The theme of the questions that I received through this ministry last year at Christmas time was most definitely this: Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
As someone who has always celebrated Christmas, as someone who can’t even imagine not celebrating Christmas, this seemed a strange question. Yet as I thought about it, I realized that it is not a strange question at all, but rather, an excellent one, one that everyone serious follower of Christ should ask themselves! And even though it is over a month before Christmas, Christmas decorations are already up, and Christmas music is already playing in department stores and shops. This is the time to begin asking ourselves this all-important question!
It cannot be denied that the world has commercialized Christmas. To the majority, Santa has replaced Baby Jesus as the focus of Christmas. Christmas has become about receiving gifts, spending money we don’t have, going into debt so that our families can have just as good of a Christmas as our neighbors. Christmas is about Christmas trees and lights, reindeer and sleighs, poinsettias and mistletoe and holly, turkey dinners, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Though most of us give a passing thought to Baby Jesus, He definitely takes second place.
Of course, we know that December 25 is not the true birthday of Jesus Christ. We do not know when He was born. The date, December 25, is right in the middle of pagan holy days. We also know that the Christmas tree has its roots in paganism, and so does every other symbol that we generally associate with Christmas. Except the Crèche perhaps, but we also know that the Crèche isn’t correct, for the Wiseman were not at the Stable, and we don’t even know for sure that Jesus was born in a stable. We only know Mary laid Jesus in a manger!
And so, “should Christians celebrate Christmas” has become a vitally important question! And if Christmas is wrong, then isn’t Easter wrong as well? And what about Valentine’s Day? And birthdays in general? Aren’t they wrong, too?
As I was thinking about this, I was instantly reminded of the Exodus and the laws that God laid down for Israel. In those laws, He spoke of holidays! He didn’t just say, “It’s okay to celebrate holidays.” He actually commanded the people to celebrate them! Let’s look, for example, at what God had to say about the Passover: “Keep this word. It’s the law for you and your children, forever.“ (Ex. 12:24 NKJV)
Why?
The Bible speaks for itself: “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” (Lev 23:4, NKJV)
These holidays are to be considered “holy convocations”! Sacred assemblies!
Why would God set aside these sacred assemblies?
Again, God’s Word speaks for itself: “When you enter the land which GOD will give you as he promised, keep doing this. And when your children say to you, ‘Why are we doing this?’ tell them: ‘It’s the Passover-sacrifice to GOD who passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he hit Egypt with death but rescued us.'” (Ex. 15:25-27)
God told the people to celebrate the Passover so that they would remember God’s deliverance from Egypt!
And the other “holy convocations” were done for similar reasons. Take the Feast of Tabernacles, for example. This is Israel’s Thanksgiving feast in which they acknowledged the Fall harvest and God’s provision for them.
But let’s go back to the Passover, the first feast God commanded Israel to keep. We know that this is a feast that is a forerunner of Jesus’ death and resurrection, of Salvation. When we accept the gift of His death and resurrection, we are in essence painting His blood on ourselves, and when the day of judgement comes, the angel of death will “pass over” us, for we wear the blood of Jesus!
If God was so specific that the Passover be celebrated, what about the birth of the ultimate Passover lamb? Wouldn’t it make sense that He would wish for that to be celebrated as well? Think about it!
In spite of the fact that we do not know the actual birthday of Jesus, the event that we celebrate at Christmas time is the greatest event in history. It should not be forgotten, it should not be overlooked, it should not be pushed aside. It should be celebrated!
But wait. The world has corrupted the meaning of Christmas! Doesn’t that mean that we shouldn’t celebrate it?
We know that the Passover wasn’t always celebrated the way it should be. Yet when I read through the Old Testament, I see nothing that says, “Only celebrate Passover until it becomes corrupted, then don’t celebrate it anymore!” Rather, I find ordinances that show how to keep the true meaning of the Passover in the celebration!
Friends, just because the world has corrupted Christmas doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Perhaps the question isn’t, “Should Christians celebrate Christmas”, but rather, “Should Christians celebrate Christmas differently than the world does?”
And that will be the subject of the next Christmas preparation lesson: Should Christians Celebrate Christmas, Part 2: How Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? Please join us next Thursday!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.
(To access the entire “Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?” mini-series, please click here.)