TLP 102: "Should My Kids Go Trick-or-Treating?" Is Not the Best Question

This is a much better question because there's an answer to it. There's no definitive, biblical answer to the other question.

But with this better question, you should be able to come to a biblical answer for your family. Welcome to Truth.

Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents.

Here's your host, A .M. Brewster. Good day, friends. I love autumn.

It is my favorite season by far. I love the weather, the sweaters, the decorations, the holidays, the warm fires, the frosty pumpkins, hot tea.

Yes, I am in my essence right now. But there's something else that autumn brings with it that causes many

Christians consternation. But we'll talk about that in just a minute. We love dealing with the deep realities of Scripture, as well as the practical realities of life.

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Okay, so you'll probably see a cauldron full of articles slide through Facebook this week, all dedicated to whether or not your kids should go trick -or -treating this

Halloween. And since this year is the 500th anniversary of the Martin Luther's nailing his 95

Theses to the church's front door, and since Reformation Day is also on October 31st, you may see more people dressing like Luther and nailing things to doors.

I don't know. How do you celebrate Reformation Day? I'm not sure. Anyway, I think the question, should

I let my kids go trick -or -treating, is the wrong question. Let's talk about why it's a bad question, and then try a new one on for size.

If I may, to begin, I'd like to oversimplify the arguments for a moment. And let's be fair that we all get into trouble when we do things like that.

But here we go. The anti -Halloweeners don't want to participate because of the occult or the demonic emphasis.

Some people don't like participating because of the generally scary and or gory nature of many

Halloween -themed festivities. And then there are Christians who have no problem participating, and the ones who do participate all have individual lines they draw in regard to in what they won't participate.

Now, let's face it that there's so much disagreement on this topic because it's not specifically dealt with in the

Scriptures. This is why questions about drinking alcoholic beverages, political parties, educational systems, and the like are all hotly debated among Christians because there's no definitive biblical answer one way or the other.

So before we move on, we need to establish the fact that the Bible does not speak directly to the modern,

Americanized concept of Halloween. However, we must acknowledge that elements of our celebration of Halloween are addressed.

The Bible does have much to say about demonism, witchcraft, and the occult. But the Bible also has a lot to say about gluttony and moderation.

We could also apply the principles of kindness and love when we're talking about tricking or scaring people.

And I believe there's wisdom in considering what we put before our eyes. If something is inherently wicked, we shouldn't be dwelling on it.

And Philippians 4 should weigh in when we remember that we're commanded to think only on those things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Now with that said, here's why I don't think the question, should I let my children trick or treat, is a good question.

It's not that the question has no value. It's simply that the question is missing out on the most important thing

Christians should be considering. I believe the better question is, will allowing my children to trick or treat glorify

God? We could also say, will my family celebrating Halloween glorify God?

This is a much better question because there's an answer to this question. There's no definitive biblical answer to the other question.

But with this better question, you should be able to come to a biblical answer for your family. Now, it's going to take some time and it's going to be very specific to your family in some cases, but you should be able to come up with an answer.

Let me show you what I mean. I want to work through 2 Corinthians 8 and use it to apply to our question, will it glorify

God if my family celebrates Halloween? First though, obviously, I guess maybe it's not so obvious or I wouldn't be saying it.

If any of us sin in the celebration of Halloween, then God isn't glorified. We can just mark it down 100%.

If you participate in actual satanic or occultic practices, you're sinning and you're not saved.

Okay? Now, if you're binging on candy, the Lord isn't pleased with that either. If you're being unkind and pranking people who don't want to be pranked or scaring people who have asked you not to scare them, then

God isn't glorified and we shouldn't be doing that. So, we can obviously take any clearly biblical category of sin and say we shouldn't participate in that.

And you know, that goes for any holiday. You shouldn't be gluttonous on Christmas or Thanksgiving, Easter or Valentine's Day either.

Okay, now let's work through 1 Corinthians 8. Now, concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge.

This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. We could say, now concerning celebrating

Halloween, we all have our knowledge and opinions, but we must be careful because knowledge makes us proud.

Instead, we should build each other up in love. If any of us think we have all the answers about Halloween, we do not yet understand what we should.

But if we love God, we are known by God. The first thing we must do is separate out what we think and feel from what

God says. Paul understands this is a very important point to open up with because he was dealing with a very controversial and emotionally charged issue in the

Corinthian church. It would behoove us to submit to Paul's reasoning as well. Then he goes on, Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence and that there is no

God but one. For although there may be so -called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many quote -unquote gods and many quote -unquote lords, yet for us there is one

God and the Father from whom all things and from whom we exist, and one

Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Again, we could say, as to the celebration of Halloween, we know that there are no such things as vampires and ghosts, wookies and unicorns, trolls and werewolves, fairies and Disney princesses.

But we do know there is but one God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the

Holy Spirit who created all of us. I love that Paul took an activity that could have looked very questionable at best and said, listen, people, there's no such thing as this false god.

They don't exist. Now, no doubt he would have definitely condemned someone who was actually worshiping the false gods, but that's not what we're talking about here.

We're not talking about people who want to participate in the things God calls sin. We're talking about Halloween, not the people who are sacrificing cats or who are setting cars on fire or who are killing people or who are glorying in the violence and the gore of the season, okay?

