Last Halloween was cold — REALLY cold. The little pack of kids from our cul-de-sac started out with vigor on their candy-hunting quest, but soon found themselves shivering uncontrollably in their coat-less costumes. Only two blocks into our neighborhood, it was time to retreat! So without any intentional planning, my wife and I stumbled into a prime opportunity to build relational bridges with our neighbors. We invited the pack of kids inside our home and the warm spot in front of our fireplace quickly became the neighborhood candy counting and trading station.

That experience has me thinking this year. What if we were more intentional about using Halloween as an opportunity to build relationships with our neighbors and demonstrate the love of Jesus? Halloween has a bit of a mixed history, and Christians are often divided on how to approach it. But one thing we can agree on is that Jesus calls us to love our neighbors! In a world of automatic garage door openers, we can go months without seeing or interacting with any of them. But once a year, they actually come knocking on our door without us having to go through the trouble of sending out invitations!

In Ephesians 5:15-16 we are exhorted to make the most of every opportunity, or as one translation puts it, “redeem the time.” How can we “redeem the time” this Halloween? Here are a couple links with some helpful ideas:

12 Simple Ways To Be On Mission This Halloween: 

(and a previous post from our blog): October 31: Opportunity for Mission in our Neighborhoods

I sure hope that it’s warmer this weekend!

Mark Irving

Photo Credit: Nadia Prigoda-Lee
Photo License: Creative Commons 2.0