As Christmas time
draws close, as Christians we are all faced with Christmas celebrations at the
workplace, in our churches, in our extended families, and in our own nuclear
family. Over the past few years of the
SIH ministry, I have several posts that refer to the Christmas observance and
the Biblical teachings surrounding the birth of Christ. Every year, I have received questions such
as: What is the proper role of the
Christian in these celebrations? Based
upon the origin and history of the Celebration is it proper for any
participation whatsoever?
Perhaps, the most complete series of
questions that I have received on this subject comes from Shelia at http://talkativeangel.wordpress.com. I appreciate her allowing me to use her
series of questions as the basis of this posting. I also very much appreciate the questions
themselves because they do get to the heart of the issue at hand.
Let’s begin looking at the subject at
hand by answering the questions that Shelia has asked in her comment…
THE SCRIPTURES:
1Cor 8:8-12 (KJV)
8)
But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we
eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
9) But take heed
lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that
are weak.
10) For if any man
see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the
conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are
offered to idols;
11) And through
thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12) But when ye
sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against
Christ.
2Cor
6:14-18 (KJV)
14)
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion
hath light with darkness?
15) And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an
infidel?
16) And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
17) Wherefore come
out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean [thing]; and I will
receive you,
18) And will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty.
1Cor 9:19-23 (KJV)
19)
For though I be free from all [men], yet have I
made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20) And unto the
Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the
law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21) To them that are
without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law
to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22) To the weak
became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all [men], that I might
by all means save some.
23) And this I do
for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with [you].
1Cor 10:28-33 (KJV)
28)
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in
sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience
sake: for the earth [is] the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof:
29) Conscience, I
say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another [man's] conscience?
30) For if I by
grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31) Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32) Give none
offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
33) Even as I
please all [men] in all [things], not seeking
mine own profit, but the [profit] of many, that
they may be saved.
THE STUDY:
Here
are Shelia’s questions followed by my answers…
(if anyone has
anything to add to any of my answers I would be very happy to hear them, please
simply leave them as a comment on the bottom of this posting.)
“Has anyone been able to pinpoint the exact
month and date of which He was born of woman? I highly doubt it was in December
even though I have not completed an indepth study on the time. The only thing
so far that have always stuck with me is the verse in Luke 2:8 speaks of the
shepherds being out in the field keep watching over their sheep.”
To the best of my knowledge, the date
for the birth of Christ has never been pinpointed. However, it is common knowledge that it was
not during the winter season. Most
believe, based on the shepherds being in the field and the astronomical events
that involved the star over the manger, that Jesus was born in late summer or
early fall (Aug-Oct).
“How is that most if not all Christians
seem to be in accord celebrating His birth on December 25th?”
The
celebration for the birth of Christ began as a Catholic celebration. It was called the “Christ Mass” hence the
name Christmas. It was purposely begun
to give the lost world an alternative to the heathen observance of the winter
solstice that was observed by false religions on December 21st or
perhaps the Babylonian celebration of the birth of the son of the queen of
heaven. Once it began on this date, it
gradually became accepted in various denominations and nations of the world.
(For a
very detailed look at the Christmas and Easter celebrations and their relation
to the false worship celebrations please procure a copy of the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, Loizeaux Brothers,
Neptune, NJ, 1959…. This is a REAL EYE OPENER and I suggest it wholeheartedly
for this subject. It may be difficult to
read but well worth the effort.)
(You can read this book for free at:http://www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/)
“Was this a practice/celebration of His
birth that took place in the NT?”
No. Also, to my knowledge, there is no place in
the NT that we told to remember the birth of Christ. We are told to remember His death and
resurrection (through the Lord’s Supper and Baptism), but I do not know of a
place where we are told to remember His birth.
“If Christmas is supposed to be the time according to
most Christians or tradition, the time to focus on Christ, why is it that every
day is not considered Christmas for Christians?”
My thought
is that we should remember all that He has done for us on a daily basis. A part of His gracious work on our behalf was
humbling Himself by His coming to the earth as the God/Man. So, yes, everyday should be Christmas. But also everyday should be Thanksgiving, and
Easter as well. But besides thinking about Him every day, I’m not sure if there
is anything wrong with setting aside a certain day a year to emphasize a
particular aspect of His work.
“Second, I want to skip out of Matthew 1- 2
for a sec here, please sir. Matthew 15:8-9–”These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their
teachings are but rules taught by men.”
I fully
agree with the principles of this verse. If a person hypocritically goes
through the motions of worship without truly being in submission to the will of
God, it is sin. When we do “religious
things” without a submitted spirit, it
is all vain. When a teacher of God’s
Word possesses a hypocritical, unsubmitted spirit, then his teachings cannot be
from the leadership of the Spirit but must be his own thoughts and, therefore,
the rules (doctrines) of men. This is
what was taking place in Isaiah’s day and also Christ’s day…
Matt
15:8-9 is a quote from Isaiah 29:13… it was speaking to those who were experiencing
“spiritual sleep” brought upon them by Jehovah as a punishment for their
sins. They were unable to understand and
proclaim God’s Word in truth because they were not in submission to His
commands. Also, in Christ’s day, the
lost Jews could not understand His Word, nor proclaim it… so they began to develop,
and follow, false teachings that opposed the commands of His Word.
I believe
these verses CAN apply to this very issue.
We have lost people outwardly “celebrating” the birth of Christ without
having a spirit of faith and submission to Him.
