The arguments for or against Halloween have gone back and forth for a long time! Some argue that the clear pagan associations with Halloween should lead Christians to reject anything having to do with it. Others say that Halloween has been stripped of any actual pagan realities in our culture and now merely a silly annual excuse to put on costumes, meet your neighbors and have fun.
Here at Woodland, our basic response is to take a third-way approach by saying that there is no single, definitive “right” answer for everyone on this question. We take a cue from the Apostle Paul’s answer to a question the early Church wrestled with: “Can we eat meat sacrificed to idols?” (see 1 Corinthians 8 and Roman 14). In essence, Paul says this: “If your conscience tells you not to eat it, then don’t eat it. But if you don’t eat it, be sure not to judge those who do. And if your conscience says it’s okay to eat it, then eat it. But if so, be sure not to rub it in the face of someone who feels they shouldn’t.”
In other words: Seek God for guidance on this question of celebrating Halloween, and then follow your sense of conscience that emerges from this discernment process. Finally, be sure to treat those Christians whose conscience leads them to a different conclusion with agape-love and respect—and resist responding with self-righteous judgment (Matthew 7:1-5). This is our approach to not only the question of Halloween, but many other issues that Christians disagree about.
