Holiday Repentance
“So what are you doing for the holidays?”
>>Those are eight words I’ve really come to dread. Not because there’s anything wrong with asking, but rather the fact that most people are unpleased with the answer; some being downright hostile, while others are mildly disapproving. Very few are comfortable with my personal convictions when it comes to holidays. Sadly, my friend Janie was no exception when she learned of my convictions that have been called by some “puritanical” when it comes to all celebrations and holidays not explicitly commanded by God or observed by the New Testament Church in the bible.<<
The sounds of Christmas music playing through the loudspeaker spoke of a festive and magical atmosphere. My reply however was not in tune.
“Sean and I and the kids aren’t doing anything; we’re convicted to not celebrate holidays anymore,” I said somewhat sheepishly, almost intuitively knowing her coming reaction, as it was one I had grown quite accustomed to from many other friends and family.
“Seriously?” she said, looking at me as if I’d grown another head. “None?”
“No, not anymore.”
“But why? You use to love the holidays.”
“Well, a lot has changed since we last saw each other, Janie.”
“Yeah, but a complete ‘we don’t celebrate holidays anymore’ is a bit different than something like getting married and having kids, or switching careers.”
“I know, but it’s a conviction.”
“Conviction? How did you get convicted that holidays are something you aren’t going to celebrate anymore? Why? It’s not like they’re a bad thing or anything.”
“It started a couple years ago when Sean and I joined the church we’re currently going to. It was Easter Sunday, and our pastor preached a sermon against the celebration of Easter. Of course, this didn’t really sit well with us since we’ve both grown up celebrating Easter, Christmas, and other holidays. So, we went home and started to do some pretty intense research on the holidays celebrated in America, but especially those that the Church calls ‘Christian’ holidays. What we found in our research gave us serious pause to even celebrating the holidays at all.”
“Seriously? You looked into Easter and Christmas, and whatever other holiday you researched, and decided that holidays shouldn’t be celebrated? Sure, I can maybe understand holidays that have nothing to do with Christ, but our most cherished Christian holidays? Please tell you you haven’t joined a cult or anything.”
“No. By the grace of the Lord, we haven’t. In fact, the church we attend is quite sound.”
“Sure it is,” she said with some disbelief. “Then why are you essentially dumping Christian holidays along with the non-Christian ones? I just don’t get it.”
“A couple reasons actually. One being that they aren’t actually Christian at their roots, and I believe that God, through His Word, commands us not to participate in these things, especially not in a spiritually-focused way.”
Janie stared at me silently, but I could tell that she was having trouble processing what I just told her. This has always been the worst part of sharing my beliefs: the waiting for their reaction to hearing that our supposedly Christian holidays are not Christian at all and even forbidden by the Word of God.
“I’m afraid that I’ve never read anything in scripture where God specifically calls out Christmas and Easter, or any of our other holidays, as wrong.”
“Not specifically by name, no.”
“Then how are you coming to that conclusion?”
“I told you, it started with studying the histories of our holidays, especially the ones that almost the whole of modern christendom likes to call Christian holidays. If you study the histories, you’d be surprised at what is really at the root of our so-called Christian holidays, and would hopefully begin to see exactly why some believe that God would not approve of participating in the celebration.”
“I’m sorry. You’ve totally lost me on that one. The holidays that the Church participate in to celebrate Christ come directly from scriptural events, and those that are not actually from the scriptures are maybe holidays for a non-biblical person such as Valentine’s Day commemorates Saint Valentine.”
“On the surface, yes. But if we dig deeper, there’s a much darker root system. I mean, when I started my research, I thought that what we’ve always grown up hearing about our holiday roots was the depth of it all. But it’s not.”
“Really?” Janie asked with a little sarcasm. “So Christmas isn’t about the birth of Christ? Or Easter about His resurrection?”
“That’s what we’re told that they’re about in most churches, and in our own homes from our parents that are perpetuating the same traditional stories that they’ve been told from their youth. However, that is just the mask that is put on age-old pagan holidays and traditions to get pagans to convert to Christianity by making Christianity more attractive to them. It also bring about the added effect of causing Christians to become more accepting of pagan traditions.”
Janie rolled her eyes and shook her head before saying, “I, as a Christian, clearly don’t accept actively participating in paganism. And when I celebrate our Christian holidays--and they are Christian to me--I don’t worship or celebrate a pagan god. I think about and worship Jesus Christ. So what if some pagans choose to worship their god on the same day; that isn’t whom I’m worshipping. And I know scripture allows for this when we’re told to do all things unto the Lord. So what do you say to that?”
I struggled not to squirm in my chair as I said, “Colossians 3:17 and 23 ‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.... And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.’”
“Well, you certainly knew that reference quickly. So, what’s your response?”
I swallowed before continuing, “We have to keep things in their proper context though. At the start of Colossians 3, God--through Paul--is essentially addressing the church body as a whole, telling us to seek the things of God, and not the things of the world. To mortify our members to avoid all forms of sin that will bring God’s wrath upon us, but instead put on the fruits of the Spirit. Or more simply to put off our old man and put on the new man in Christ. Then, in the second part, you’ll see that Paul is addressing more specific relationships: the wife-to-husband relationship, followed by the child-to-parent relationship, and finally to the servant-to-master relationship.”
I swallowed. “In other words, verse 17 is referring to the first part of chapter 3, while verse 23 is referring to the second part.”
“So. You’re point?” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her seat.
“Meaning, that when we read verse 17, we must remember that God--through Paul--has just told us to seek the things of God and not the things of man, to stay away from that which is dishonoring to God. And verse 23 is very specific to the relationship rolls, and how we are to do our respective rolls as though we’re doing it unto the Lord, rather than unto man. We have to be very careful not to use this as a reason to go ahead and disobey God, though that may not cognitively be our intention. I mean, we’re told in Romans 6 not to use the grace of God to continue sinning.”
