For The Children's Sake

Tim Hill, pixabay

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. It's so homey and cozy. But the season is being rushed, rushed, rushed. I've been seeing Christmas decor in the stores for a few weeks now! And Halloween has been here for quite awhile. I read that Halloween is now the second most celebrated holiday.

Halloween has overshadowed Thanksgiving in the thoughts of most Americans. Halloween is more marketable, I suppose, which seems to be the bottom line of holidays these days. And Americans aren't so much given to being thankful, anyway. We live in a me-focus culture.

Are we connecting the dots here? Halloween has overshadowed giving thanks to God for his bountiful provisions and abundant blessings. Santa Claus has overshadowed rejoicing in the birth of our Savior. The Easter Bunny has overshadowed rejoicing in Christ's Resurrection. Could it all be part of The Enemy's subversive plan?

Halloween disturbs my spirit. It's a marriage of pagan and Christian beliefs. Can light and darkness co-exist? What partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14) It troubles me even more when churches participate, having a Harvest Party, calling it a Halloween alternative. It's still Halloween.

I understand that it's an opportunity to get children to come to the church, an opportunity to reach them with the gospel message. But don't we see that this sends a confusing and double-minded message to the children? They may be told that it's the eve of All Saints Day and encouraged to dress like a Bible character, but if a survey were to be taken during a Harvest Party, no doubt the children would think the church is celebrating Halloween. Maybe some churches do, but how do they explain to the children that blood and guts and gore and ghosts and animal sacrifices and witchcraft and demons and all the underworld goings on are not what their church celebrates? If it's All Hallows Eve, what's holy about it? And do we understand that All Saints Day was a day for praying for dead people?

So let's go back to the underlying purpose of a Harvest Party--to use it as an outreach opportunity for children. Divorce it from Halloween. Delay it a week and have it in early November, certainly an appropriate time as we're looking toward Thanksgiving and having a thankful spirit. Children will still come to the party, and they'll understand the purpose--to celebrate God's goodness in giving a bountiful harvest. A true Harvest Party, and no confusion as to what the church believes and celebrates.

For the children's sake, lead them in clarity of the gospel message.

Image ~ via Pixabay
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