Monday, October 23, 2006

Halloween Fast Approaches

Is it wicked to go trick-or-treating? I just came across this post from Challies.com, and I trust that this will be helpful. Please keep in mind that the remainder of this post is from him. I agree mostly with what he says. Feel free to comment if you can.

My conviction is that it is a very poor witness to have the house of believers blacked out on Halloween. Halloween presents a unique opportunity to interact with neighbors, to meet their children and to prove that Christians are part of the community and not merely people who want only to interact with Christian friends or to only interact in our own way and on our own terms. At the same time I despise how evil Halloween is. Already our neighborhood has ghosts hanging from trees and evil plastic figurines stuck into lawns. One section of houses nearby always feels the need to go the extra step, playing recordings of scary music, dressing in occult costumes and generally glorying in evil. To this time we have allowed our children to go out trick-or-treating, provided they do not wear evil or occult costumes. It is a compromise, and admittedly not one I am entirely comfortable with. Over the past several years churches in our neighborhood have offered an alternative to Halloween with "harvest parties" or similar events. These tend to be parties in a nearby community center that allows children to dress up and get their fill of candy in a less-pagan environment. But there are other churches that encourage families to be present in their homes, to greet their neighbours and to look for opportunities to interact with them. A couple of the pastors in a nearby church are going so far as to hold neighbourhood barbecues before dark and inviting people to come and share a meal with them. I think this is a great idea.

Perhaps the greatest fallacy Christians believe about Halloween is that by refusing to participate in the day we are somehow taking a stand against Satan. And second to that, is that participation in the day is an endorsement of Satan and his evil holidays. The truth is that Halloween is not much different from any other day in this world where, at least for the time being, every day is Satan's day and a celebration of him and his power. A member of the discussion discussion list wrote the following last year around this time: "Yeah... I've heard all of the 'pagan' reasons Christians should avoid Halloween. The question is whether we are actually participating in Samhain when we participate in Halloween? Who or what makes the 'Witch's League of Public Awareness' the definers of what Halloween is, either now or historically? Such a connection between Samhain and my daughter as a ladybug or my son as a Bengals Boy is highly dubious." And it is highly dubious at best.

I am guessing my neighbourhood is all-too-typical in that people typically arrive home from work and immediately drive their cars into the garage. More often than not they do not emerge again until the next morning when they leave for work once more. We are private, reclusive people who delight in our privacy. We rarely see our neighbors and rarely communicate with them. It would be a terrible breach of Canadian social etiquette for me to knock on a person's door and ask them for a small gift or even just to say "hello" to them. In the six years we have been living in this area, we have never once had a neighbor come to the door to ask for anything (except for this time). Yet on Halloween these barriers all come down. I have the opportunity to greet every person in the neighbourhood. I have the opportunity to introduce myself to the family who moved in just down the row a few weeks ago and to greet some other people I have not seen for weeks or months. At the same time, those people's children will come knocking on my door. We have two possible responses. We can turn the lights out and sit inside, seeking to shelter ourselves from the pagan influence of the little Harry Potters, Batmans and ballerinas, or we can greet them, gush over them, and make them feel welcome. We can prove ourselves to be the family who genuinely cares about our neighbours, or we can be the family who shows that we want to interact with them only on our terms. Most of our neighbors know of our faith and of our supposed concern for them. This is a chance to prove our love for them.

The same contributor to the email list concluded his defense of participating in Halloween with these words: "One night does not a neighbor make (and one night does not a pagan make), but Halloween is the one night of the year where the good neighborliness that flows from being in Christ is communicated and reinforced. We are citizens of another Kingdom where The Light is always on."

The truth is that I have several convictions regarding Halloween. I despise the pagan aspects of it. I am convicted that my children should not dress as little devils or ghosts or monsters. But I am also convicted that there could be no worse witness to the neighbours than having a dark house, especially in a neighbourhood like ours which is small and where every person and every home is highly-visible. We know that, if we choose not to participate, the neighbors will notice and will smile knowingly, supposing that we feel too good to participate. We have nothing to fear from our neighbours or from their children. So my children will dress up (my son as a police officer and my daughter as a princess) and we will visit each of our neighbours, knocking on their doors and accepting their fistfuls of candy. Either my wife or I will remain at home, greeting people at our door with a smile and a handful of something tasty. If the kids are deemed too old to trick-or-treat, they'll be forced to sing a song to merit any handouts. Our door will be open and the light will be on. And we trust that the Light will shine brightly.