“And what exactly about our holidays--where we focus on God, I dare say--is not honoring to Him?”
“Aside from the pagan roots, which according to scriptures already means we should avoid it, there is the simple fact that He has not commanded us to do such ‘honorary’ celebrations. They are unauthorized by Him.”
“Unauthorized?”she asked, her face suddenly overcome with a look of...pity is the only way I can describe it. Suddenly, she sat leaned forward, and in a very gentle voice said, “Oh dear, I’m worried about you. Don’t you think you might be being a little legalistic?”
I sighed. Honestly, I’ve heard ‘legalism’ misapplied so many times that it makes me want to pull my hair out.
Confidently, I said, “No, I don’t.”
With a surprised look on her face, she asked, “You don’t?”
“No.”
“Wow,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Let me ask you a question, Janie. Can you define ‘legalism’ for me?”
“Okay. Legalism is when someone rigorously follows the law, forgetting about the work of Christ on the cross. Thus, they’re really just trying to prove themselves righteous before God, which is impossible, as we are only righteous in Christ. In your case, you’re trying to prove yourself holy by avoiding holiday celebrations simply because you don’t see God having specifically commanded it, and you go even so far as to call it ‘unauthorized’ and ‘pagan’. Seriously, if that isn’t legalism, I don’t know what is.”
“I would partially agree with you. True, if someone follows God’s law in an attempt to earn or maintain their salvation, then they are essentially stating that Christ’s work on the cross isn’t efficient enough; that they have to--on top of His work on the cross--contribute devout adherence to the law in order to really be saved at the end of the day. That is definitely legalism. As is adding anything to His laws, which is what the Pharisees did.”
“Exactly, and that is what you’re doing when you state that you’re avoiding something that isn’t specifically commanded in scripture. There is nothing that says that we cannot intentionally celebrate Him on a specific day--or days--of the year, even if non-believers also happen to celebrate their false deities on those days as well. Heck, we’d have a problem with every day of the year if that was the case, since it’s very likely that certain non-believers are very devout to their own faiths and worship their gods daily.”
“I understand what you’re trying to say, Janie. However, that isn’t what I’m doing. I am not renouncing holiday celebrations because I think I can gain any credit from God by doing so. Nor am I adding anything to His law since my position comes from having done research on some of the holidays that Christians particularly celebrate and holding up those traditions to the authority of scripture, and finding that certain passages in the bible have very strongly convicted me that what I was doing in worshipping Him while participating in non-authorized holiday celebrations was unbiblical. Okay? What I am doing, I am doing out of love and obedience to the One Who died on the cross for His people. The work of Christ is complete; I can’t add anything to it. However, that does not give me license to do whatever I want, claiming the blood of Jesus over it. Not when it is something unauthorized that is being used in some way to worship the Lord.”
Taking a breath, I continued, “Please, don’t confuse obedience--born of love--to the Lord as legalism. After all, don’t you follow the Ten Commandments as the Lord gives you grace to do so because you love Him and desire to obey Him?”
“Of course, but this is not following a law that was quite literally written in stone. This is adding something to scripture at worst, or taking a passage or two out of scripture and misapplying it at best.”
“How so? Can you give me one, just one passage in scripture that would allow for the celebration of Christmas, or Easter, or any other holiday that is not expressly commanded in scripture or at least demonstrated by the New Testament Church?”
Janie stared at me momentarily. For a moment, I thought she was going to stand up and leave, however, she finally said, “Alright. What about Romans 14 or Colossians 2 that talk not judging concerning eating meats and holy days? I believe those are the two books, though I’m not sure of the exact verses.”
I pulled out my phone to pull up the bible application on it. This wasn’t the first time that anyone has ever used those passages, and I’m certain it won’t be the last, but it’s always a good idea to pull out a bible--or phone app, in this case--to verify exactly what the scriptures say.
“Okay, let’s read it. Romans 14 says, ‘Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and give God thanks.’ I could continue if you’d like, but I know that this is the specific part of scripture you’re referencing.”
“Yeah.”
“Now to Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. ‘Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.’”
“Now what do you say to what the scriptures say there? Are Christmas and Easter and other holidays not considered ‘esteemed’ according to these passages? I would think they are, and I don’t believe you can argue that.”
“Okay,” I started. “First off, Romans was very likely written to a congregation of Jew and Gentile Christians, though I’ve read some arguments trying to dispute that. Anyway, I believe we can all agree on the fact that the Church of Rome was comprised of believers, some who were strong in the faith, and some who were weak in the faith. Same with Colossians, as well. Obviously, there was a discussion about the foods eaten, but we’re discussing the part about regarding or esteeming a day, or not.”
“Yeah. I find that the scriptures lay out pretty neatly that holidays are fine, and definitely not something that you should necessarily call ‘unbiblical’ or ‘pagan’. Sure, it might be paganistically practiced by some, but Christians certainly aren’t doing that; they’re worshipping the One true God.”
“Let’s assume that the congregation was indeed filled with a blend of Jew and Gentile believers. The Jews would have come out of a background of celebrating the Old Testament holy days, whereas the Gentiles would not have. Some commentators believe that if this were indeed the case that Paul could have been addressing the fact that the Jews may have tried to pressure the Gentiles to observe the Old Testament holy days as well, and looked down on the Gentiles for not doing so, and vice versa. Some have argued that it was that the Gentile believers were still participating in some of the festivities that they were accustomed to prior to being converted and there was some argument over those celebrations, and that Paul was admonishing that they could still participate as long as they did so unto the Lord. I don’t believe that was the case, however, since we’re told to put on the new man, forsaking the old man, and to forsake even the very appearance of evil. And I find it very difficult to believe that Paul would have been telling Christians to participate in the very traditions that still would have held very obvious pagan elements to them. It isn’t like today, where so many people have actually forgotten the pagan roots of many of our traditions. The Church of Rome would have been keenly aware of the paganism in those celebrations, so I seriously doubt that Paul was giving consent to continue to practice such things. It makes much more sense that he was referencing a whole other system of holy days: the Old Testament holy days. And if that is the case, there is still no argument for celebrating our modern holidays, since they were never once commanded by God to be celebrated, or even demonstrated for us by the New Testament Church in scriptures. I’d say this pretty much applies to both passages.”