In these cases, there is no doubt in my mind that this applies. Although blinded to the truth, they still
hypocritically go through the motions of worship in the Christmas celebration.
Also, we
could have saved people all wrapped up in the material, commercial side of
things, claiming to be worshipping Him, but really that is not the spirit of
their heart. In this case, I believe,
these verses apply as well.
For
believers to celebrate the Christmas celebration with a submitted spirit,
desiring to put the Lord first in their celebration… I’m not sure that these
verses address that… I am not sure that there is actually hypocrisy present in
their celebration.
“The gift giving was from others to Jesus,
and not to each other, correct? And it was also after his birth. It was common
practice to bring a present to a King when coming before one, which I think
still goes on today. (Matthew 2:1-11)”
To my
knowledge, you are absolutely correct.
Also, the only time I know of in the NT, where gifts are exchanged between
individuals, is found in Rev 11:10 when the lost are celebrating the death of
the two witnesses for Christ.
“With
those verses in mind, I wonder if we as Christians should really celebrate in
reality a man made holiday called Christmas?”
This is
the “million dollar question”. I believe
this issue must be between each Christian and the Lord. I can see different ways that Christians can
look at this question:
First of
all, if we apply 1 Cor 8:8-12 (warning against being a stumbling block to
weaker Christians), I can see why a Christian would choose to totally abstain
from the celebration….
A stronger Christian family could observe it in a
God-honoring way by centering on His birth (and all His other works on their
behalf). However, a younger Christian
may see their participation and use that as an excuse to participate in the
materialistic, God-demeaning aspects of the carnal Christmas celebration.
Secondly,
if we apply 2 Cor 6:14-18 (the need to live lives separate from the world) I
can see where a Christian may decide to abstain as well…
After all, the very beginnings of the celebration has human origins, much
of the symbolism is drawn from false religions and finally much of the celebration has become so
materialistic and carnal that the very aspect of Christ and His birth does not
enter the mind of many who participate.
Thirdly, there is another
aspect that we need to look at. Based
upon 1Cor 9:19-23 Paul explained that he tried to reach people “where they were at”
(socially, educationally, mentally, nationalistically etc) to reach them with
the truth. This could apply to the Christmas celebration…
During December, the Christmas holiday is “where the
world is at”. In other words, that is
what they are thinking about, that is what they are talking about, that is what
they are concentrating on.
Some
Christians believe that during the holiday season there is a great opportunity
to reach others with the truth of Christ and His word that exists no other time
of the year. They believe the key is to
be sure that we are placing Christ first in all of our celebration leaving the
materialistic and carnal and mythical aspects behind. They say that if, as Christians, we remember
with thankful hearts His coming to the earth, His living a sinless humble life,
His being crucified and raised again on our behalf, there is nothing wrong with
that. We should think on these things every day. Why can’t December 25th be one of
those days?
Also
they believe that by laying aside the materialistic, carnal, mythical aspects
of the holiday, they are in essence observing a different celebration than that
which found carnal beginnings in the Catholic church. It is as if they are doing in a Godly way,
what the worldly Christmas celebration claimed to be doing in a carnal, sinful
way.
For
example, if you are hosting a gathering of your family and friends be sure to
have a Godly, Bible-centered devotion to reach those who may never set foot in
a church. The Lord could actually use
this opportunity to witness to be the only time they hear the truth about
Christ and all He has done for us.
Also,
I’ve personally seen Christian families observe the Christmas celebration
honoring Christ and leaving all the carnal aspects to the side. Solely through their example, they have been
able to reach members of their extended family.
It was those lost family members who offered to go with the Christian
family to church on Christmas morning to visit with them when they had been
otherwise unreachable with the truth about Christ. What made this change? They told me it was the way they saw
Christmas being observed by the Godly Christian family.
What is my personal belief on the subject? My family seeks to celebrate the Christmas
holiday in a Godly, Christ honoring way.
We ask His grace to leave behind all the carnal, worldly, mythical
aspects of the holiday as we center upon Christ and His work on our
behalf. In doing so, we are attempting
to be a living testimony to those around us.
After all, what greater difference can be seen by a lost world than
comparing a materialistic, carnal, selfish, Christ-less, Christmas celebration
in stark opposition to a Godly, Christ centered, Christmas celebration?
After reading this posting please keep in mind, we should share the
Apostle Paul’s attitude about all of this when He said in 1 Cor 10:….
29) …for why is my
liberty judged of another [man's] conscience?
30) For if I by
grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31) Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32) Give none
offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
33) Even as I
please all [men] in all [things], not seeking
mine own profit, but the [profit] of many, that
they may be saved.
Let’s
all hold a non-judgmental attitude towards each other, let us all allow the
Lord to lead us to do what is pleasing to Him for each of our individual lives. But the most important decision we can make
is to honor Christ and have others see Christ in us. That means no drunkenness, no gluttony, no
materialism, no lies. If we abstain from
these types of sin, the other stuff will take care of itself however the Lord
may lead us.
May the Lord bless you as you seek His truth.
(If I have failed to
answer the questions, or if I misunderstood the question that was asked, I’ll
be glad to try to clarify things. And
once again, if anyone has anything to add to any of my answers I would be very
happy to hear them, please simply leave them as a comment on the bottom of this
posting. I am the first to realize,
there is much that can be added for these answers. I would appreciate your wisdom on these
things)
