Don't give Satan the power?

'And just as it is appointed for people to die once — and after this, judgment — so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.' Hebrews 9:27-28

'Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For by this our ancestors were approved.' Hebrews 11:1-2

Well we are quickly approaching that time where there tends to be strong opinions and great division among Christians, and no I don’t mean the elections though they are also approaching. What I am talking about is Halloween. I have seen a range of feelings among believers regarding this day to where some don’t view it as anything wrong to allow their children to dress up and go door to door “trick or treating” to those that believe it is a sin for any Christian to even acknowledge the term Halloween. I can’t give an opinion on how accepting of the current activities a Christian should be other than to suggest approaching it in prayer; but I can state I feel it is an issue to completely ignore the day or to acknowledge its existence. The reason I state this is that what many people don’t realize or have been led to believe the opposite is that Halloween was originally part of a Christian celebration (Holy Evening) to remember the Christians that have passed on and celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death, which Satan had twisted its appearance over the years, to the point of people believing the origins are anything but Christian.

If you don’t see where I am going with this, here is what I am getting at is that I feel for a Christian to ignore, or “boycott” Halloween is telling Satan that he can take anything that was intended to be used for good or bring glory to God and if he twists it enough we will cave in and let him win. It is telling Satan that he has power over us and the power to take what isn’t his. Now I am not saying that Christians should go and practice everything currently associated with Halloween, that is a matter of prayer; but what I would suggest is to take Halloween back to its origins. Use the night to reflect on the contributions of various church fathers to the faith as well as look at their life and how God used them. If you are a protestant look at the lives of some of the reformers or some of the events around the Protestant Reformation as October 31 is also the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Read Hebrews 11, as this is a passage that looks at Old Testament believers and focuses on their faith and how God used them because of their faith. Finally celebrate in some way the salvation Christ will bring when He returns. Again I can’t state what all of the current practices around Halloween a Christian should allow, that is a matter of prayer and conviction, but I do say as Christians we should rise up and tell Satan he no longer has the power over us to corrupt and steal that which was created with good purposes; and possibly if more Christians rather than ignore Halloween started treating it as the Holy Evening it was created as the more non-Christian practices will become less prominent.

3Kim Gruver, Curtis J Evenrud-Gruver and 1 other