These days on Facebook I saw a post that sounded alarm, “Why Christians should not be part of Halloween.” And another day a Messianic Jewish friend sent a blog about “Why in Christianity there are “Christians” who celebrate this satanic and many other feasts, and have problems with celebrating the feasts of Yaweh? Adding to it last week I received a text message from an intercessor friend about HOW TO FACE HALLOWEEN. The message had 5 points guide for believers and for the Church on how should we pray during this pagan Halloween celebration.

The message says, “The month of October is consecrated to God through our prayer. Let us stay alert all month, and from now on we will intensify the prayer for our children and young people. The spiritual activity of the evil one intensifies, not only in places where Satanism and witchcraft are practiced, but in schools, shopping centers and in the media.” The message says that Prayer is the strategy to confront this challenge that our children are facing.

I agree with the prayer initiative and how we should act facing everything that

comes with Halloween. Let me be clear that I believe and I know that I cannot face any challenge to my faith without the covering of prayer and intercession. But when I was reading the text message and the prayer points, it made me think “that I’ll have to stay in door, at home with my children”. In India, the dominant worldview teaches something like this, in order to attain the peace of mind and righteousness one has to withdraw from the world. I have seen people withdrawing and going into Himalaya, in ashrams or in the caves, because the evil in the world will not let them attain the righteousness and peace of mind.

So what does it mean, when the Bible says “… he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Besides, what kind of God am I presenting to my children? If the God of the Bible is “Almighty, Good, and the Holy Creator” then what should be my responsibility as a believer? I must face this evil that is stealing, killing and destroying what my Heavenly Father has created. Besides prayer, is there something that I should do?

I come from India, where everyone believes that the spiritual world exists and can have an influence on the material world (the physical world). There is the good spiritual world and the bad or evil spiritual world. Besides that in India, we grow up in a culture knowing that the spiritual world is not a fun. So we should not take it lightly, make fun of it or poke our nose in it for fun. Above all, the evil world is against the well-being of being human and aims at enslaving through fear. Its goal is to “steal, kill and destroy”. For me, Halloween is poking into evil spiritual world and exposing ourselves and the innocent children. It can happen consciously or unconsciously.

“I wonder what we Christians are known for in the world outside our churches. Are we known as critics, consumers, copiers, condemners of culture? I’m afraid so. Why aren’t we known as cultivators—people who tend and nourish what is best in human culture, who do the hard and painstaking work to preserve the best of what people before us have done? Why aren’t we known as creators—people who dare to think and do something that has never been thought or done before, something that makes the world more welcoming and thrilling and beautiful?” ― Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling

As Christians, who are we? Consumers of culture or those who criticize the culture? Both positions forbids us from influencing the culture. Consumers are insiders they do not seems to have consideration for evaluation, analyze or criticize in-order to prohibit the damage that could be caused. On the other side the criticizers appears to be sitting on the sidelines therefore are seen as irrelevant, those who spoil the good atmospheres and as a result they have few followers and majority ignore them. Therefore both consumers and critics would not influence the society.

We were created in the likeness of the Creator, we carry the image of that Creator, image bearers of the Creator. We must not be consumers of what does not propagate righteousness, peace, beauty, joy and truth. On the other side we should not be the ones that always condemn. IN today’s culture Christians appear more as critics. According to the book of Genesis: as our first parents, we must be creators and cultivators. The word of God and our Lord Jesus Christ give precisely gives us the road map on how to be a creator and cultivator. The bible time and again reminds us our original design and call.

We see Our Lord modeled the Kingdom culture for us. He showed us how to treat children, women, people with leprosy and even the enemies. He didn’t just criticized the culture shapers who completely misunderstood God’s heart and were misleading people. But he also guided people into the truth of Kingdom culture. The first Christians transformed the culture by individual as well as collectively practicing the teaching of our Lord. Galen of Pergamon was an influential Roman physician and philosopher wrote, “Christians also number individuals who, in self-discipline and self-control in matters of food and drink, and in their keen pursuit of justice, have attained a pitch not inferior to that of genuine philosophers”. The early Christians led men and women to a life that was marked by Kingdom ethics and this way they transformed the Roman Empire.

Application of the teaching of our Lord will make a difference in our own lives which is our first step towards making a difference in our society.

We have to create and cultivate “COUNTER CULTURE” against many cultural practices that doesn’t impart the virtues of the Kingdom of God. For example Halloween has tremendous influence on our society. This celebration (here in Spain) focuses on making children and adult afraid. Whereas the Kingdom virtue is creating “joy and security”. We Christian should use our church buildings to organize events that will create an atmosphere of JOY, SECURITY, GENEROSITY, LIFE, GOODNESS, PEACE, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, COMPASSION, etc. Events where there is space for children and young people from the church, as well as for families from our neighborhoods. Events with a lot of preparation, quality and above all every aspect covered in prayer.

Since las 5 years at YWAM, Madrid we have been organizing “Fall Festival”, every year the number of children and parents who are participating is growing. This year we had almost 80 children plus their parents or guardians. A neighbor thanked us saying, “You gave us this option because we do not like Halloween but there was no option to prevent our children, and now together as a family we can be part of something good.” We had a city Council member as a chief guest and he said, “This is wonderful, you should be more visible for rest of the city”.

This year we had the local pastors came to see what and how we do it, so that in 2019 they can organize similar event in their neighborhoods. We want to see multiplication of “Fall Festival” in every neighborhood of the city and this nation. “The bigger the change we hope for, the longer we must be willing to invest, work for, and wait for it.”― Andy Crouch

In addition, on October 31 is also celebrated the day of the Reformation, a very significant day for the Church and for the whole world. The Reformation laid the foundation of the culture that we have privileged to value social justice, human rights, and liberties in the modern world. Let’s take an inspiration from the fathers of the Reformation and continue to reform our nations.