“Wow. So you’re just going to find a way around those passages. Typical,” Janie said, obviously upset.
“It’s not like that, Janie. Don’t you think that Sean and I researched this very passage to try to find a way to continue celebrating the holidays that we so enjoyed? We did. Sure, we read the scriptures ourselves, but we also cross-referenced with multiple commentators, both for and against holiday celebrations. We just believe that the expositions of scripture against Christians celebrating holidays are more sound, despite the fact that we would have loved to have found a loophole to continue to celebrate the holidays. It just didn’t happen. Our consciences just couldn’t be released to do so.”
“Fine. You’re consciences aren’t at peace with it, but to go so far as to basically intimate that Christians are disobeying God by participating in something that you say is ‘unauthorized’ simply because it isn’t directly commanded in scripture is a bit much when I don’t honestly see where you are able to show from scriptures that it’s not okay with Him. I would think that if He so strongly opposed such things, He would have been more clear about it.”
“But He has been fairly clear about it. Sure, we don’t see the word Christmas, or Easter; holidays by those names came about after the canon of scriptures was closed. However, He gives us directions and precepts that should be applied to this,” I said, taking a breath.
“Please go with me on this for a moment. Scriptures tell us in John 4, verses 23 and 24, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well,” I said, before again using the bible application on my phone, “‘But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirt and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’ I’m sure that you would agree with that. Am I correct?”
“Of course. What’s your point?”
“Well, in 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 21, we’re told to ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth, who also will do it.’”
“So,” I continued, “we’re told to worship God in spirit and in truth, but to do so, we must prove that how we are worshipping Him is in both spirit and truth. So often, we claim that we’re doing both, but realistically, we’re having a spiritual experience that may have some truth in it, but is not really full and complete Truth.”
“I would agree with you on that, but that still doesn’t prove anything about holiday celebrations being wrong.”
“Hold on a moment,” I said, trying to maintain my train of thought. “Let’s look a little more closely at 1 Thessalonians again. We’re to prove all things, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. The ‘appearance of evil’ is the important bit there. It’s not necessarily that one is actually doing evil, just that it may appear to be so. Which, since it isn’t just some Christians that have researched the holiday histories and found that there are some decidedly evil elements to the traditions, it is also those who are celebrating the holidays as pagans; those who know the histories. What kind of testimony do we, as Christians, give to them if we compromise our faith and incorporate pagan celebrations into our Christian faith? They aren’t blind; they see the hypocrisy, and likely see us as idiots because we walk around claiming that the holidays are and always have been about Christ. We say things like ‘keep Christ in Christmas’, and I’m sure they think we’re absolutely ignorant because we don’t even know that the holidays all have roots from pagan belief systems. Essentially, we Christians hijacked pagan holidays, and then get all upset when pagans try to keep the holidays true to their original practice, as if they’re actually stealing ‘Christian’ holidays, which they’re not. But, anyway, I’m digressing here.”
“I would say so.”
“Continuing on with verse 23 of 1 Thessalonians 5 we see that God will sanctify us wholly and preserve us blameless. If He was faithful to call us to salvation, then He will complete the work of sanctification in us.”
“Yes, but what does this have to do with holidays?” Janie asked, clearly a bit exasperated.
“Okay. Sanctification comes through the Word of God. Jesus, in John 17, prays to His Father for His people, and says, ‘Sanctify them through thy word: thy word is truth.’ And in 2 Timothy 3, we see this verified again when we read in verse 16: ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’”
“Yes, I get the point here. We have to worship God in spirit and truth, but we have to prove that what we’re doing is in spirit and truth based on what scriptures say. I get it. And yet, you still haven’t given me scriptural evidence as to why you believe that holidays are forbidden because they are ‘unbiblical’ and ‘pagan’.”
“I’m getting there. I’ll address the paganism first. If you study the histories of our supposed Christian holidays, you’ll learn that pretty much all of our supposedly ‘Christian’ and even seemingly amoral traditions and holidays have stemmed from pagan practices. Unfortunately, as far back as at least the 3rd Century, we’ve covered over that fact by renaming certain things, as if renaming them changes their being, and by trying to change or reinterpret the significance of others to be suddenly and miraculously about Christ, when they never were to begin with.”
“Oh, really? Do you have proof? Examples?”
I thought for a moment, as the examples are many, “Okay. What are some of the things that occur during those our favorite holidays today?”
“We remember the fact that Christ was born during Christmas, and during Easter we remember that He died for the sins of the world, but we celebrate His resurrection.”
“Yes, that’s pretty obvious that most Christians are celebrating that. What I mean is: what are some of the traditions associated with those holidays?”
“You mean like the Easter Bunny, Easter egg decoration and hunting, decorating a Christmas tree, Santa, mistletoe, caroling, gift-giving, and an abundance of other traditions?” she asked as she used her fingers to list them off.
“Yes. Clearly, those traditions didn’t really come from the bible, though attempts are made to try to claim some of them for Christ; giving them a ‘Christian’ meaning.”
“So, no Christian that I know of says they do come specifically from the bible.”
