Halloween is one of the most captivating days of the year. For Christians, it can also be polarizing. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Halloween has always had a convoluted history. (It’s roots are a mixture of the Catholic celebration of “All Hallows Eve” and the Pagan festival of “Samhain”). Or perhaps it is because our involvement in the day touches on one of those “gray areas” that the Bible doesn’t explicitly address. For these reasons and more, Christians remain all over the map in how they view Halloween and how they choose to participate in it or not.
But regardless of one’s view on how to participate in the day itself, for parents it presents one of the best times all year to teach our kids the Bible!
The reason for this is that Christian parents cannot hide their children from seeing the images of Halloween (at least not fully) and this means that we must be in dialogue with our kids to help them think biblically about the various subjects that these images point to. Halloween brings up subjects like evil, death, darkness and the spiritual realm and God’s word is full of stories about these very things. Our kids are naturally drawn to Halloween because ghost stories remain some of the most mysterious and fascinating subjects to study. What a great opportunity to join our kids in what intrigues them and use it to point them to Jesus.
I became acutely aware of how intrigued my kids were with Halloween when they were in pre-school and I tried to be a good dad and guard them from seeing evil masks, ghosts and bloody werewolves. But however hard I tried, they would inevitably see these images at a neighbours house, school or even at the hardware store. And when my kids saw these images, they were like a moth to a flame! They were endlessly fascinated with the dark side.
As a parent I have a choice to make every year about these things, will I just pretend my kids had not seen these haunting images of evil and death? Or will I redeem the opportunity to point them to Jesus and his word? I must admit I have not always been stellar at this, but each year I have that choice as a parent. When I have taken the opportunity presented, it has often led to some great conversations. I get to tell them interesting stories about evil, ghosts and magic that are in the Bible and often my kids are surprised that the Bible has such interesting stories.
With that said, here are a few suggestions for using Halloween to draw your kids to Scripture:
+ Expose your kids to Bible stories that interact with Evil, Death and the Spiritual Realm
These are not difficult to find. From the visit of the serpent to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, to King Saul consulting with the Medium of Endor in 1 Samuel 28, or Jesus casting out a legion of evil spirits from the Demoniac in Mark 5. There is ample opportunity to use Halloween as a springboard to expose your kids to these fascinating stories. (I have included a list of stories that you can either read or retell your kids below.)
+ Teach your kids that Evil, Death and the Spiritual Realm are Real
When my kids were very young, it was tempting for me as a parent to tell them that all of the evil images of Halloween were “fake’ and “not real”. I was trying to help them not be afraid of course. But I was also dismissing their fears by doing this and denying reality. My kids could tell that evil was real and all of the Halloween symbols pointed to this fact. The irony in this is that most people who celebrate Halloween today are not doing so because they believe in spiritual things but because they often don’t believe. It’s all a bit of fun and dress-up and candy. So it is important that I don’t give my kids the impression that there is nothing evil or spiritual in this world and that it’s all a bunch of nonsense.
When King Saul went to consult with the “medium of Endor” this was a real encounter with the spirit realm. And the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are constantly in a battle “not against flesh and blood, but against… the cosmic powers of darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” (Eph 6:12) So instead of saying to our kids, “none of that stuff is real” we have learned to simply say, “evil is real, we don’t love it though, we love Jesus and he has power over evil.”
+ Teach kids that the Sin inside us is a greater threat than the Monsters outside
The most interesting part of Saul’s encounter with the medium of Endor is that the evil in the story is more about Saul’s evil than the medium’s evil. The evil inside of Israel’s king is a greater threat than the evil coming from the medium. In fact, the medium in the story ends up displaying far more Godly features than Saul does, even taking care of him while he is weak and frail (see 1 Samuel 28:22-25). The witch hunts during the 16th-17th century are also a horrific example of how well-meaning Christians at the time became so fear-driven about the evil outside of them that they committed far worse injustices than the so-called witches they punished. It is important that children learn that evil can take many forms and it is not always the monsters under their bed that are most threatening. Halloween gives us a great opportunity to talk to our kids about sin within our hearts and how we can respond to Jesus good news of salvation by turning from sin and trusting in him for eternal life. This conversation must be done with grace and wisdom of course and at age-appropriate levels.
+ Teach your kids not to fear Evil, Death and the Spiritual Realm
While we don’t celebrate the darker side of Halloween at the Ross household, we have taught our kids not to be afraid. Fear of anything other than God usually leads to something bad. But Christians have no need to fear evil and death because our savior has already conquered evil through his death and resurrection (Gal 1:3, 1 Cor 15:54-58). So while we try our best to avoid walking through the darkest parts of the Halloween decoration section with our kids, we also tell them, “don’t be afraid, Jesus has power over evil things.” (see Mark 5). This of course is easier said than done. We are human and we often struggle with fear and our kids especially. But as parents we have the privilege of being a non-anxious presence in our kids lives and reassuring them with words of comfort when they are afraid.
So take the opportunity that Halloween brings to point your kids to God’s word, allowing Jesus to shape their minds and hearts for His Glory!
List of Bible Stories for Halloween (Tales of evil, death, magic and the spiritual realm)
OLD TESTAMENT
+ Genesis 3 – The Serpent in the Garden of Eden
+ Exodus 7:1-13 – Moses versus Egypt’s magicians
+ Numbers 22-24 – Balaam’s attempted curse on Israel
+ Deuteronomy 18:9-14 – Moses instructions against Evil Magic Practices
+ 1 Samuel 28 – King Saul and the Medium of Endor
+ 1 Kings 22 – King Ahab and the False Prophets
+ 2 Kings 6 – Elisha and the Invisible Army
NEW TESTAMENT
+ Matthew 4:1-11 – Jesus tempted by the Devil
+ Mark 1:21-28 - Jesus Heals Man with Unclean spirit
+ Mark 5:1-20 – Jesus Heals Man with Legion of Demons
+ John 11 – Jesus Raises Lazarus
+ Luke 23:44-24:1-12 – Jesus Conquers Sin and Death
+ Acts 8:4-25 – Simon the Magician
+ Acts 19:11-20 – Exorcists and Magic Books
+ Revelation 12:1-17 – The Great Red Dragon