What If Christians Looked at Halloween Differently?
Every one of us has a limited number of days on this earth.
We can spend those days mostly living for ourselves, or we can choose to live for God and allow Him to use our lives to make a difference in the lives of others.
Jeremiah 29:11 contains one of the best-known promises in Scripture:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord...
God's plans are greater than the plans we make for ourselves.
Yet there is something I think many of us—including me—need to be reminded of: God doesn't call Christians simply to believe. He calls us to share what we have received.
Jesus told the parable of a farmer who went out to sow seed.
Some seed fell along the path. Some fell on rocky ground. Some fell among thorns. And some fell on good soil, where it grew and produced a tremendous harvest.
The farmer couldn't make the seed grow.
His job was to sow it.
I think there is an important lesson there for us.
We don't change people's hearts. God does.
We don't know who is ready to hear about Jesus. We don't know whose heart God has already been working on. We don't know whether something as simple as a conversation, an invitation to church, a Bible verse, or a small Gospel tract might become part of someone's journey toward Christ.
Our responsibility is simply to faithfully plant seeds.
And that brings me to Halloween.
What if we looked at Halloween as an opportunity?
Every year, millions of children walk through neighborhoods knocking on doors.
Millions more attend trunk-or-treats, church fall festivals, community celebrations and other Halloween events.
Think about how unusual that is.
Families are literally coming to us.
We don't have to knock on their doors.
They're knocking on ours.
And what do we normally give them?
Candy.
There is certainly nothing wrong with giving a child a piece of candy. But what if Christians decided to give them something more?
What if, along with the candy, we planted a seed?
That's one of the reasons we created our Memory Cross Halloween Gospel tracts.
We didn't create them to preach at children.
We created them to be colorful, interesting and fun to fold—and to communicate a simple message:
God loves you.
You are valuable to Him.
And Jesus can change your life.
The unusual endless-loop design gets children's attention. They fold it over and over, discovering the different panels and the message as they go.
And for a child or parent who wants to know more, there is a QR code that gives them an opportunity to take the next step and learn more about following Jesus.
But here's the important part:
We have absolutely no idea what God might do with one small seed.
I recently heard a story that reminded me of this.
A young woman's father had died. He had been a strong believer, but she had drifted away from God.
One day she went through a Whataburger drive-through. Someone paid for her meal and left behind a small card inviting her to church.
That's all they did.
They paid for a meal.
They left a card.
They planted a seed.
But for this young woman, it meant something more. She saw it as a reminder that perhaps God was calling her back.
So she went to church.
Then she started dating a young man whose life wasn't exactly headed in the right direction either. On their second date, she brought him to church.
He kept coming.
They became involved with other believers. They began learning more about Jesus. God began changing both of their lives.
Eventually, he was baptized.
They decided they wanted to follow God together.
And eventually they married.
Think about that for a moment.
Somebody made one small act of kindness and handed out one little card.
The person who did it probably had no idea what would happen next.
But they didn't have to know.
They planted the seed.
God took care of the rest.
That's what I hope Christians will remember this Halloween.
You don't have to have all the answers.
You don't have to know whether someone will respond.
You don't have to know whether the child who receives a Gospel tract will read it once, keep folding it for a week, show it to Mom and Dad, visit the website, attend church someday—or throw it away.
The results belong to God.
Our job is to faithfully sow.
Jesus told His followers:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” — Mark 16:15
For most of us, “all the world” won't begin thousands of miles away.
Sometimes it begins in our own neighborhood.
And once a year, that neighborhood may actually come knocking on our front door.
This Halloween, give them the candy.
But maybe give them something else, too.
Plant a seed.
You never know what God might grow from it.
And I want to be clear about something.
Yes, we make and sell Memory Cross cards. Selling them allows us to keep creating and producing resources like these.
But selling cards isn't the ultimate goal.
Our prayer is that Christians develop a genuine passion for loving people and sharing the Gospel with them.
If our little folding cards help you do that, we're grateful to be a small part of it.
But Memory Cross isn't the point.
Jesus is.
If you have another way to share God's love this Halloween, use it. Invite someone to church. Have a conversation. Pray with someone. Hand out another Gospel tract. Do something kind for a neighbor. Give children candy and tell them that God loves them.
The method isn't what matters most.
What matters is that we don't let the opportunities God puts in front of us simply pass by.
Plant the seed.
Love people.
Share Jesus.
And trust God with what happens next.