So now he continues, however, not all possess this knowledge, but some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Food will not commend us to God, and we are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

Listen, not everyone realizes that there are elements of the celebration of Halloween that are not sinful.

Some, because of their former beliefs or practices, really think that everyone who participates in Halloween is encouraging satanic behavior.

Candy and dress -up will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we participate and no better if we do, but just because you can participate in Halloween to the glory of God, don't you dare cause the weak to stumble.

I think it's really important that Paul addresses both groups that had a horse in the race. He instructs the people who thought it was a sin by informing them that idols aren't real and that there's nothing inherently wrong with eating the food that was cooked on an idol's grill.

It's also interesting to note that the weaker brother is not someone who knows the truth but chooses to be sensitive to the issue.

The weaker brother is assumed to not possess the knowledge that eating meat offered to idols is okay.

Again, the assumption is that if you know the truth, you'll respond in similar ways, and there are a lot of people out there who say, well,

I'm offended that a person would eat a meat offered to idols, or in this modern case, that someone would participate in Halloween, but if they've been shown that there are

Christ -honoring ways to participate in Halloween, and they just say, well, I'm not going to do it anyway, then this passage is not referring to those people.

But he does address the people who thought there was nothing wrong with it. He tells them that they shouldn't flaunt their liberty because they may very well encourage a weaker brother to offend his conscience.

Let's let Paul explain himself some more. He says, starting in verse 10, For if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

And so, by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Okay, this is pretty heavy. Yes, Paul would agree that it's unnecessary to continue in ignorance, and that everyone should know and understand that eating meat offered to idols is okay, but he also knows that not everyone knows or understands that.

That's why he admonishes the stronger brother, the knowledgeable brother, to be careful. Be careful of what?

Specifically, that he not be a stumbling block. Now what's the picture of a stumbling block?

Imagine that I and my family are talking to some friends at church, and we tell them that we're going to a Halloween party. We don't realize that these people were raised to believe that celebrating

Halloween was a sin, but they respect us and assume that we would never do anything that would be so offensive to God, so perhaps, they start to think, maybe it's okay to celebrate

Halloween. So then, without any biblical knowledge or research or study, they attend the next party they're invited to, but they feel uncomfortable the whole time they're there, and the only reason they stay is they're following my example, not because they're biblically convinced.

In Romans 14, 23, speaking on the exact same topic of eating food offered to idols, Paul says this, but whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

This clearly is applicable to our discussion concerning the mirror, the mirror's Christianity, which we just finished up.

And by the way, if you missed that series, we, I would really encourage you to check it out, starting with episode 95. So, if we encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to sin against their conscience, even though the original action wasn't sinful before God, they actually have sinned because they didn't do what they did out of faith in God.

That's why even though Paul has just finished informing the weaker brothers that there's nothing wrong with eating meat offered to idols, he says,

I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. And this is important to realize, there's nothing inherently sinful about being misinformed or ignorant.

And I don't believe this passage is talking about people who've been told that something is okay to participate in and who still choose to refrain or discuss that.

These people won't be led into a stumbling block, but verse 10 makes it clear that it's the unknowledgeable who are prone to being tripped up with the stumbling block.

But to lead someone into sin, there's no excuse for that. In fact, Jesus once said, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Now I'm not going to take the time to itemize all the ways a Christian could participate in Halloween to the glory of God.

I will remind us though, that there's nothing inherently sinful with dressing up, bobbing for apples, having a costume party, collecting candy, fantasy, playing around, carving pumpkins, or even trying to scare people who are willing to be scared.

It's also not sinful to celebrate a holiday that other people choose not to celebrate. It's not sinful to celebrate a holiday that other people choose to celebrate in a sinful way.

If those were the case, then we shouldn't celebrate Christmas or Easter because there are Christians who choose not to celebrate those, and there are people who celebrate

Christmas and Easter in a very sinful way. So I think the main concerns we have on this issue are these.

If we're going to celebrate Halloween, we need to be certain that all we say, do, and feel glorify

God. And secondly, we need to make certain that we're not being a stumbling block to a weaker brother. If you and your family can do that, then enjoy

Halloween. But if your family can't or won't do either of those, then I hope you do not participate in Halloween or else you're sinning against God.

Should your kids go trick -or -treating? I don't know. Can they do it to the glory of God? Now if you have specific questions about this, please feel free to write us at counselor at truthloveparent .com.

We'd love to help you work through it. Now I meet a lot of parents who tell me their child is a good kid, but that they're just in a phase.

Some parents will say their child has a good heart. What's interesting is that most of these descriptions are given to kids who are currently struggling with one or many sinful habits.

Is your child a good kid? Should we tell our children that they're good kids? Please join me next time when we tackle the question, what is a good kid?

I also hope you'll click on the click here for episode notes linked in the description to check out the notes on our blog,

Taking Back the Family. There are a lot of questions out there, and some of them are nearly impossible to answer with biblical certainty because the

Bible just doesn't talk about it. But the Bible does contain all the information necessary to glorify

God in this life. If we're asking the right questions, we will definitely find the right answers in God's Word.

See you next time. Truth. Love. Parent. Is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional premeditated parent.

Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.