But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. - 1Peter 2: 9-12 (ESV)
It seems you can always count on one Christian celebrity or another every Halloween to come out and confuse the issues surrounding this day. This year it appears to be Natalie Grant. That is the same Natalie Grant that refused to take a stand against the demonic demonstration at this year's Grammy Awards. It becomes frustrating though to watch people use their platforms to confuse young Christians. Interestingly, Grant closed her Facebook pro-Halloween post by suggesting we read Romans 14; so I did. The chapter largely deals with legalism which was creeping into the lives of the new believers when Paul wrote this letter. Grant makes it a point to say in her post that our freedom in Christ is from the yoke of legalism. Amen and hallelujah but that has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween.
Let's debunk that nonsense first. Legalism is when we try to impose rules into Christianity as a means to justify ourselves. I have heard no one argue such when it comes to Halloween. No one is suggesting that you are not a Christian if you celebrate Halloween. No one is suggesting that you must abstain in order to be saved. That would be ludicrous. What Grant is doing here is erecting a strawman argument. Something people who want to celebrate Halloween can rally behind. Yeah - we don't need no legalism! There is nothing legalistic however about pointing out what we should and should not be engaged in as Christians. Not because we think it justifies us but rather because we are already justified. Let's look at a more obvious example. I would suggest that a Christian should not spend an evening in a strip club. I am not saying their salvation is at stake. I am not imposing any kind of legalistic demand. I am merely stating that as one who is already justified by the blood of Christ, we should probably not seek our entertainment there. For many reasons. One for temptation sake. Another for bearing witness for Christ. Whatever the reason, it is certainly not "legalistic" to suggest that a Christian should not spend an evening in a strip club. The same logic applies to Halloween. It is not about demanding Christians not seek their entertainment, or their kid's entertainment, in a Satanic high holy day. It is about reminding us that we should not want to. We should not want to be tempted. We should not want to for the sake of our witness for Christ.
The next argument to debunk is Christians thinking they can decide to make the day be about what they want. Never mind that witches, Wiccans and Satanists live for this day. According to Grant she does not celebrate ghosts and goblins but rather "kids, princesses and fairies." For starters, goblins and gnomes are fairies, so it seems Ms. Grant is confused. Giving her a pass on that, the first point is that if you were "for kids", you should be for raising them as God teaches us to in the Bible. Not for how the world behaves. Because at the heart that is the true argument. This is what the world does and we are afraid to take the stand and be the peculiar people God has called us to be. More importantly however, the Bible says to train a child up right, not according to the wiles of this world. So sure, your eight year old looks like an angel in her princess costume but what have you taught her? What will she remember about Halloween when she is 16 and the world is pulling her in deeper? Will she remember that her mother took a stand for God or that her mother posted her princess pictures on Facebook? It is a little late at that point to pretend to take a stand for righteousness when your 16 year old is dressing up like a zombie or a devil. They learned it was all just fun when they were an eight year old princess and you taught it to them.
The final point to debunk here is this repeated non issue about hiding in the house and turning the lights off. I have never heard anyone suggest that as Christians we should not answer the door, give candy to the neighborhood children - and maybe a tract. Of course we should be light to a dark world. We are that light first though by showing them that we do not participate in the works of evil. We are not called to be relevant to them. We are called to be different. We are called to be set apart. Read the key verses today. We are supposed to be a chosen race. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. We are supposed to be God's people. We have received His great mercy through the sacrifice of His only Son on Calvary's cross and we are worried that we might seem kooky to our neighbors? Really?
We are supposed to be sojourners and exiles in this world - not trying to see where we can fit in. I understand the desire. I understand the need. These are the passions of this world waging war against our souls beloved. Only in American Christianity can we muddy waters that are so perfectly clear. Halloween is considered Satan's birthday. It is a high holy day in Satanism, Wicca and witchcraft. It's roots are entirely pagan in origin and was possibly a celebration of a Celtic god of the dead. At best, it was considered the one day of the year where the boundaries between the spirit realm and our world are so thin that evil spirits can pass into our world. All of the traditions stem from these early druidic and pagan practices. Trick or treating, jack o lanterns, bobbing for apples. All of them. None of them are clean in origin. None of them are spiritually clean today. Yet people like Natalie Grant think nothing of celebrating this day.
Grant was very careful to parse out that she felt she was not celebrating evil. I am sure the devil is very impressed. Just as impressed when Eve tried to negotiate with him. Grant said we do not have to agree and she is right. The larger problem for her though is the Bible does not agree:
Abstain from every form of evil. - 1Thessalonians 5: 22 (ESV)
If you want to celebrate Halloween, go for it. Just do not pretend that you are fighting against legalism or taking back the day from Satan. It is not a bold stance to figure out how you can feel good about participating. It is a bold stance to not participate. To say no when all the world is screaming to say yes. To actually have to parent your children and give them something to stand on ten years later when you know the world will be dragging them in. What Natalie Grant and others fail to realize is they are making the carnal argument of moral relativism. This philosophical argument says that what is moral; what is right and wrong, is based upon the culture and therefore subject to an individual's choice. "I do not think that there is anything wrong with celebrating Satan's birthday as long as I say that is not what I am doing." As long as I can find enough of a reason then I make it my choice. Problem is that God has already defined what is good and what is not. We just have to be honest enough to see it, accept it, and live by it.
Rev. Anthony.