“Maybe so, but there are still plenty of Christians out there that incorporate several of the traditions you just listed in their holiday celebrations without ever wondering where those traditions came from. If they aren’t from the bible, then where did they come from? Since holidays are filled with symbolism and religiosity, you only have two choices: from God or not from God. Meaning we can’t claim that it’s neither godly or pagan, but amoral. When it comes to issues of spiritualism, there is no ‘amoral’ choice.”
“Not all Christians incorporate those traditions into their celebrations, you know.”
“True, but there are still many Christians that do. They go to Church on Sunday morning to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and then go home where they tell their children that the Easter Bunny hid Easter eggs and they have to hunt for them. And they participate in or watch a Christmas play at church, and go to Christmas Eve services, but then they go to their decorated homes and oftentimes have gift exchanges that really have nothing to do with Christ, though many try to find a way to incorporate Him into the gift-giving by saying that He was the greatest gift of all. However, this is not something that we can find even mentioned in the bible as something that we’re to do. Sure, some Christians completely avoid that whole scenario of bunnies and materialism, and only participate in things that they believe center on Christ, such as ‘He is Risen’ crafts and resurrection rolls during Easter, and reading the account of Christ’s birth from the bible and singing Christmas songs telling of Christ’s birth during Christmas. And while I strongly believe that we should teach our children about Christ’s being made flesh, and His death and resurrection, I don’t see any biblical mandate where we should make it a specialreligious day to celebrate it.”
“At least some parents are trying to teach their children about His death and resurrection, even if they specifically choose to do it on a special day and in a way that is not ‘mandated’, as you put it.”
“True, but why do it on a day that is associated with a pagan holy day? And why incorporate traditions that cannot be found in the bible and call them Christian, when in reality they are historically rooted in many different pagan religions?”
I took a breath before continuing, "Let's not even look at the supposedly non-religious traditions, but rather stick to things that are directly quoted by many Christians as being, well, 'Christian'. For example, during Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. But the birth of Christ wasn't even celebrated by the Church for the first three Centuries after Christ's death. It was introduced in by the Catholic Church of Rome around the 3rd Century or so when they wanted to incorporate the Roman festival of Saturnalia into the Church--renaming it for Christ--, but it in fact originally celebrated the birth of the pagan god Saturn. Other pagan cultures have had their own versions of this winter solstice festival dating back even further."
I took another breath. "Or let's look at Easter. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ--following His 'Good Friday' death--during Easter, but the history goes back all the way to the Tower of Babel and Nimrod, who married his own mother Semiramis, who is also known as Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Demeter, Ishtar, Kali, Ostara, and the Queen of Heaven. Anyway, Tammuz was killed at age 40 by an enemy. From there, his mother, slash wife, claimed that he--now deified as the sun-god Baal--had ascended into heaven where he immaculately impregnated her, and that child was named Tammuz, who was considered to be Nimrod reborn. You may recognize the name Tammuz from Ezekiel 8, verse 14, where women were 'abominably' weeping for him, for he was killed--as the stories go--by a wild boar. Fable has it that some of his blood fell on an evergreen tree stump, and the tree grew into a full tree overnight, thus sanctifying the tree and proving that he was in fact a god. Obviously, this telling--which took place before Christ's birth--couldn't have happened exactly the way that the pagans believed proclaimed, but the important thing is to recognize the similarities that this telling has to our modern celebrations of Easter and Christmas with birth, death, and resurrection or rebirth, and even the celebration of Lent as the 40 days of mourning for Tammuz. There's more to the story if you want to study it, but I think you probably get the point."
Janie's eyes narrowed before she said, “I don't know how much of that I believe, but it doesn't really matter to me. First off, the traditions that we have are so far removed from any of the pagan roots you claim that they have, and we’re clearly not using them in the way that they were originally intended by the pagans. So what does it matter? Besides, pagans love to take things that God has done or created and twist it to their own use. But why should we just back off because they messed with something that use to not even be associated with paganism? I'm guessing you were inferring to the Christmas tree with your evergreen tree reference; well, what about the use of the rainbow? That’s God’s symbol of His promise to mankind that He’d never again destroy the earth by flood. However, it now carries the connotation of being for homosexuality. Does that mean that we just avoid all use of rainbows?”“Of course not. However, comparing Christmas trees--or any other man-made tradition--to the rainbow is comparing two separate matters.”
“Really? How so?”
“God created the rainbow as a sign of His covenant promise, which non-believers then came along and twisted. However, as with Christmas trees and many other traditions or holidays, God never intended for His people to use them in any way to worship Him. Sure, He may have created the tree, but it was only suppose to be a tree or chopped down to make something like a house or firewood. We weren’t ever suppose to start incorporating them into our worship, which is exactly what we do when we bring them into our homes, decorate them, and then say that we’re commemorating Christ’s birth. The practice of extra-biblical holidays and their traditions were imagined by pagans, not by God. The rainbow was created by God. Our modern holidays and traditions were not. They have different starting points.”
“Fine. Bad analogy, I guess. But that still doesn’t change the fact that we can’t avoid everything that a pagan might have historically used, or is using today. I mean, even the names of our week days and months come from pagan roots. Wedding rings, too. But yet, we still use those things.”
“Yes, but we’re not worshipping God with those things. Sure, we might say something like ‘let’s go to church to worship God on Sunday’. But Sunday--or any other day for that matter--is not the means for worshipping God. Wedding rings aren’t used to worship God either. However, if someone believed that they shouldn’t use them in their ‘Christian’ wedding and marriage, then I’d say that they should definitely abide by their conscience. When it comes to the holidays, though, the Church has historically tried to incorporate paganism with worship of God. When we choose to participate in a holiday and try to make it about Christ, then we are immediately committing spiritual idolatry in worship.”
