#1214 – Halloween Hero

Some people have claimed that I’m a bit of a Halloween Scrooge. In fact, I even made this assertion about myself.

Like Scrooge’s name is synonymous with hating Christmas, I want my name to be synonymous with hating Halloween. But I don’t want to change.

— Scott Higa (@ScottHiga) September 24, 2015

I don’t like October in general and Halloween in particular. I don’t like that Halloween has turned into an excuse for adults to get drunk and dress inappropriately. I don’t like that teenagers think it’s appropriate to still go out and get candy. I do like Halloween as a holiday for children and we should get it back into their hands.

So, if you think about it, I’m not really a Halloween Scrooge as much as I am a Halloween hero.

I’m a hero because I’m saving Halloween for the kids, for the ones who should get the most out of it. I understand that I have a lot of adult friends who just want to dress up and have fun. To them I say, you’re an adult; you don’t need a costume and candy in order to have fun.

Little kids’ lives are completely regimented by adults. Kids wear the clothes adults tell them to and eat the food adults tell them to. Halloween is the one day a year when kids can throw off the oppressive shackles of the adults in their lives and go crazy. Do you want to dress up like Spider-Man? Go for it! Do you want to eat a bunch of candy before you go to bed? Go for it! Halloween gives children the opportunity to experience the freedom that we as adults enjoy every day of the year.

Unfortunately, as adults, everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.

Kids go crazy on one day of the year, living like there are no consequences on November 1. There are too many adults who live with the same reckless abandon but all throughout the year. Some adults want the freedom of adulthood with the freedom from consequences of childhood.

As adults we’re free to dress in our underwear, go to a Halloween party and get trashed. However, we’re not free from what happens when those pictures make it to Facebook.

As adults we’re free to eat as much candy as we want; we can even buy it from the store instead of wasting time going house-to-house. However, we’re not free from how all those sugary calories will affect our health.
As adults we’re free to wear masks all the time, covering up our true selves with what we think the world wants to see. However, we’re not free from the effects of living an inauthentic life.

Halloween needs to be saved for the kids. It’s their holiday and we need to give it back to them. Which is why I’m more than excited to pass out candy at our church’s Trunk or Treat. It’s also why I can’t wait to have kids of my own so that I can dress them up and take them trick-or-treating.

Adults also need to be saved from Halloween, or at least the consequence-free living of Halloween that we carry with us throughout the year. Our choices matter and God calls us to a better life than simply giving in to our basest passions. I suppose that’s why I’m so opposed to Halloween: it’s just another example of how we as people give into our sensual desires.

I don’t dress like a sexy bunny on Halloween or get completely drunk. I do, though, give into my sinful desires and Halloween is a reminder that I need to be saved. Thankfully Jesus isn’t just a Halloween hero, but a complete and eternal hero.

Perhaps Halloween falls beneath the purview of Jesus’ redemption. If so, then along with a new heaven and a new earth, we’ll have a new and restored Halloween to look forward to when Jesus returns.

What are your thoughts about Halloween?