This year I am taking the page from a friend of mine, Adam McLane, and I will not only be passing out candy for Halloween but I will also have some coffee and hot chocolate for the parents that are walking their kids around.

Years ago Kimmy and made the decision to turn off our porch light and would not participate in Halloween. We had heard all the scary stories of how evil it was and that real Christians did not participate in it, so we agreed and did not let our kids go out dressed up to get candy from our neighbors. Nor did we pass out candy to our neighbors.

I want to be clear that I do not condemn nor look down on anyone who makes that personal choice. We have just made the decision that we believe this is the perfect opportunity for Christ-followers to leave their lights on and let them shine. It kind of reminds me of the kid’s song “This Little Light of Mine“.

I recently read a blog post that talked about this and I think this part of that post really hit home…

Mark Young, my friend and former missions prof at DTS (now the president of Denver Seminary), used to talk about this in his missions 101 class. Oh the shame of all of us students who turned off the light. We left the class crying looking for little witches and ghosts to hug. His thesis: Christians are not Christians on Halloween. Not because they have compromised and participated, but precisely because they don’t participate. The one day of the year where children (“Permit them to come to me…” Mark 10:14) were attempting to come to us and we shut the door and turn off the lights. We left the class in tears and began to plan what we were going to be for Halloween.

The blogger posted an excerpt of the talk that Mark Young gave and you can read it here.

What are your thoughts?