Using Cultural Moments to Spread the Gospel

Pastors often overlook a biblical way to grow their churches quickly. Before we look at this exciting principle, let’s look to the Apostle Paul for a moment. 

When Paul was in Athens, he was greatly disturbed because the city was full of idols. It seems this was his reason for going to the synagogues and reasoning with the Jews. But his reasoning didn’t stay with the Jews. Another door opened. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him, asking, “What is this babbler trying to say?” (see Acts 17:15). What he said intrigued his hearers so much that they took him to the Areopagus (a place that thrived on trending news items) and let him speak. 

Paul then taught a lesson on how to reach our hearers with the gospel. In his message, he dropped in two strange quotes:

“‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” (Verse 28). 

The first part of that quote, “For in him we live and move and have our being,” was from Epimenides the Cretan. Paul also cites Epimenides in his letter to Titus, which gives the Cretans an interesting character reference:

“One of them, a prophet of their own (Epimenides) said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’” Titus 1:12.

And the second part of the quote from Acts, “We are his offspring,” came from Aratus, a pantheistic Cilician poet. While some may accuse the Apostle of giving credibility to evil men, he used their familiar heroes to build a bridge for the gospel.

Shining the brightest lights in darkness

We can do a similar thing by using Halloween to shine the brightest of all lights in the darkness—the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. We can turn the tables on the enemy. 

This is the one night of the year that the unsaved come knocking on our doors. Don’t leave them standing in the dark. Welcome them by having your porch light on. Put some balloons on your doorstep. Put up a sign saying, “Welcome! We have a special treat for you.” Or you could set up a table on your front lawn with gospel tracts for the soul and treats for the tastebuds. We have a special treat for you if you’re unsure which tracts you should use. It’s a Halloween Pack, packed with appropriate and attractive tracts to go with your treats. 

Other ideas 

Or you could have a similar outreach in your church parking lot. Think about this unique opportunity. We live in dark times, so parents now accompany their kids as they walk the streets. They come out of their houses. If you are a local church and want to meet your neighbors, you usually have to go into their homes, and that’s a little awkward. But on this night, there’s no awkwardness. You can use it to build connections with families in your community. They will approach you, and it won’t be awkward because you have treats waiting for them. 

You could, of course, open your church doors as a safe space for families to come, offering an alternative to trick-or-treating—where you have games, crafts, and treats, all the while sharing the message of the gospel either verbally or with tracts. You could also offer hot drinks, snacks, or even free meals. 

But here is that special way to melt their hearts towards you: put a couple of tables on your property, close to the sidewalk, so they don’t have to come onto your church property. Then, load that table with goodies for the neighbors. 

Look at scripture:

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15).

By having a table on the sidewalk of your property packed with gifts for their children, you’ll soften parents’ hearts and, in doing so, stop any prejudicial thoughts toward your church. Again, this is the one night of the year that parents walk the neighborhood with their children. So take the opportunity to lavish them with gifts. Turn the tables on the enemy. Put their ignorance to silence. Instead of seeing your church as a money-making blight on the neighborhood, they will see it as a lighthouse of kindness in a dark and frightening world. Am I exaggerating? Try it and see. 

©2023 Ray Comfort. Used with permission.