My encouragement to you today is to think and pray about this issue. I do not see Halloween as a great evangelistic occasion. I do not foresee it as a time when the people coming to your door are likely to be saved. But I do think it is a time that you can prove to your neighbors that you care about them, that you care about their children, and that you are glad to be in this world and this culture, even if you are not of this world or this culture. Halloween may serve as a bridge to the hearts of those who live around you who so desperately need a Savior.

24 comments:

Pastor Timothy said...

Thinking through this more, I really think Challies does a great job on his post. We really do need to be salt and light IN the world!

Anyway....

gage,

Great point! Although there are those "consistent ones" who do refuse to celebrate Christmas because of the pagan heritage....

------------

barbara,

I totally agree that there are wicked things happening on Halloween. And, we all must come to our decisions Scripturally as to what it means to "honor God on His day."

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Pastor Timothy said...

michael,

I do appreciate your comments, but I have a difficult time following you.

I totally agree with the Proverbs passage; however, I might disagree with you on the way you interpret that passage.

When it says answer not a fool according to its folly, it's saying don't commit the same sin of a fool in order to prove it's foolish....

I'm not saying that we worship Satan on halloween. I'm saying that we redeem the culture in which we live. EVERYTHING this world does is sinful; so, let's expose it by being light in it.

Anyway, I hope that's helpful for you to understand, but I also don't want to get in arguments. Dialogues and debates are fine, but I just don't want this discussion is more pointed than it needs to be.

Thanks again for taking the time to post.

AgapeTheologian said...

Just real quick,



It's your own convictions to participate in Halloween or not. When I was younger I would go around and get candy and do all the typical young boys do. When I got to my mid teens, I bought some mask(s) to scare people on Halloween(I have two current). I also have a cd that I use. I don't see the harm in having a little fun dressing up and scarying people. I can give glory to God for having a fun time.

I know there are things that happen on Halloween that are satanic. But I don't think we should think everything that does happen is satanic. I know Christians are in constant battle with demons, I've experienced a trial a while back I didn't go if I could make it through. I know demons are real. But, I don't see why we need to think having a little fun dressing up in scary costumes is wrong.

If you think that is wrong. Would entering a haunted house be even worse? Let me know.


I do enjoy this dialogue. I hope I didn't sound too harsh. If I did, I'm sorry. I'll be checking back for a response...


In Prayers,


-AgapeTheologian

Pastor Timothy said...

michael,

I must say that I have a difficult time following you. But I will try to respond to yours and barbara's concerns momentarily.
----------
Agape,

I would have to say that the whole scare-factor might be something that you and I both think through.
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To ALL!

I just finished reading a blog in regards to the non-practice of participating in trick-or-treating on Halloween. You can find that at http://drbrooker.net/?p=708. I trust that this will be more in line with some of your positions.

Although, I can find rebuttal with certain things that are said in that blog.

Just two comments in regards to separating ourselves and also redeeming our time. These two are obviously commands - one is a negative and one is a positive. We must separate ourselves and we must redeem the time because all the days are evil. So, what is my take on those commands? We are in the world, not of it. But we are sent into the world. So, we need to minister in this world appropriately. We need to separate ourselves by redeeming the wicked in this world by the power of God at work in us.

My concern lies in the fact that it seems as though Satan can take any holiday (including Christmas) and turn it evil; however, Christians believe that we cannot do the same with a day like Halloween. We can't redeem Halloween. We have to separate from it and make our own thing. Satan doesn't operate like that. He gets into Christmas, makes it look real fun and then deceives the people by reaching out to their coveteous hearts.

Now, I'm not saying that we need to be deceptive. NO. We need to be light. We need to further Christ's Kingdom by being light in the evil days. I tend to think that you can be light while participating in the trick-or-treating custom. Also, the command of Christ seems somewhat applicable to my concern raised: "The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light" (Lk 16:8). So, let's be shrewd but with the light of the gospel!

One other note. Would you send a missionary to a culture where everyone is naked and they worship Satan? Your answer - YES! The question goes further - would you participate in an animal sacrifice to one of their gods? Your answer - NO! But, what if on that same night, you decided to get children uninvolved by having a sort of trick-or-treating time. You gave out candy and you had them dress up for that night? Would that be wrong? My answer - NO! Why? Because they're not participating in the evil practices of the day. Sure, if they're dressing up like demons, etc, that would be wrong. But, in this scenario I don't see anything wrong.

Let's go back to sending a missionary in a culture where people are satanists and wear no clothes.

Why would you send a missionary there? Because they need Christ. You looked past the issue of these two sin issues and went straight to the heart. Your desire is that this nation would come to know Christ and seek after Him. So, your desire is to see a missionary redeem the culture by the power of the Spirit at work within him/her.

