Question:  Dear Greg,

            If Christmas is not the day that Christ was born then why should Christians celebrate it?  Not only that, I heard that it is a day that pagans used to celebrate.  Why should Christians observe Christmas?

            Cory

Answer:  First of all, Christians don’t celebrate days.  We should not celebrate any days (see Galatians 4:8-11 and Colossians 2:13-17)—but rather we should celebrate the fact that God, in the person of Jesus (see Matthew 1:23) came to this earth to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21).  He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

            Christmas and Easter, regardless of what happened during those exact times and days in history, and regardless of the fairy tales and frills such as red-nosed reindeers and chocolate rabbits, materialism and wild parties, stand for the two great events that transform every Christian’s life—the birth and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

            There is no doubt that no one knows when Christ was born.  There is no doubt that pagans, long before Christianity, used these times of the year to celebrate their gods.  The fact is that the Christian church chose those days for exactly those reasons.  Because no mandate from God existed under the new covenant about exactly when, where and how to celebrate Christ (as opposed to the old covenant, where all details were and are prescribed), the Christian church deliberately chose pagan days so that a victory could be won.

That victory has been won.  Very few people bow down and worship a Christmas tree, or pray to the Easter bunny.  The focus of Christmas and Easter, for Christians, is Jesus Christ.  Period.  Nothing more.

The fact that many use these times for other reasons does not invalidate the worship of Christ.  The fact that no one knows the exact date when Christ was born does not mean we should avoid celebrating his birth.

            In all cases of those, organized and otherwise, who make a big deal out of how pagan Christmas is, I do not know of any one group or individual who seriously propose and practice a celebration of Christ at some other time when their precise astronomical and historical calculations conclude he was born.  The point of their argument seems to be clear—they do not propose celebrating the birth of Christ at the right time and at a time that is “non-pagan” (whatever that may mean).  They simply propose not celebrating the birth of Christ completely.  How can someone be a Christian and fail to celebrate the fact that God, because of his great love for us (John 3:16) entered time and space to save us?

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht