Nathan Finochio, pastor at Hillsong Church also says parents have a responsibility to teach their children about Halloween, warning “there is spiritual darkness surrounding everything.”

In a recent story shared to Instagram, Nathan Finochio, author and pastor of Hillsong Church listed 10 reasons parents should allow their children to trick or treat:

Don’t instill fear of the world.

Don’t teach them that the world has more fun.

Don’t teach them superstition.

Don’t teach them isolationism.

Don’t teach them a lack of faith.

Teach them common grace – candy is from God and that to the pure all things are pure.

Teach them the redemptive motif – that we reinterpret culture and give it a new meaning.

Teach them that the demonic works by willful agreement, bot accidental consumption.

Teach them in but not of, not out and not of.

Critique loudly what you see as you walk. Make them brave and discerning, not scared and superstitious.

While he endorses kids celebrating the holiday, he also emphasizes the importance of properly teaching kids about things like Halloween because of the real and present threat of spiritual darkness.

“There is spiritual darkness surrounding everything,” Finchio said in an interview with Faithwire. “Films, books, politics, and yes, even Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter.”

“I think humanity is fascinated with the afterlife, with death, with good and evil. And Halloween is a cultural recognition, a sort of strange negotiation with some of these concepts,” Finchio said.

He acknowledges that there are pagans along with witches and warlocks that consider Halloween a high festival, but points out that Christians took power back from the dark ages ago.

“This is their last stand, and we actually took it from them a long time ago,” he told Faithwire. “In the British Isles, it is known that churches were already celebrating All Saints on 1 November at the beginning of the 8th century to coincide with or replace the Celtic festival of Samhain.”

A major point that Finchio emphasized was the importance of teaching kids history because of the real danger of evil in the world.

Kids don’t learn because parents don’t talk,” Finchio said. “All of life should be a running commentary for the Christian parent.”

For parents that are nervous about the holiday, he encouraged them to allow children to be involved in trick-or-treating, not sit it out.

“Don’t teach your children double-mindedness, anxiety, and doubt,” he explained. “Romans 14 teaches us to be fully convinced and to do things from faith. If you have strong faith, you eat and drink; if you have a weak conscience, you abstain. But the point is not to stay weak, is it? Get a revelation of the Gospel!”