Last week, in Should Christians Celebrate Christmas, Part 2, we saw that we should, indeed, commemorate the greatest gift that humanity could have ever received: the gift of Baby Jesus. But is it right to celebrate Christmas the way the world does? I mean, Christmas is so rooted in paganism!
I was thinking about this as I was out for a walk the other night. The street was lit up with Christmas lights, and as usual, I was saddened by the abundance of Santas and Reindeer and Christmas trees. But as I was staring at one particular Christmas tree, wondering in my heart whether I, as a Christian, should even have a Christmas Tree in my home, I heard the whisperings of God’s voice: “But I like trees!”
What? I am contemplating whether or not take down my Christmas tree, an idea that I am sure God will not only approve of, but will push me to do, and God tells me He likes trees?
Then came the whisperings again: “I created trees. I like them very much! I even died on a tree!”
Sudden understanding washed over me: It isn’t the Christmas tree that is offensive to God, for it can be seen as a beautiful reminder of His ultimate Gift to mankind, the Gift that the world has stopped celebrating at Christmas!
So if God loved the Christmas tree, then certainly what is wrong with the tree is what we’ve done to it!
I decided to explore this more thoroughly: We’ve taking God’s created tree, the same tree that should point us to Jesus’ gift on the cross, and we’ve covered it with lights and ornaments and images of Santas, and we’ve piled gifts underneath, most of which fall in the category of “I couldn’t afford to buy it and you don’t need it anyway…”
But God wouldn’t let me go there…He stopped me at “lights”, and once again His whispery voice echoed in my ear: “I also created light! And besides, I am the Light of the world!”
That blew me away. So God didn’t have anything against Christmas lights either… But what about the ornaments?
“My birth WAS beautiful!” came the voice of God. “Why shouldn’t it be celebrated with pretty things?”
“But Lord,” I tried, “what about the gifts? We’ve made it so materialistic…”
But again He cut me off: “The gifts represent the greatest gift of all! The one that I came to give!”
And suddenly I understood: It wasn’t that any part of the way we celebrate Christmas is inherently wrong: It is the fact that we see these things as a representation of a holiday, all the while forgetting the One the holiday is supposed to point us to! It isn’t that Christmas in itself is wrong, it is what we’ve done with Christmas!
So just how should Christians celebrate Christmas?
I would like to propose that we don’t need to put away our Christmas trees and our lights, that we don’t need to stop giving gifts. But instead, that we begin to see these things with a different light. Instead of letting the traditional symbols of Christmas draw us away from Jesus, let’s let them draw us to Jesus!
On Christmas Eve last year, we did a little exercise. Each one in the room was to chose one of the many symbols of Christmas around the room and describe how that symbol could point to Jesus. The answers were eye-opening. Here are a few examples:
My older son chose the Poinsetta, and here is his explanation: The green leaves represent mankind in his sinless state. The Red flowers represent the blood Jesus shed for each of us, and the white pot represents how God sees us once we’ve accepted Jesus’ fantastic gift! As white as snow!
His friend chose the cluster of nutcrackers. As they all stared out in the same direction, they reminded her of how we should all be just as attentive and interested in taking in Jesus’ offer of a relationship!
My younger son chose the Christmas tree, stating that as it pointed upward, to the star at the peak of the tree, it reminded him that in times of trouble, we need to look up, to Jesus!
As I looked around the small gathering, it occurred to me that one of the things that comes to mind when I think of Christmas is the warm, close times together as family. And that reminded me of how much God wishes to have intimate time with us, and how that relationship would not be possible, if it hadn’t been for what we celebrate at Christmas!
Friends, I reiterate, I do not feel it is wrong for Christians to celebrate Christmas. I feel that we must simply allow each of the symbols around us during Christmas to actually point us to Jesus and His unimaginable gift: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2Cor 9:15, NKJV)
But what about the gifts that we give at Christmas? Overspending has become a huge problem in North American at Christmas time, with some families raking in hundreds of dollars of debt all in the name of gift-giving. And for the most part, the people we give gifts to aren’t exactly needy! Is the giving of gifts at Christmas simply feeding our materialistic natures? Should this be a part of Christmas?
Join us next Thursday for Should Christians Celebrate Christmas, Part 3: The Giving of Gifts!
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.)