Janie’s facial expression almost stopped me, but I continued, “I personally don’t believe in participating in holiday celebrations at all. However, I have come across a few people who participate in the family aspects of the holidays, but they don’t make the day about worshipping Christ. That is not to say that they refrain from all thought and worship of Christ on those days. It simply means that they are not setting aside that day as a special day to commemorate Him. So, if someone really desires to participate in holiday celebrations, then okay, but don’t incorporate intentional worship of God into it, because we are forbidden to mix righteousness and unrighteousness. It’s known as syncretism when we do. The Church is and pretty much has always been really active in syncretism; it goes all the way back to Israel in the Old Testament.”
Janie shook her head. Then, as if she hadn’t heard what I just said, she continued her thought from earlier, “As I was saying before, pagans or unbelievers, love to take things of God and twist them. When they pick a particular day to celebrate their gods, they’re really stealing that day from God. So, when it comes to us choosing to celebrate Christ on a day when pagans celebrate their own gods, I don’t see the big deal. Don’t all days belong to God? Why should Christians take a step back and let Satan have certain days where he gets free reign to encourage people to worship false gods, and not try to reclaim it for Christ? What makes you think that God can’t redeem or sanctify the day for Himself? After all, He is a jealous God Who won’t let any false deity be worshipped in His place. Here, we can take something meant for evil and turn it to good.”
I smiled gently as this was not the first time I have ever heard this argument. “That does sound good, doesn’t it? God redeeming the day for Himself away from the pagan gods worshipped by those who hate the one true God.”
“So, you agree with me on that one?”
“I’d like to. Unfortunately, no, I don’t. I believe that there are too many scriptures that explicitly forbid doing such a thing. I was only saying that it sounds really good on the surface.”
“Of course,” Janie said, exasperated. “And those scriptures you mentioned that ‘explicitly forbid’ us focusing on God rather than false gods during holiday celebrations would be where exactly?”
“Several of them can be found throughout the book of Deuteronomy, as well as other books of the bible. There’s obviously more than I can list right now off the top of my head, but I can give you a few.”
“Go right on ahead.”
“Like I said earlier, I’ll address first the paganism, and how God forbids us from trying to use what the pagans do when they worship their gods in worship of Him.” I took a deep breath before scrolling in my bible app to the first passage. “Leviticus 18, verses 1 through 4 says, ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.’”
I preceded to the next passage. “And later in Deuteronomy 12, verses 1 through 4, and 31 to 32, God again says, ‘These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. [...] Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.’”
“And again, in Jeremiah 7, verses 30 to 31. ‘For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.’ And Jeremiah 10, verses 1-4. ‘Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.’”
Janie looked at me irritatedly before saying, “First off, those are Old Testament passages. The old law has been nailed to the cross of Christ. Read Colossians 2 again, the passage right before the passage on meat and holy days.”
I pulled up the passage and read, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.’”
“Exactly, so using Old Testament passages which were specifically given to the physical Israel is out of place. Also, they were actually worshipping pagan gods. That is not what Christians that celebrate holidays are doing.”
“Janie, did you not hear what the Lord commanded when He told Israel that they were not to do the same ‘unto the Lord’? He was specifically forbidding false pagan worship being used to worship Him. And so what if they’re Old Testament passages? Christ Himself tells us in Matthew 5 that He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, and that until all has been fulfilled, and heaven and earth pass, that not a jot or tittle shall pass from the law. This still applies to us. The law is there to point us to Christ, so that we can see our need for Him. And while we’re still prone to struggle with sin, or the breaking of God’s laws, we can find peace in the knowledge that Christ’s death pardoned us from the penalty of violating the law. However, that in no way okays us to go about intentionally forsaking His commandments.”
I continued, “And if the Old Testament passages don’t convince you, 2 Corinthians 6 says in verses 14 to 18, ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ He’s calling us out; to be separate. Are we really being separate when we practice much of the same traditions as those who don’t believe in Christ? If we partake with them in their traditions, even if we re-imagine certain aspects to be about God, we’re opening up our souls to be partakers with them in the consequences of such actions.”
Janie glared at me momentarily, before saying in a clipped tone, “Listen, you can’t judge the hearts of people. If we love God and are worshipping Him with all sincerity in our hearts, then back off.”
“You’re right, Janie. I can’t judge your heart, or anyone else’s heart. Only my own. Though we are called to judge with righteous judgment those professing to be members of the Body of Christ. Check out 1 Corinthians 5, verses 12 and 13, I believe for proof on that. This righteous judgment is done out of genuine love for Christ and His Bride, and by examining the fruit--which will include the following of the Lord’s commandments--because the fruits are evidence of what’s in the heart. And for everyone--including myself--who believes with absolute certainty that their heart is right before God, there is a warning that our hearts can deceive us, as Jeremiah 17 declares. We can think we’re worshipping God properly, but we do it in vain because our hearts and/or methods really aren’t right with God. In Mark 7, which can be cross-referenced with Matthew 15, Isaiah 29, and Ezekiel 33, it says that the people honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him, and that they reject doing His commandments in order to keep their own traditions. If we really love Him, as Christ says in John 14, we must keep His commandments.”
“So, you don’t think I love God? Is that it?”
“I am not saying that, Janie. I have no authority to say that, but we must always examine why we do what we do. If we hear the truth, and ignore it, what does that really say about our love for God? I believe that many Christians love God sincerely, and believe that they are showing that love by remembering Him during the holiday celebrations. I would say that most don’t even realize that scriptures speak against holiday celebrations not specifically commanded in scripture, so they participate out of ignorance. It’s not intentional disobedience. In such cases, I truly believe that Christ’s blood covers those sins. However, that being said, that doesn’t mean that God will accept false and improper methods of worship as He makes abundantly clear in several places such as in Leviticus with Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire to the Lord and He put them to death. Or in 2 Samuel 6 where David had the ark transported upon a cart--rather than the method that God ordained--and when the cart tipped, Uzzah put his hand out to steady it and was immediately struck dead. Or even when God refused Cain’s sacrifice in Genesis 4.”
