Celebrating Christmas

One man esteemeth one day above another:
another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Romans 14:5

Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2 Corinthians 3:17

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;
only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

I suppose anyone before he is saved would think that Christmas is a Christian festival. After all, majority of the Christians celebrate Christmas and the story of the birth of Christ is told every year in December. Christmas appeals both to the saved and the lost because of the spirit of romance that it promotes and it does portray a message of peace, love and hope to the hungry human race living in a dying world torn by strife and turmoil. This gives them some semblance of hope and feelings of peace albeit a false peace which does not originate from the Prince of Peace himself. This is also a time when everyone wants to feel good after all the hard labor of the year and it is now a time for everyone to celebrate and indulge in the fruits of his labor.

It is not surprising that when a person after trusting in the precious blood of Jesus to save his soul, he will follow what most Christians do and celebrate Christmas. In fact, this is to be expected. What do you expect when the media and television programs and schools have been teaching Christmas as a Christian festival all these years!

The truth is that no disciples in the New Testament celebrated Christmas. The story of the birth of Jesus Christ was a recorded historical event in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. No disciples were ever told to remember Christ’s birth but Christ’s death for sinners (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26). Do you think many Christians will stop celebrating Christmas after being told the truth? I trow not! Many would rather go on and enjoy the season’s greetings, friendship and fellowship with likeminded people who don’t see anything wrong with celebrating Christmas. Many good men who saw the truth from the Bible have exposed the true significance and origin of Christmas and its peripheral customs and traditions and I will not repeat it here.

It is only when the child of God is sincere in searching for the truth with a Bible believing and obedient heart will take heed to what the Bible teaches about such holy days. This does not mean those who do not celebrate Christmas are more spiritual than those who do because many young Christians do celebrate Christmas out of ignorance of the truth when they have been brainwashed by the media and traditions from “Christian” establishments. As far as I know, the Jehovah Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas too but do you think they are spiritual Christians? We should be gentle in showing them the truth as we also once participated in such festivities in our ignorance of the Scriptures.

I have also come across Christians who do not celebrate Christmas lifted up with spiritual pride against those who do. Some preached very strongly against the traditions and customs of Christmas but they remained silent on other pagan festivals and gave the impression that Christians can be excused when they participate in some other festivities such as Chinese New Year as they are supposed to give custom to whom custom is due. Some Christians do not celebrate Christmas yet they indulge in making merry and getting drunk during Christmas! You see, we have to know why we do not do certain thing out of love for the truth in the Bible and love for our Saviour. It is very easy to wear a banner to identify ourselves with certain group of people out of pride and wrong motives.

Al Remson, a secular writer, in his book, “Where Does Christmas Come From?” after citing several Christmas traditional elements mentioned that, “It’s tradition now, but none of these practices are reported in the Bible. None were practiced at the time of the birth of Christ.” He also wrote the following conclusion.

Our Christmas practices have many ancestors. St. Nicholas came from Turkey, Santa Claus from Holland, the tree from Germany, our carols from England, poinsettias from Mexico and candles and the spirit of merriment from the Norse. There are contributions from Druids and pious monks. And perhaps that is how it should be. Christmas may have come from many lands. Christmas may be a happy blend of folk traditions and Christmas traditions. Yet everywhere it is celebrated, it reflects the same poignant human yearnings for love and for a reason of hope. Indeed it is the light of the world; the hearth in the cold of winter, and the beacon in the darkness. So finally, where does Christmas come from? It comes from our hearts.

So do you still think it is Biblical to celebrate Christmas? If you are a child of God who does not celebrate Christmas because you know what the Bible says about Christmas and you love God and are concern for His honour, God bless your heart. If you are saved and have been celebrating Christmas, I invite you to search the Scriptures and find out for yourself what the Bible has to say about Christmas. May God give you the courage to obey God than men!

For more study on Christmas, please read Money Is The Reason For The Season by Daryl Coats.