This Christian Life

Reformation Day vs. Halloween

Reformation Day (more…)
Most Protestant Christians observe Reformation Day in honor of Martin Luther and other Christians who removed false doctrine and destructive practices from the Christian church.

Halloween (more…)
Halloween is on October 31 of each year. You dress up as your favorite character and go to different house and say trick or treat. The people then give you candy fruit or toys.

Every year on the day of October 31, I struggle with what to do as a Christian. My gut tells me NOT to participate in halloween. Not to let my 2 year old dress up, not to hand out candy, not to carve pumkins, not to do anything that is halloween. In my heart of hearts I think that if I participate in any way, it means I participate fully. If that’s true, then that means I’m fueling the fire for the devil and his kingdom.

We as Christians always say “happy reformation day!” on halloween. Our church calendars say ‘Reformation Day’ on this date. By doing this, we claim a Godly purpose for this “celebration” on October 31. You may argue that we shouldn’t have to claim a pagan holiday as our own, or that by doing this we are spineless wimps. But I don’t think so. All throughout the history of the Christian church pagan practices, festivals, and symbols have been “claimed” by followers of Christ. Even Christ used practices that the worshippers of Roman gods used. Let’s follow his example and find examples in our culture of things that can be used for the glory of the kingdom of God.

Go Reformation Day!