A Christian's defense of Halloween

Halloween is unique, to say the least. Like every other holiday, it involves food (in this case, 2 of the 4 main food groups according to Buddy the Elf - candy and candy corn). But unlike other holidays, the season culminates in a 2-hour game of make-believe followed by a candy coma and the realization that you've taken in a week's worth of sugar in one night. The holiday takes a lot of flack for its spookier connotations, and many Christians take cover and suffer through it, happy to be one day closer to Thanksgiving. But I want to share what I love about Halloween and some characteristics that I think God loves too. Instead of writing about its origins (which have mixed Christian and pagan roots) I want to call out 4 great things I see in it today:

Creativity- God is the ultimate Creator, and since we're made in his image, we've got some pretty active creative juices flowing in us too. People go all out on creating the best costumes, sometimes planning for days what they will wear for a few hours come October 31st. Whether it means popping some tags at the thrift shop or popping holes in a cardboard box to make a robot, everybody loves a creative costume. Even if someone is making a gross, inappropriate, or in some way "sinful" costume, they can't help but use their God-given creativity, which has potential to one day lead them closer to the One who gave them that gift.

Generosity- Isn't it fun to give?? Jesus said "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). That may be a hard principle to teach the kid sitting on his bed surrounded by Milky Way wrappers and the unopened Bottle Caps that nobody likes, but everyone who has seen the delight on a child's face when they get candy can attest to this truth. Obviously Christmas kind of takes the cake for bringing about generosity (though Black Friday shoppers certainly hide their generosity well) but people generally enjoy sitting on their porches with their fog machines and flickering lights, waiting to give without asking anything in return.

Fellowship- How many nights a year is it socially normal to visit all your neighbors' houses and see parents walking with children on every sidewalk? I'm not saying that broken families are made new because of Halloween, but it certainly has a way of bringing people together and creating friendships. Now you could leave it at that and decide to only talk to your neighbors once - Hey...Bill. How have you been since...last Halloween? - or you could take advantage of one of the many conversations starters made possible by Halloween - Hey Fred I love how you used a mop on your kid's head to make the evil minion's hair from Despicable Me 2. Did you find that on Pinterest? - the possibilities really are endless. Find a couple people who seem cool or maybe who don't seem cool at all (they could probably use some friends) and start some relationships. It's what we're built for.

Being like a kid- Jesus said "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). There are a lot of childish ways that we shouldn't strive to emulate (being irresponsible, selfish, or rude) but there are SO many child-like characteristics that we often lose when we make the journey into adulthood. Children have faith, they trust without questioning, they rely on their providers, and they sleep soundly even during troubles. God wants us to have an awe for him like a child watching his dad work on something amazing. He wants us to talk to him just because we can, not only when we're in trouble. Halloween brings out the kid in everybody. You get to dress up like anything you want and eat every Reese's cup in the bag. You get to go to dance parties, watch movies, and laugh a lot more than you would on an ordinary day. The main event happens after work hours and ends early enough for everyone to participate.

So there you have it. We're made to look like God and even those who don't know that yet find themselves acting like Him somehow. Halloween comes with a lot of weird baggage, but when you boil it down to its celebration, you can see little glimpses of Heaven invading Earth. And superheroes invading your front lawn.