As we come towards the end of each year, most Christians start making preparations to celebrate Christmas. The vast majority of believers just celebrate this festival without thinking twice about it.
There are, however,
some Christians who refuse to celebrate Christmas. They claim that doing this
is against the will of God, and they give a number of arguments to try to make
their case.
I am someone who
sides with the majority in believing that there is nothing wrong with
celebrating Christmas. In what follows, I will give some objections that are
sometimes made to doing this, along with my responses.
When I have done
that, I will then say a few words about some problems that are often connected
with how Christmas is celebrated.
Objection:
The word ‘Christmas’
derives from the words ‘Christ’ and ‘mass’. ‘Mass’ here refers to the Roman
Catholic rite that wrongly claims that the bread and wine eaten at the Lord’s
Supper literally become the body and blood of Christ. So in times gone by ‘Christmas’
referred to an occasion when the problematic Catholic rite of mass was
performed.
The bad origins of what
this word referred to show that it is wrong for Christians to celebrate
Christmas today.
Response:
It is true that the
word ‘Christmas’ used to mean this. And it is also true that there are serious
problems with the Roman Catholic rite of mass.
Importantly, however,
the meanings of words often evolve away from their root meanings. What is
important is what words mean today, not what they used to mean.
There are actually
some striking biblical examples of where words that once referred to something evil
are used to refer to something else.
For example, in
Revelation 20:13 John uses the Greek word ‘hades’ to refer to the realm of the
dead. However, at an earlier time (and actually also sometimes still in the
first century AD) this Greek word was used to refer to Hades, the pagan god of
the underworld, i.e., a false god of a false religion.
Clearly, John had no
problem with using this word, despite its history. At the time when John wrote
Revelation, this word could be used to refer to the realm of the dead, and that
was good enough for him. And it was obviously also good enough for the Holy
Spirit who inspired his words.
In the same way, the
fact that the word ‘Christmas’ used to refer to mass is irrelevant. Today, when
people refer to ‘Christmas’, they are not using this word to refer to mass, and
that is what counts.
Objection:
In ancient times the
pagan festival of Saturnalia, which involved worship of the false god Saturn,
was celebrated on 25 December. Then Christians, influenced by Saturnalia,
started celebrating Christmas on that date.
There is therefore a
connection between Christmas and the demonically inspired Saturnalia. So
Christians should steer clear of Christmas.
Response:
First, although
Saturnalia was celebrated in mid-late December, it seems mostly not to have
been celebrated specifically on 25 December.
Second, it is actually
debated whether Christians started celebrating Christmas on 25 December because
they were influenced by the timing of Saturnalia.
Third, even if
Christians were influenced by the timing of Saturnalia, the choice of
date for celebrating Christmas could have been intended to rival
Saturnalia rather than because Christians were compromising on their values.
Fourth, even if some
Christians did compromise on their values at that time, it is what
people understand Christmas to mean today that counts. And today Christmas has
nothing whatsoever to do with Saturnalia.
Objection:
The Bible knows
nothing of celebrating Christmas. In the absence of any biblical instruction to
do this, it is a mistake.
Response:
First, Christians who
celebrate Christmas are, above all else, celebrating the coming of Jesus to
earth, and the Bible obviously does celebrate this.
Second, as far as
celebrating Jesus’ coming to earth on a certain day of the year is concerned, this
objection, to a certain extent, misunderstands the nature of the Bible.
The Bible was never
designed to give us a complete list of things to avoid or not avoid. Life is
too complex with too many variations. If Scripture had been intended to do
this, it would need to be many, many times longer than it is, and it would be
unusable.
As far as Christian
living is concerned, the Bible gives us principles that we need to build into a
healthy, God-honouring way to live our lives. So the fact that Scripture gives
no specific instruction to take a day of the year to celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ is beside the point.
Third, a verse that
is relevant for this topic is Romans 14:5, where Paul writes:
‘One
person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days
alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.’ (ESV)
It is true that here Paul is referring first and foremost
to days of the seven-day week. But we can certainly expand what he says to
include days that occur just once a year. And Paul clearly thinks that whether
or not to treat a day as special is down to an individual Christian’s
conscience.
Objection:
The practice of
bringing trees inside the home stems from pagan customs that celebrated
evergreen trees in some superstitious way.
Therefore, Christians
should keep away from this aspect of Christmas, because of its pagan roots.
Response:
Again, it is what
things symbolise today that counts, and today Christmas trees are typically
just ornamental with no deeper meaning.
Problems
connected with how Christmas is often celebrated
None of the arguments
that I have listed leads us to think that it is wrong for Christians to
celebrate Christmas.
That said, there are
certainly some highly relevant moral issues to do with the way that Christmas
is celebrated in Western countries.
For a start, the way
that Christmas is commercialised is nothing short of horrendous. Many people,
in effect, use remembering Jesus’ coming to earth in self-sacrifice as a means
of making as much money for themselves as they can. There is a real irony in
this.
One thing I personally
hate is when anything to do with Christmas appears in the shops before
December. Sadly, however, this often happens several months before December.
And the motive is all about making money. It really is bad.
Christmas is also
used by many as an excuse for immoral behaviour. Workplace Christmas parties,
for example, often lead to drunkenness and sexual immorality. And at Christmas
time many people allow their greed for food to go unchecked. There is no doubt
that these are things that deeply grieve the Lord.
Another thing I think
is problematic is the whole idea of Santa. It doesn’t seem right for parents to
lie to their children to make them think that some supernatural figure has
travelled through the air to give them presents.
It is absolutely
right that parents should want their kids to have a great time at Christmas.
But there are many ways to do this that don’t involve creating a deceptive
story in which a character behaves supernaturally without any reference to God.
Doing it right
Celebrating Christmas
is all well and good. It’s not compulsory for Christians to do this, but it’s
not wrong either.
But for those of us
who do celebrate it, we need to remember that it is mainly about how God
humbled Himself to become Man for our sake.
It isn’t wrong to
meet up with family and friends, give and receive presents, eat plenty of good
food, take some time to rest, etc., etc. But at its heart, Christmas is a story
of the ultimate gift of Jesus Christ Himself.
See also:
Christians Need to Put Everything to the Test
The Bible, God’s Voice and Useful Information
Should Christians Treat One Day of the Week as a
Special Day?
