I know I've covered this topic before, but seeing as how it's Halloween again, I wanted to cover the subject again. Should Christians avoid Halloween?
A lot of Christians simply leave their lights off as young children scour the streets looking for candy. The children look forward to this holiday all month (some all year), and are ravenous for the sugary stuff that will probably leave them with a belly ache by the end of the night. If we as Christians simply close the doors and keep the porch lights off, I feel we are missing a valuable opportunity to feed these children (and possibly their parents) spiritually with the Word of God.
1Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."
When someone drinks the "word" of God, as opposed to consuming physical food, they will have the chance to grow spiritually.
Luke 4:4 "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Again we see the chance to live and grow in the Word of God by consuming His Word.
There are a lot of unsaved children that will come to your door on Halloween night if you turn the porch light on, and the truth is that most of them have never been exposed to the Word of God, and many of them may never be. Likely many of their parents or older siblings have never been exposed to the Word of God as well. By offering them a child friendly Chick Tract and some candy into their bag, you're offering them the chance to be lead to the Lord, or at the very least you're planting a seed that can later grow and lead to their salvation.
Last week I ordered three child friendly versions of Chick tracts (75 tracts in total) and out of those 75 tracts, I handed out 74 tonight. Only one child tried to throw the tract on the ground on the front porch, and I asked him at the very least to take it home and throw it in the trash there instead of littering. Several children were delighted to receive a little cartoon booklet with their candy, and when some of them were unsure what I was handing them, I told them it was a little comic book (it is technically) and then they smiled and thanked me and went on their way. One parent knew what the tracts were and thanked me for giving his children "God literature" as he put it, and said God bless.
Taking into the account that some of these tracts may be confiscated by Athiest parents before the kids get to read them, I'm hoping that at least 50 of them went into the hands of kids, and that parents and older siblings get a chance to read them as well. When it was obvious that siblings came to the door, I made sure they each got a different tract, so they could share later if they chose to, getting the same message in different cartoons. The one tract that I have left I'll make sure to leave around town somewhere at a restaurant.
As a side note: When giving tracts to children, it's important to choose tracts that will appeal to them, but that are also appropriate. I feel that a lot of the Chick Tracts go a bit overboard into the 'offensive' side for most unsaved people, so I am always sure to order child friendly ones.
The ones I handed out this year were, "Charlie's Ants," "Best Friend," and "The Little Ghost." See below for more child friendly tracts:
(This one for older children)
The best part about Chick Tracts (aside from that they're fun to read and easy to hand out) is that they're so cheap. They cost .16 cents each. I spent less than $20 and got 75 tracts of my choice including shipping. Even if you can only afford to purchase a few, it's still worth it to get these into the hands of children and their parents. What other time of the year do you have so many unsaved kids coming to your house? None. Make use of this time instead of shutting yourself up inside and ignoring the holiday that the rest of the neighborhood is celebrating. Turn this day into a day for God's glory. Even if you only lead one child to Christ, or even if you only plant the seeds of salvation in these children's hearts and minds, you've done a work for the Lord.
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