In the same sense, I think I can look past the evil wicked practices that happen on halloween and go straight to striving to redeem the culture in which I live even by participating in trick-or-treating.

I trust this makes sense. But, I do appreciate your various viewes expressed.

Pastor Timothy said...

Michael,

I understand what you say that what I said was Law; however, the law is not superfluous for the believer just because he is in Christ.

According to the third use of the law, we are to then live lives of gratitude based on the reality of what Christ has done and is doing through us through the Spirit and His resurrection power.

So, while I agree that what I'm saying is Law, that does not mean we should not obey it.

The Law admittedly is to cause us to despair of our efforts, but (like you said), when we fail, we look to the Savior and His sacrifice as our justification.

So, I'm not trying to give the Law in order to only cause despair. I'm giving the Law to people who (I assume) love God and the Law is written on their hearts.

As Michael Horton writes in Christ the Lord, "While the regenerate do not cease sinning, they also do not cease hating their sin and struggling to eradicate it. The believer loves God's law because it is written on his or her heart (jer. 31:33-34), but it is his or her inability to conform perfectly to it that creates this tension in the Christian life, this war within" (p. 50).

I believe that Christ is the Shepherd of souls. He is the One who calls people to Himself. He is the Sovereign over all creation. I also believe that I'm an ambassador of Christ and a child of the King called to a life of progressive sanctification. I'm called to be a light because I posess the light of Christ in me.

It's all about HIM! He must increase and I must decrease. As that occurs by the supernatural power of God, the Lord continues His work in creation.

michael, I must say that you're causing me to think more; however, I'm concerned that you're reading too deep into my writings. It seems as though you want my wording to conform perfectly to how you think it should be said (without "believing all things" - 1 Cor 13).

If you truly think there's a problem in my writing, please continue, but I think you're reading into comments too deeply and focusing on potential negatives.

I could be wrong, but it's merely my perception.

AgapeTheologian said...

Just real quick,


You say you don't want to participate into haunted houses because they are making tons of money. Then wouldn't it be logical to not watch movies since they make alot of money. Or what about amusement parks? It seems from your statement, we should not have any form of enetertainment if that particular thing is making tons of money. How can one worhship God by watching movies(Wouldn't that be a waste of time)? I'm probably wrong on what you meant, but please fill me in.

Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

So, we can see here we do still need the law. The law doens't somehow come invalid because Christ came. We need the law all the more so we can know what sin is and become more like Christ.

That's all for now.

I hope you all have a great day!


In Prayers,


-AgapeTheologian

Pastor Timothy said...

Barbara,

Thanks for your response. No need to apologize for the long posts. That seems to be the norm on this discussion!! I appreciate the comments. It's amazing how such practical things can be used for God's glory.

I haven't read all of the comments on Challies site, but I do know that he has updated with more on Halloween. He said that Justin Taylor (the former on-site theologian to Piper has linked to his form) - http://theologica.blogspot.com/2006/10/halloween-reflections.html. So, it seems to be getting a LOT of reads.

Didn't think this would spark this much discussion, but it's definitely beneficial.

Pastor Timothy said...

michael,

there are actually three uses of the Law.

Again, I'm quoting from Christ the Lord (ed. Horton).

""First, it is a civil ordinance to keep us from stealing each other's wives, husbands, and speedboats. The civil use of the law applies to the whole culture. Second, the theological use of the law is to reveal our sin and drive us to despair and terror so that we will seek a savior. Luther believe that is a primary use of the law in all of Scripture. But the Reformers also believed in a third use of the law, and that is a didactic use, to teach the Christian God's will for holy living" (p. 205, Rod Rosenbladt).

So, what I'm speaking of in this section relates much to the second AND third use of the Law. If we are not obeying, we run to Christ where our hope is found and then we have a greater sense of freedom to obey.

I hope this clarifies....

Pastor Timothy said...

Michael,

You ask for my thoughts every time, and honestly, I'm tired. Also, I don't think it'd be a wise use of my time right now to respond to your lengthy comments.

In regards to my being "tired" - it's because I cannot understand how all of your comments link together. In addition to this, some of your comments don't seem to be going where you desire them to go. My final thought is that there seems to be underlying assumptions that you're making about me and my beliefs in your writing (you seeming to think that I disagree or will disagree with you).

I am sorry, but it seems as though if I were to respond to you, you'd disagree all the while not realizing that I, too, believe the gospel of grace in Christ. Also, it seems as though you don't think that I also desire to do those things that God has commanded us to do (Phil. 4:9).

