Question:
Dear Greg,
My
family and I observe Christmas. A
friend of mine recently has decided to stop observing Christmas.
I asked him why and he quoted Deuteronomy 12:30-31, saying that since
many of the Christmas traditions have “pagan” origins, then we should not
worship God in that way. My feeling
is that if he cannot in good conscience observe Christmas, then he shouldn’t
because “whatever is not from faith is sin”.
For my family and me though, I intuitively feel that worshiping Christ
through Christmas is right and good.
What
is the proper understanding of Deuteronomy 12:30-31 as it relates to Christian
holidays?
Thanks,
Kevin
Answer: Dear Kevin,
Christmas
is just what you describe, a wonderful way to celebrate God’s coming to us in
the person of Jesus. It is his
birthday. It is a time to remember
him. Precise Christmas customs and
practices vary, and none are biblically absolute, but the celebration of
Jesus’ birth is absolutely central to the gospel.
Without him we are nothing! Without
his birth there is no cross, no empty tomb, and no Second Coming!
Deuteronomy
12:30-31 is not a reason not to celebrate Christmas, it is a prooftext that your
friend has been provided that appears to give some justification to support the
silly idea that Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior, is pagan.
A
principle key to understanding the Bible is to always consider and strive to
perceive the original meaning of the passage in question.
A biblical passage cannot have a meaning it never had.
That is, the original meaning must be determined first, and then the
application of that passage to our lives should be/must be (if we are to rightly
divide the word of God), built upon the original meaning God inspired to the
original readers/hearers.
What
did this passage mean? It is a
passage warning against idolatry. Idolatry
turns human hearts away from the one true God.
Does Christmas, the celebration of the incarnation of God in the flesh,
turn human hearts away from the one true God or does it turn our attention to
the one true God? How can someone
call Christmas pagan when it is all about the one true God?
There is nothing idolatrous about Christmas.
Further,
not only is this passage condemning idolatry, but it is also condemning the
immoral practices that often accompany it. In
this case, the precise issue was the sacrifice of children to the gods of
Those
who condemn Christmas (and ironically Easter is often condemned by the same
crowd) are not avoiding paganism, they are in effect turning away from the
gospel of Jesus Christ. They do this
by not only refusing to celebrate his birth and his resurrection, but by
actually condemning these practices as pagan!
This is thin ice for someone who claims to be a Christian!
In
Christ,
Greg
Albrecht