Soldier of Light

From Pinterest

“Abby, you’re being so harsh. You’re taking this more seriously than you should. We’re not doing witches and warlocks, and when we do it’s not serious it’s just in fun. We do a church trunk-or-treat, we carve crosses into pumpkins.”

So you pay homage to a day of evil while convincing yourself you aren’t participating in what it’s all about. Yeah, that doesn’t compute. You are still paying homage to it, although not being full-blown devil-worshippers like those who don’t profess to know Christ.

What business do you have imitating them?

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

3 John 1:11, NKJV

Am I being harsh?

Naturally.

You know what? So is scripture.

*Emphasis mine in the following passages.

“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.”

Deuteronomy 18:9-13, NKJV

You know what happened to people who practiced idolatry or any form of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, human sacrifice, etc. back then? What would still happen had the children of Israel not been scattered as punishment for their collective sorceries and prostitution with other gods? People who did these things were stoned to death. Yes, the bible lumped magic in with child sacrifice. No, magic did not receive a more lenient punishment than child sacrifice.

Those who worshipped death received death.

Not just physical death either.

Spiritual death.

No one who practices these things will inherit the kingdom of God.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5:19-21, NKJV

Yes, I come off as harsh.

Truth can hurt.

We are children of light, soldiers of light. It is our responsibility to be the light in a dark, depraved world.

It’s time to put on the armor of light.

“For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

2 Corinthians 2:9-11, NKJV

We’re not ignorant of the Enemy’s schemes. We know the tactics he has used throughout time and will use until the end of time. Deception, normalizing evil. We know he hates those who stand against him with a vengeance.

Us.

We’re not supposed to stand silent, complacent, compliant. We are meant to be warriors, speaking against his tactics, sheltered by our obedience to the word and the Armor of God. We’re are called fearless, not paying homage to the fears of the world, but rather conquering them.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalms 23:4, NKJV

With the fear of death removed from us, set free by the blood of the Lamb, we can stand to the death in battle with him who holds the power of death, who holds sway over the entire world.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Revelation 12:11, NKJV

Just a little more, and I’ll be done: we are being watched. As any good tactician knows, you must “know your enemy,” and “if you can’t beat them, join them.” As long as we’re on the winning side, we’re a threat to the enemy.

Naturally he will try to subvert us, to sabotage us, so that we succumb to him. So that we are weakened.

Not just with Halloween. That’s just one example. A blatant and tragic example, to be sure. But just one example. If we fail the most obvious of tests, what about when he pulls out all the stops to deceive us and make us stumble?

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

1 Corinthians 10:12-14, NKJV

Again, we are being watched. Observed. We are surrounded by witnesses. By friends, enemies, and the lost.

Watched by the enemy, who fears us.

Watched by our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are influenced by us.

Watched by the angels who guard us.

Watched by the Lamb who died for us.

Watched by the Almighty, who created us.

What do they see?

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

Hebrews 12:1-3, NKJV

A final question: if we are celebrating death not life, unwilling to die for our faith in trust that eternal life will be our reward, are we worthy of that reward? There is nothing glorious in death. What is glorious is the faith of those who love the Giver of Life to the point that they have conquered death, though they leave this life in doing so.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.’ ‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-58, NKJV

Let us live as those who will live one day in the Kingdom of God, the Golden City of Righteousness, New Jerusalem, our eternal home.

Halloween is not a Kingdom holiday, nor fit for Kingdom citizens.

“You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”

Hebrews 12:4, NKJV

In Conclusione

This was very spur of the moment. I wasn’t intending to post about Halloween, wasn’t intending to make it this long, wasn’t intending to take so long writing it that it pushed over into the next day.

But I opened up my phone yesterday and my feed was filled with Christians and non-Christians alike sharing their ghastly decorations, music, and traditions.

Skeletons, ghosts, witches, monsters, bloodsuckers (vampires), and the like. Disgusting, truly. Unbiblical, assuredly.

The world and those who are supposed to be separate from the world striking hands and mingling as though they are the same.

It’s a shame.

If you found this thought-provoking please leave me a comment and share with others who need to hear this message.

If you enjoyed this and haven’t subscribed yet, please do! I’m just doing my best to dig into scripture and share my insights with others in the hope of encouraging the brethren and bringing more sheep into the fold.

Listen. I know I’m weird. A little too strict by some standards of Christianity, not enough so by others. Why, though? Because I have set the Word of God as my map for life . . . even if the journey is tough, isolated, persecuted. Jesus never promised it would be easy, he promised it would be worth it. Want to know more about what I believe? Check out this post ↴

Curious how my beliefs play into my writing? Here’s a post from my blog Lexi’s List on just that topic.

Inventing a Genre

May the God of peace bless you and lead you in His righteousness.

Until next time,

Blessings!

—Abigail.