Justin Bieber has poked fun at Christian opposition to Halloween by sharing a parody video by comedian Kevin A Frederick walking through a fancy dress store praying in tongues and 'cancelling' the ghoullish costumes on offer.
In the video, Frederick, also known as "Kev on Stage", pretends to cast demons out of the Halloween decorations and tells viewers that he is "cancelling the assignment" of Satan in Jesus' name.
"In the name of Jesus, we cancel the assignment of the enemy. We cancel the ghouls and the goblins. We cancel the ghost, unless it's the Holy Ghost," he says.
At one point, Frederick gestures towards the more seductive costumes and says he's cancelling the tights and leggings.
"I cancel this lust spirit, these sexual costumes. I cancel these tights and leggings," he said.
"Lust, I call you out. Lasciviousness I cancel. Dirty maid, clean your spirit up for God. Cover-up you Jezebel, Delilah, Bathsheba, cover-up in the name of Jesus."
Seeing the funny side of the parody, Bieber told his 119 million Instagram followers that he could relate because of his Christian upbringing.
"This will only make sense if you grew up in church," Bieber wrote.
"This is funny to me because I grew up in church and remember there are actually people like this haha this is a good parody [sic]."
Other Christians joined in the laugh, with Laura Lentz, wife of Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz, responding, "Hahahaha YES!!!!"
A 2015 LifeWay study found that most Christians are relaxed about Halloween, with over half (59%) saying "it's all in good fun".
Only one in five (21%) said they avoided it completely.
Bieber's post prompted a discussion about Halloween among his followers who had had a similar Christian upbringing, with some saying that they had not been allowed to go trick or treating, and others saying that they had not been allowed to read or watch Harry Potter.
