Well, we’ve
just finished another Christmas Season. And as I derive much pleasure, insight,
and sometimes (as in this case) angst from Grace Gems, allow me to address the
view expressed on this site that Christians should abstain from celebrating the
holiday.
I had
previously fought this mental battle and arrived at the contrary position.
However, as Gems advanced the views of such eminent (and admired by myself)
Christians as Spurgeon, Pink, and others, I thought it time for further
reflection.
They pretty
much advance a zero tolerance approach to Christmas as we know it. Their
objections seem to hinge on points such as:
· No Biblical mandate or suggestion to
celebrate Christ’s birth
· The pagan and/or Catholic roots of the
holiday
· The observance and virtual “takeover”
of the holiday by the world
Let me take
these points one at a time.
The first
point is the easiest to refute on the grounds that the Bible’s lack of
specificity on a topic doesn’t necessarily lead one to conclude it’s prohibited
(or endorsed). For example: the Bible doesn’t tell us to celebrate our own
births, so are birthday parties to be avoided by believers? I understand the
difference between our Savior’s birth and ours, and the consideration of the
proper reverence for anything relating to God, but you have to be consistent.
Those who want to proceed or not based on direct, specific Biblical direction
are going to find themselves unsure much of the time. We are given God-given
intelligence and sense that we are to apply in areas where the Bible is silent
or at least open to interpretation. One cannot just apply an approach that goes
something like this: if something is not promoted specifically, it must be
prohibited. Because this leads to the conclusion that naturally follows: if
something is not specifically prohibited, it’s allowable. Any thinking person
can see the farce that follows. Besides, as my wife pointed out, the birth of
Jesus sure seemed to be celebrated by the shepherds and Magi (gifts and all!).
But please don’t think me obtuse. The “celebration” then and now look like very
different events. It has morphed into a gross caricature of consumerism with
barely a nod to the Savior’s birth.
Regarding
pagan/Catholic roots, we have to consider which historical account is most
accurate. Also, Christians are involved in all manner of things with “pagan”
roots. What does that exactly mean anyway – “pagan” roots? Everything from the
invention of the wheel to computers have pagan roots if you define pagan as anything
not commanded by His Word or created by God (like The Ten Commandments,
Aardvarks, or Josh Turner). So yes, I’m saying pretty much everything in our
fallen world has pagan roots; after all, this isn’t Heaven. I don’t know much
about Arthur Pink, but I do understand that Spurgeon enjoyed his cigars, which
I’m pretty sure have “pagan” roots. You can see the slippery slope of
ridiculousness this creates. In addition, pagan roots or not, if the end game
is exalting (or even just getting His name out there) Jesus Christ; that works
for me. Yes, the world may be indifferent, or even hostile to Jesus, but isn’t
the joke on them when they celebrate
Christmas (ipso facto, the birth of Jesus)? Let’s put the shoe on the other
foot and let the pagans sweat over celebrating a tradition with Christian roots
– ha ha!
This morphs
into the last reason given by those objecting to participating: the virtual
takeover of the celebration by the world. But a lot of what I just said applies
here also. Anyway, the takeover is mostly a matter of perspective or attitude.
As a Believer, this is our lot in life: functioning in a world that has been
taken over by (more accurately, given to) the Enemy and his minions (pagans).
As a Christian Soldier, I will put on the whole armor of God and go out and
fight the Good Fight every day; not giving an inch to the enemy. Why should my
family and I not enjoy outings to theme parks, the beach, or any number of
places because often they are crawling with uncouth, profane people? I want my
children, as much as possible, to enjoy the fun, wholesome things I did as a
child, even though many of these things are a whole lot less wholesome due to
the degradation of society. So, we pick our punches and for the most part have
been able to accomplish this by different tactics; all of the time honoring God
and not being taken down to their level, but being the salt and light in
whatever small measure we can.
Pagans will
fulfill their job description, but I refuse to let them taint all the blessings
God still bestows on his people. Ecclesiastes tells us to eat, drink, and be
merry. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, and we will also
celebrate his birth. As much as the world doesn’t get it, in my book it still
is “the most wonderful time of the year”.
Here’s to a
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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