For year my wife and I have sought to find ways that our family could redeem Halloween for the sake of gospel advance. We have led our church in Reformation Day carnivals, we have handed out candy with Scripture attached, we have gathered together with believing friends to host community group reformation parties; but we are always on the lookout for creative ways to redeem cultural celebrations for the sake of the gospel.
Last night as we were watching game 6 with our neighbors and a few families from our Community Group we got in the discussion about what we were going to do this Halloween. During this discussion someone brought up a blog post by Jeff Vanderstelt where he outlines several ways that families and singles can be missional during Halloween. He has some great ideas so take a look.
I appreciated what Jeff wrote. It was quite convicting actually. It’s much easier for Christians to separate themselves from the world than it is to engage it deliberately. It’s cheaper and takes less time to turn off the porch light and not answer the door than it does to do the things Jeff describes. I think taking Halloween and using it to build relationships in the community is exactly what the Lord would have done based on the places & type of people he was often criticized being around. We can take advantage of the socializing going on in the neighborhood without taking part in the glorification of death, spirits and morbid things. We need to teach & model for our kids how to be in the world but not of the world. It’s the heart behind the things we do that we need to explain and focus on with our kids.
We went to the store tonight & bought the best candy we could find & are looking forward to meeting new people tomorrow!
Amen Brian, I couldn’t agree more and I think that the more we seek to build bridges like this the more we allow the light of the gospel to shine in our lives.
Justin