Janie angrily looked passed me for a moment before saying, “Is there anything else you want to throw on the table?”
“Yes.”
“Then go on.”
“I’d like to point out that God mentions a few times that we are to do what He commanded, but we’re not to add anything to His commands, or take anything away from them. He mentions this in Deuteronomy 4, verses 1 to 2.” I searched for the passage in the bible app, and read, “‘Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.’ He says later in verse 9, ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.’ And continues in 13 and 14, ‘And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.’ And later in verse 40, ‘Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.’ He repeatedly reminds us to observe His commandments all throughout the Book of Deuteronomy. Earlier, I read part of Deuteronomy 12, and verse 32 emphasizes not adding or removing anything.”
“God tells us within the Ten Commandments not to worship any other gods. Nor to make graven images, and bow down to or serve them. And He also says not to take His name in vain. Well, when we unintentionally imagine God as a god who is fine with us worshipping Him in ways that He either very specifically said not to do, or just simply didn’t directly command us to do, we are changing His attributes and thus creating and serving a false god, breaking the first two commandments. Then when we claim that we are doing it in His name, we profane His name. He pretty clearly states that in Leviticus 22 when He says, ‘Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the Lord. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.’ Not appropriately following His commandments actually profanes His name.”
“Okay, so let me get this straight. You pretty much believe that a majority of Christians are falsely worshipping God when they celebrate the holidays because (1) the holidays and their traditions have pagan roots, and (2) God doesn’t directly command the observance of said holidays.”
“Correct.”
“So, you think that all these people have just simply gotten it wrong? Really? Only a small group of people likely share your views on this, and yet you think you’re right and everyone else is wrong?”
“You make it sound as if it’s contingent on me being right or wrong. It’s not. Do I believe that what I’m saying is in fact true? Yes, but not because I’m saying it. If someone gave a really clear biblical argument against what I am saying, I would very possibly recant. However, I’ve yet to hear such a refutation.” I swallowed before continuing, “I didn’t want this to be so. I loved the holidays and would have grabbed at any decent explanation that would have allowed me to continue to participate. The arguments for holiday celebrations just weren’t strong enough.”
“Well, I don’t think your arguments are strong enough. I mean, it’s totally your prerogative to celebrate or not celebrate, and I can admire your desire to follow God’s commandments and keep yourself from impurity, but I can’t agree with your assertion that it’s actually wrong to celebrate the holidays. That would mean that most Christians have simply missed some important fact in the bible, while only a few get it.”
“Janie, it’s not that we ‘get it’ on our own. We can only see it for what it is in scripture if the Holy Spirit opens our eyes.”
“It’s really easy to say that the Holy Spirit has enlightened you. That doesn’t make it so.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. But if it aligns with scriptures....” I sighed. “I understand that you don’t agree with the presentation I’ve made in regard to the scripture, but you could go home and study it out for yourself. Study the histories of the holidays, especially the so-called Christian traditions. You’ll be amazed at just exactly how much has direct ties to paganism. And then compare that with what scriptures say.”
“Honestly, I’m not interested in studying the histories. I’ve spent quite a bit of time listening to you try to dissuade me from celebrating the holidays, and I’m just not convinced. I mean no disrespect, but I don’t want to go waste more time when I could be spending it with my family, trying to honor God, and I do believe He’s honored. I believe that He can redeem anything for Himself, including holidays and traditions that have some long nearly-forgotten pagan roots. If He couldn’t, then so many Christians would basically be doomed to damnation for participating in the celebrations.”
“Well, I don’t want to come across as unloving, but Matthew 7 does say that the road is wide to destruction, but narrow to eternal life, and few be that find it. Unfortunately, I believe that means that out of those that profess Christ, few are truly saved.”
“Wow. That’s a big assertion.”
“Look around you, Janie. How many people do you personally know who profess Christ but live a life that looks absolutely no different from a firm non-believer every day of the week, except Sunday morning and special events like Christmas and Easter? Or how many people do you know who have professed Christ and then walked away from Him entirely? Those are not real Christians. They’re impostors, but they claim to be of Christ. So, yes, those within the professing church are on one of two paths: the wide or the narrow, and I do truly believe that most are likely on the wide path.”
“I honestly don’t know what to say to you right now. Part of me feels pity for you, because you’ve limited yourself from the freedom that you have in Christ. But, hey, that’s your life, and if you believe you’re doing it unto Christ, then that’s fine. Another part of me is angry that you would dare try to impose your extremely narrow views on others. That’s a bondage that Christ never intended.”
“Janie, I don’t want you to stop celebrating the holidays because I said so. To do so without conviction, I believe, would still be a sin. If you were to only do it to please me, but not to please God, then it would be vanity; sin. I just hate the idea that so many people have been taught traditions that are unbiblical, but because the traditions go back so far, they don’t even realize that they’re unbiblical. And unfortunately, it isn’t just parents teaching their kids what their parents taught them; it’s preachers from the pulpit perpetuating them, as well. Sadly, too many men--and some women, though it’s unbiblical--are going off to bible school or seminary to become preachers, being taught unbiblical things, and coming out with false doctrines. I’m not saying all of them. But so many so-called preachers are being produced from bible schools and seminaries who really have no business preaching, since they aren’t preaching soundly. Part of that is their responsibility as preachers, but some of that responsibility falls right on the shoulders of these schools that probably should just stop certifying preachers because they aren’t teaching their students soundly either. Now, we have whole generations of sincere people who don’t soundly understand the attributes of God because they’ve been changed or watered down by false doctrines coming from the pulpit, and we continue to worship Him in ways that are not biblical.”