All that said, you are still very welcome on this blog; however, I am tired of this type of conversation. I hope that maybe you will understand (1 Corinthians 13).

As a side note, just wanted to make sure you knew that my name is not Rob....

Anonymous said...

HOW TO TRICK OR TREAT TO THE GLORY OF GOD, or anything else we do to Gods glory- isn't that point?

are you gonna be sitting home, hiding from neighbors, fine- BUT do it for GODS GLORY, not prideful like " I am better then these sinners who are out trick or treating"

gonna trick or treat- Fine- but do it for GOds Glory, don't yell at the kids, or say mean comments. use a gentle voice, tell a little girl dressed like a princess she is beautiful. etc.. hand out tracks. whatever..

as for satans holiday? EVERYday satan tries to steal as HIS. this is NOT special occasion. there is SICK sin everyday...

wil I let my kids go? yeah, do I spend $$ on the hholiday? NO.
put on a old outfit and go.

it boils down to GLORIFYING GOD>
its a HEART issue. essp if your being self righteous and talking about those who do participate..

my thoughts!

Anonymous said...

me again-K-

um.. i forgot- i LOVE to scarepeople, even my own kids, you know, hiding behind doors, under beds. etc.. fun fun.. so is that wrong? its NOT halloween and i am scaring them..

just a thought

AgapeTheologian said...

Michael,


I hope you don't believe being Baptize in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is essential. Why do you ask that question anyway?

I am a born again believer, and God had not given me the gift of speaking in Tongues...



-AgapeTheologian

Pastor Timothy said...

hey, michael,

Just wanted to clarify - it's not that I don't understand your reasonings. It's that your reasonings are not being written out in a systematic approach. So, I am having a difficult time following you. It seems as though you go from one topic to another and then back to the other topic without mentioning that you're shifting to another point.

Pastor Timothy said...

michael,

nice rhyming.... :)

Anyway, yeah, go ahead and answer. It's good to hear other perspectives.

Anonymous said...

Dear, dear Michael,

Here's the question: Is your segregating yourself from this "pagan, evil" (holi)day really going to be at all more beneficial than greeting people, being a friendly neighbor, and not just being dissociative from those who you believe are "celebrating" an evil day.

Why not use a day that you APPARENTLY know that Satan desires to use against believers (as if this is the only day/time of the year that he even tries to do so!) and turn it back on him by being friendly and not separating yourself even further from the people to whom you are to witness! How, I ask YOU, are you being a witness if all you do is sit in your house and do nothing to defeat Satan on this day when you could be combating the forces of evil!

Sure, how about you go and just create even a further rift and even more resentment from people who already feel anger towards us!

I DO NOT believe, however, that you should just go and participate in anyhting and everything that Halloween has to offer. I most certainly think that whatever you do on Halloween, you need to do it for the glory of God and for the purpose of maximizing HIS glory. I believe that you should abstain from trick-or-treating and dressing up and stuff, unless you have a specific purpose for doing so - namely, to evangelize.

And, in regard to tongues, I DO believe that a demon could do so. Why wouldn't he be able to? AND just because someone is speaking in a certain language, that doesn't mean that they're speaking in tongues. You said yourself that it was your wife's native language, yet, apparently, shealso speaks English. SO, just because someone can speak in a certain language, that doesn't mean that they're "speaking in tongues" in the sense that we're speaking of! I believe that
Satan and the demons know many, if not EVERY, language. And, remember, there is one common language that Satan and his demons use toward everyone to get them (the people) to do what they (the demons and Satan) want the people to do - SIN. With sin Satan and his demons can use people for MANY, MANY purposes. People can be "speaking in tongues" yet have it not be from God, and, in fact, it could be that they're even BLASPHEMING God!

Although speaking in tongues CAN BE a gift from God, just because someone is doing so does not mean that it is from God.

Also, does condemnation really come on you when you fail God? Or is it that you're condemned before you're even born? (Just a thought here - not going to comment more right now on this subject)

Pastor Timothy said...

Thanks, gcs, for your insight.

Also, michael, in regards to your story about your wife hearing someone speaking to her through tongues....

My dad had a similar experience with someone decades ago. They visited a church where people were speaking in tongues. My dad's friend heard someone speaking in tongues, and that person was speaking HIS language. BUT, that person (instead of praising God) was blaspheming God.

Did you get interested in studying the doctrine of tongues before or after the experience with your wife? The reason I ask is just to caution you not to say that something is right just because it "worked" once.

I'm sure you're aware of that, but just was wondering and wanting to explain my question.

AgapeTheologian said...

