What are we listening to today?

Ahhh, you see by the graphic that I AM paying attention to the calendar!

I wanted to post something for today.....a lot of thoughts in my wee head.... (Grin)

Here is the "$64,000 question," to use a phrase from a vintage television show: are we listening the world if we celebrate Halloween? Or allow our kiddos to participate? Or is it OK?

A lot of folks have opinions on this. Many Christians ignore the holiday, or boycott it. Some allow their children to participate, but only wearing "innocent" types of costumes. Some believers offer imaginative alternatives to the standard activities.
What's a Christian to do?
Let's explore this!
The history of the day has to do with Druidic traditions, and their belief that the lord of death sent evil spirits to attack humans....the only way to escape was to assume disguises that made us look like evil spirits. Then in the 8th century, Pope Gregory kinda grabbed it and made it a little nicer, by calling official attention to "All Saints Day," on November 1, making the "All Hallows Eve" on October 31st a little less important. It was an attempt to refocus the day away from the occult and toward the lives of faithful Christians.

Nowadays, the people who follow "Wicca" (the practices of witchcraft and the occult, including venerating Satan) claim Halloween as a high and holy day! For them, it's an opportunity to embrace the evil side of the spiritual world and to recruit others to it.

Some Christians will protest that their children are in no danger, that this is simply harmless fun. Others will say that we are placed here to be a light in the darkness. Still others will say that they use it as an evangelistic opportunity.  And it's difficult to know what to think, because quite frankly, there is no definitive word from the Word.
BUT....
There are some clues here that we can explore.

Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.  (Ephesians 5:7-11, NLT)

Perhaps participating in Halloween activities is taking part in "worthless deeds of evil and darkness"?

For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. 13 But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 18:10-13)

I know, right? I don't think that believers who send their kiddos to a Halloween party or out to "trick or treat" are sacrificing them as burnt offerings, or calling up the dead....

The debate over Halloween may actually be a "Romans 14" issue, one that is a disputable matter, with no clear instructions in the Bible. It may be that each believer must pray, study, and decide for themselves.....
I offer the next couple of paragraphs simply as an example of that.

Our family prayerfully considered the options, and made sure that we taught our kiddos that there was a world outside our home filled with goodness from God, and also filled with evil from Satan. We made sure that they knew that Christ has power over the darkness, and will ultimately win over evil for good. We talked about the fact that some of the folks who celebrate Halloween don't understand its roots. And we also talked about the fact that unbelievers watch Christians, and take note of their activities, and their testimony. We read I Corinthians 6:12 together, and talked about whether or not Halloween was "helpful" or "beneficial."

We focused on Romans 14, especially verse 13:

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 

Our family's decision was that participating in Halloween activities might put a stumbling block in the way of another believer, or in the path of an unbeliever, too. And we paid a great deal of attention to that tenth verse in Ephesians 5 (above), too. "Determine what pleases the Lord"......

Rather than hide away in the face of evil, we joined other believers who created an alternative that was positive and uplifting -- that celebrated good over evil.  We decided that a fun environment to which we could invite others (both believers and unbelievers) could offer teachable moments in which we could share our testimony. And we made certain our kids understood that it was not "their department" to judge other believers by whether they celebrated or didn't celebrate.

How about the rest of y'all that study here? Your thoughts?
Instead of listening to the world today, let's listen to each other and pray for blessings for all who pause here.