I took another deep breath, before saying, “Unfortunately, I wish it weren’t so, but I truly do have much concern for the Church today. I was led to believe some unbiblical things growing up, and I’m sure that there are still things I believe and do that are wrong because I don’t know any better. But I certainly hope that God will send someone sometime who can point out my errors, and that my ears will be opened to hear them.”
“I hope the same. For both of us. But in this particular instance, I still believe that it is a matter of conscience and Christian liberty.”
“Well, you’re free to view it that way, I suppose. I won’t make you change your mind.”
“Good, because you won’t be able to, just as I doubt I’ll be able to make you change yours.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I should go,” Janie said, leaning over to pick her purse off the floor.
“Hey, I want you to know that though we don’t agree on this that I don’t look down on you or anything. I can get pretty passionate, but that doesn’t change the fact that I truly care about you.”
Janie was silent for a moment before slowly bringing her gaze up to look me in the eye. “That’s kind of you to say, and I appreciate that fact that--while I disagree--you took the time to try and share something with me that you believe to be truth. I believe that you’re wrong, but I also believe that you are sincerely wrong. I don’t believe you’re doing this out of maliciousness. At least I hope not.”
“I’m not, Janie. I wouldn’t have probably even talked about it if you hadn’t asked what we’re doing for the holidays. I really prefer to talk about the holidays when it isn’t that time of the year, just so that it’s less emotional. But, I guess this is the time that God ordained for the topic to come up.”
“I guess so,” she quietly replied. “Well, I should go. I’ll pray for you and your family.”
“And I’ll pray for you and yours.”
“Who knows. Maybe you’re actually right and God will change my mind on the topic someday.”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe you’re wrong, and He’ll open your heart to the truth.”
I sat silently as she stood up and hung her purse over her shoulder.
“Anyway, I guess I’ll see you around sometime. Maybe next time won’t be so...argumentatively animated.”
I smiled softly at Janie’s old phrase for disagreements that got passionate. “Maybe.”
“Good-bye,” she said with a final wave of her hand.
“Good-bye.”
I watched her walk away, the sound of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” playing from the loudspeaker.
My intention in writing this short story in the manner that it is written was to address some of the objections often brought up by those who oppose not celebrating holidays, because I truly believe that too many Christians, though doing so sincerely, are partaking in holiday celebrations without any knowledge of their roots, or what God's Word says about participating in such celebrations. I believe strongly that everyone should make informed decisions. After all, scripture does tell us that people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), and that Satan seeks to deceive even the very elect of God (Mark 13:22). I cannot tell anyone what to do, but I do--much like my protagonist--believe that if we could ask God directly how He felt about our modern so-called Christian holidays, that He would tell us to completely remove ourselves from participating; to be a separate people. I hope that you will consider the information presented in the story, maybe do some historical studying of your own, and prayerfully compare it to scriptures. Keep in mind that God is Holy. So, make sure that you are absolutely convinced through the scriptures that your decision--whatever it may be--is sound, and true to His character, and not based on personal preference or societal/cultural expectations. Remember, it is not so that any of us can be saved, or maintain our salvation, but simply because He is Holy and should be worshipped correctly, and since most Christians that participate in holiday celebrations are doing so in remembrance of Christ, they cross into the realm of worship.
Grace and Peace in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
>>Those are eight words I’ve really come to dread. Not because there’s anything wrong with asking, but rather the fact that most people are unpleased with the answer; some being downright hostile, while others are mildly disapproving. Very few are comfortable with my personal convictions when it comes to holidays. Sadly, my friend Janie was no exception when she learned of my convictions that have been called by some “puritanical” when it comes to all celebrations and holidays not explicitly commanded by God or observed by the New Testament Church in the bible.<<
The sounds of Christmas music playing through the loudspeaker spoke of a festive and magical atmosphere. My reply however was not in tune.
“Sean and I and the kids aren’t doing anything; we’re convicted to not celebrate holidays anymore,” I said somewhat sheepishly, almost intuitively knowing her coming reaction, as it was one I had grown quite accustomed to from many other friends and family.
“Seriously?” she said, looking at me as if I’d grown another head. “None?”
“No, not anymore.”
“But why? You use to love the holidays.”
“Well, a lot has changed since we last saw each other, Janie.”
“Yeah, but a complete ‘we don’t celebrate holidays anymore’ is a bit different than something like getting married and having kids, or switching careers.”
“I know, but it’s a conviction.”
“Conviction? How did you get convicted that holidays are something you aren’t going to celebrate anymore? Why? It’s not like they’re a bad thing or anything.”
“It started a couple years ago when Sean and I joined the church we’re currently going to. It was Easter Sunday, and our pastor preached a sermon against the celebration of Easter. Of course, this didn’t really sit well with us since we’ve both grown up celebrating Easter, Christmas, and other holidays. So, we went home and started to do some pretty intense research on the holidays celebrated in America, but especially those that the Church calls ‘Christian’ holidays. What we found in our research gave us serious pause to even celebrating the holidays at all.”
“Seriously? You looked into Easter and Christmas, and whatever other holiday you researched, and decided that holidays shouldn’t be celebrated? Sure, I can maybe understand holidays that have nothing to do with Christ, but our most cherished Christian holidays? Please tell you you haven’t joined a cult or anything.”
“No. By the grace of the Lord, we haven’t. In fact, the church we attend is quite sound.”
“Sure it is,” she said with some disbelief. “Then why are you essentially dumping Christian holidays along with the non-Christian ones? I just don’t get it.”
“A couple reasons actually. One being that they aren’t actually Christian at their roots, and I believe that God, through His Word, commands us not to participate in these things, especially not in a spiritually-focused way.”
Janie stared at me silently, but I could tell that she was having trouble processing what I just told her. This has always been the worst part of sharing my beliefs: the waiting for their reaction to hearing that our supposedly Christian holidays are not Christian at all and even forbidden by the Word of God.
