To Trick or Treat OR Not to Trick or Treat……that is the question!

Each
year our downtown merchants open their doors for the gifting of candy
to tons of children.  This year was no different except we were
also blessed by a Christian band playing on stage as we hoofed it
around town.  One thing I love about living in a small town is how
one event can bring out most everyone in town.  You see people you
go to church with, used to got to church with, the lady who checks you
out at the grocery, takes your deposits at the bank or helps keep your
pets healthy.  It's a really neat experience.

It's
taken us seveal years of parenting to decide where we stand about the
whole Halloween thing.  My husband brought up a devotional from www.purposedrivenlife.com
about Halloween.  I thought it very thought provoking and
balanced.  I found myself asking, “Where would Jesus be on
Halloween?”  Since he seemed to hang out with a lot of less than
desireable people I think I just might have seem him downtown if he
lived near me.  I included the article my husband brought me to
read below.  Have a Jesus filled Halloween time!

Turn On the Light Tonight   

  by John  Fischer

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…  

    1 John 4:18   

Today
is a day that comes with a good deal of confusion and too
much fear in some Christian circles. It has not always been the
case. When I was a child in the 1950s as part of a very fundamental
church, Halloween came and went with ne'er a thought of concern.
We couldn't play cards, dance, go to movies or listen to rock and
roll, but we could   trick-or-treat our little candy bags
full every October
31.             
                  
All
that changed about fifteen years ago when the word spread rapidly in
Christian circles that Halloween was actually not dress-up day
after all, it had been Satan's holiday all along since its origins
as All Hallows' Eve, and something that Christians should have
nothing to do with. (Studies actually show major discrepancies on
the origins of Halloween, making a truly definitive conclusion
dubious at best.)       
 

Something
about these inconsistent Halloween experiences indicates that the issue
here may be more one of perception than actual truth. Granted satanic
activity may be an issue on this day, but I wonder if we actually
give Satan more regard today than we should, while ignoring his reality
the other 364 days of the year.   

                             

This
much I know: Regardless of where you land on the trick-or-treating
thing, if there is anything believers should not participate in
today,  it's not trick-or-treating: It's fear. Christians have no
business being afraid today or any day. We worship the God of the
universe who is over all powers and authorities and rulers on earth,
above it or “below” it.  If we as Christians show ear to the
world, it comes as a disgrace to God. What does it say about the
eality of God in our lives when we allow fear to motivate
us?  

We
currently live on a street that has a reputation of being the
best trick-or-treating street in town. Our house is right smack
dab in the middle of a two block area that is so crowded with kids
each year, the police put up barriers to keep vehicles out. We
bought 6,000 pieces of candy last year and still ran out. As I see
it we have three choices.  Darken our door and hunker down inside.
Plan to be gone for the evening.  Or stock up on candy, put our
chairs out in the front yard and enjoy the parade while we mingle with
our neighbors.        

Given
our mission to love the world as Christ loved it, I'd say it was time
to turn on the light. There is nothing that will stifle hope
more than fear, and nothing that will overcome fear more than
love.