What I am going to write deals with the observance of Christmas in the United States. Two extreme practices have always existed among the brethren regarding Christmas. One group desires to make out of Christmas everything the Roman Catholics and other sectarian churches believe it to be. Others, say they do not want to have anything to do with the Christmas season for fear that someone will think they are observing December 25 as Christ’s birthday.
The liberals in the church (those who teach doctrines that loose men from what God in the Bible has bound on them) will embrace anything regarding Christmas (observing it as Christ’s birthday). Such people do not care one way or the other about right or wrong. Their motto is “I did it my way.” There is not much you can accomplish with those who are bent on doing their own thing and are determined to twist the Scriptures (if they appeal to them at all) in order to justify their warped views. Hence, most of what I have to say is not addressed to such rebellious characters. Therefore, I am addressing myself to those who desire Biblical authority for their actions.
Assuredly, there is no authority found in the New Testament to observe Christmas as the birthday of Christ. Since we are to do only what is authorized in the New Testament, to observe any day of the year as Christ’s birthday is to act without Divine approval (Colossians 3:17). Such activity constitutes sin. Christians, therefore, are not to use any symbols or engage in any kind of activities that would lead anyone to think that we observe Christmas as Christ’s birthday.
It takes Bible knowledge and some mental effort on the part of brethren to discern what upholds and promotes December 25 as Christ’s birthday and what does not. When such mental effort is involved, some just dismiss the whole thing, or they think they do, while others (as I have previously pointed out) embrace everything about Christmas. I do not subscribe to either view.
In the United States (in other countries, according to their customs, religions, etc. I would probably follow a different course regarding Christmas) even atheists have been known to observe Christmas as a national holiday. Some time ago, I received a Christmas letter from a secular humanist organization. All around the edge of the sheet of paper were holly leaves and red berries. The letter was wishing me “Season’s Greetings.” The point is this, everything connected with Christmas is not necessarily upholding December 25 as Christ’s birthday.
Some brethren who will not put up a Christmas tree for fear of causing someone to think they observe Christmas as Christ’s birthday, do not mind accepting a Christmas bonus. They may not have the “star of wonder, star of light, star of awesome beauty bright” in their eyes, but they sure do have dollar signs like “visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.” Moreover, such brethren, along with their Christmas bonus, are thrilled to benefit from the Christmas season by taking advantage of not having to go to work on December 25. Furthermore, they allow their children to enjoy time out of school, and sometimes go home to grandma’s house, “laughing all the way.” I will not even mention the eating on, around, through, and all over December 25. Such brethren, should not even take advantage of the “after Christmas sales.” If they are determined to cease and desist from, as well as sever any connection with the Christmas season, that is fine with me: just let them make sure that they truly, completely, and consistently do it. Such an effort will make for an interesting December. I do hope that you get the point I have attempted to make.
Let us not engage in anything that is not authorized in the New Testament. However, let us realize that customs do change; some from good to bad, others from bad to good (In other countries customs may and do differ from ours in the USA). I am not going to cease calling the first and second days of the week Sunday and Monday respectively, because they originally were connected with the worship of the sun and moon. Neither will I cease to call the fourth day of the week Wednesday because it is named after the Norse god Wodin (Odin), or the fifth day of the week Thursday because it was originally named in honor of the Norse god Thor. If we can understand how we may call these days of the week by their traditional names without honoring the false gods they were originally named to honor, we should be able to know what does and does not indicate to the public in general the observance of Christmas as Christ’s birthday and our observance of it as a national holiday.
David P. Brown