Just real quick,


I think we are giving way less credit to demons then they deserve. They can speak in tongues, where does it say they can't. They can come and appear as friendly foes and actually be enemies. They want to distract us from anything possible. I am not saying that speaking in tongues is satanic. But I am saying to be careful just because you/your wife had heard someone speak in tongues...


Gotta run.


In Prayers,


-AgapeTheologian

Anonymous said...

Michael,

I would like to know which comments you're not going to respond to and why. Also, PLEASE stop changing the subject continually. We started with Halloween, and now we've gotten to the gifts of Christians (of which I would like to know why). Also, WHY IN THE WORLD do you ask questions that make it seem like you want them to be answered, yet, when they are answered, you go onto a (very) different subject, but you don't even directly reply to those subjects without taking them completely out of context or simply by not answering them at all.




Please explain why.

AgapeTheologian said...

Michael,


I want you to know that I am filled with the Holy Spirit. Does that mean I HAVE to speak in tongues? By not means. In the New Testament, countless times it's a gift from God. Not every believer will speak in tongues. It's a gift, and it's only recorded in the Bible with an interpreter. How is it edifying if you pray in 'tongues' and no one around you can be benefit from your language with God. I'm sorry, but you nor God are being benefited by using this secret language. Be encouraging to others by praying in your language...


"Do you read the Bible daily?
Do you pray in the Spirit daily?
Do you ponder and meditate on the Word and His Names daily?

Those would be some queries along with do you believe you have been baptized in the Holy Ghost as Acts clearly develops?

Do you speak in tongues?"


I pray daily, I am in God's word daily. I also ponder and mediatate on the Word daily. I am baptised in the Holy Spirit as the whole Bible teaches. Do I speak in tongues. I do not and I am proud of it. God has not given me the gifts to speak in tongues that I know of. God has given me other gifts that you do not have.

I may be wrong, but it sounds like to me that if I am truly born again, I will be speaking in tongues in some form or way.

I hope I didn't come off to strong or mean towards you. I enjoy this dialogue, and I hope we will both be encouraged to look to Him.


In Prayers,


-AgapeTheologian

Pastor Timothy said...

Michael,

Interesting questions and things to ponder.

Those questions are difficult to answer in one sense because I'm unsure how you define certain terms such as "in the Spirit" and "meditate on His names." So, I don't think I can accurately answer your questions without understanding what you mean.

That said, I do strive to be a meditator of the Word and to grow in my prayer life - praising God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - living in dependence on Him for all things.

Primarily the Holy Spirit speaks to me through the Word - pointing me to Christ. That's the aim of the Spirit - to glorify the Son. So, that's our aim, and that's what the Holy Spirit does through the Word.

I do believe that the Spirit can teach through circumstances and even feelings, but all of these things must be subject to the Word first.

In regards to prophecy - my answer's the same.

In regards to praying in tongues. I see that passage that you quoted in Corinthians and see that Paul was saying, "There's no benefit in praying in tongues; so, let's pray in our own language."

1Co 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
1Co 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

See, he says, "So, I'm not going to pray in tongues. I'm going to pray with understanding in the spirit."

Also, I don't believe that all believers have the gift of tongues (not did all of them have it in the 1st century).

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of xwisdom, and to another the utterance of yknowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another zfaith by the same Spirit, to another agifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another bthe working of miracles, to another cprophecy, to another dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another evarious kinds of tongues, to another fthe interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills" (1 Cor. 12:7-11).

See, in this passage, Paul says that some people speak in tongues, others interpret, etc. So, not everyone spoke in tongues even in the first century nor were they required to.

I do believe that the gift of tongues does take place today; however, I believe that it takes place primarily in places where Christ has not been proclaimed (such as cultures who have never heard Christ) and it's done so that God may prove Himself through this miracle to the people. So, it's primarily evangelistic.

But, I will admit that there was use of it in the church, too. However, to me, there was always an interpreter. And, Paul says it's always necessary to have an interpreter (unless everybody speaks that language) so that people may benefit from it.

So, this is my biblical understanding of the topic.

Hope this is helpful.

Also, I will take one change for you to respond and then I'm going to close out this dialogue. Just an FYI.

Pastor Timothy said...

Maybe the wisest thing would be to simply close out this conversation for now.

Anonymous said...

Maybe... but Michael, you didn't even address my questions at all. Why? I don't know. But I would personally REALLY like you to answer my questions.

I'm asking you directly to respond.

Anonymous said...

(By the way I was saying "Maybe..." in response to what PT2 said most recently about closing the conversation)

Anonymous said...

Well at least Reformation Day falls on Halloween to.