“I’m afraid that I’ve never read anything in scripture where God specifically calls out Christmas and Easter, or any of our other holidays, as wrong.”
“Not specifically by name, no.”
“Then how are you coming to that conclusion?”
“I told you, it started with studying the histories of our holidays, especially the ones that almost the whole of modern christendom likes to call Christian holidays. If you study the histories, you’d be surprised at what is really at the root of our so-called Christian holidays, and would hopefully begin to see exactly why some believe that God would not approve of participating in the celebration.”
“I’m sorry. You’ve totally lost me on that one. The holidays that the Church participate in to celebrate Christ come directly from scriptural events, and those that are not actually from the scriptures are maybe holidays for a non-biblical person such as Valentine’s Day commemorates Saint Valentine.”
“On the surface, yes. But if we dig deeper, there’s a much darker root system. I mean, when I started my research, I thought that what we’ve always grown up hearing about our holiday roots was the depth of it all. But it’s not.”
“Really?” Janie asked with a little sarcasm. “So Christmas isn’t about the birth of Christ? Or Easter about His resurrection?”
“That’s what we’re told that they’re about in most churches, and in our own homes from our parents that are perpetuating the same traditional stories that they’ve been told from their youth. However, that is just the mask that is put on age-old pagan holidays and traditions to get pagans to convert to Christianity by making Christianity more attractive to them. It also bring about the added effect of causing Christians to become more accepting of pagan traditions.”
Janie rolled her eyes and shook her head before saying, “I, as a Christian, clearly don’t accept actively participating in paganism. And when I celebrate our Christian holidays--and they are Christian to me--I don’t worship or celebrate a pagan god. I think about and worship Jesus Christ. So what if some pagans choose to worship their god on the same day; that isn’t whom I’m worshipping. And I know scripture allows for this when we’re told to do all things unto the Lord. So what do you say to that?”
I struggled not to squirm in my chair as I said, “Colossians 3:17 and 23 ‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.... And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.’”
“Well, you certainly knew that reference quickly. So, what’s your response?”
I swallowed before continuing, “We have to keep things in their proper context though. At the start of Colossians 3, God--through Paul--is essentially addressing the church body as a whole, telling us to seek the things of God, and not the things of the world. To mortify our members to avoid all forms of sin that will bring God’s wrath upon us, but instead put on the fruits of the Spirit. Or more simply to put off our old man and put on the new man in Christ. Then, in the second part, you’ll see that Paul is addressing more specific relationships: the wife-to-husband relationship, followed by the child-to-parent relationship, and finally to the servant-to-master relationship.”
I swallowed. “In other words, verse 17 is referring to the first part of chapter 3, while verse 23 is referring to the second part.”
“So. You’re point?” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her seat.
“Meaning, that when we read verse 17, we must remember that God--through Paul--has just told us to seek the things of God and not the things of man, to stay away from that which is dishonoring to God. And verse 23 is very specific to the relationship rolls, and how we are to do our respective rolls as though we’re doing it unto the Lord, rather than unto man. We have to be very careful not to use this as a reason to go ahead and disobey God, though that may not cognitively be our intention. I mean, we’re told in Romans 6 not to use the grace of God to continue sinning.”
“And what exactly about our holidays--where we focus on God, I dare say--is not honoring to Him?”
“Aside from the pagan roots, which according to scriptures already means we should avoid it, there is the simple fact that He has not commanded us to do such ‘honorary’ celebrations. They are unauthorized by Him.”
“Unauthorized?”she asked, her face suddenly overcome with a look of...pity is the only way I can describe it. Suddenly, she sat leaned forward, and in a very gentle voice said, “Oh dear, I’m worried about you. Don’t you think you might be being a little legalistic?”
I sighed. Honestly, I’ve heard ‘legalism’ misapplied so many times that it makes me want to pull my hair out.
Confidently, I said, “No, I don’t.”
With a surprised look on her face, she asked, “You don’t?”
“No.”
“Wow,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Let me ask you a question, Janie. Can you define ‘legalism’ for me?”
“Okay. Legalism is when someone rigorously follows the law, forgetting about the work of Christ on the cross. Thus, they’re really just trying to prove themselves righteous before God, which is impossible, as we are only righteous in Christ. In your case, you’re trying to prove yourself holy by avoiding holiday celebrations simply because you don’t see God having specifically commanded it, and you go even so far as to call it ‘unauthorized’ and ‘pagan’. Seriously, if that isn’t legalism, I don’t know what is.”
“I would partially agree with you. True, if someone follows God’s law in an attempt to earn or maintain their salvation, then they are essentially stating that Christ’s work on the cross isn’t efficient enough; that they have to--on top of His work on the cross--contribute devout adherence to the law in order to really be saved at the end of the day. That is definitely legalism. As is adding anything to His laws, which is what the Pharisees did.”
“Exactly, and that is what you’re doing when you state that you’re avoiding something that isn’t specifically commanded in scripture. There is nothing that says that we cannot intentionally celebrate Him on a specific day--or days--of the year, even if non-believers also happen to celebrate their false deities on those days as well. Heck, we’d have a problem with every day of the year if that was the case, since it’s very likely that certain non-believers are very devout to their own faiths and worship their gods daily.”
“I understand what you’re trying to say, Janie. However, that isn’t what I’m doing. I am not renouncing holiday celebrations because I think I can gain any credit from God by doing so. Nor am I adding anything to His law since my position comes from having done research on some of the holidays that Christians particularly celebrate and holding up those traditions to the authority of scripture, and finding that certain passages in the bible have very strongly convicted me that what I was doing in worshipping Him while participating in non-authorized holiday celebrations was unbiblical. Okay? What I am doing, I am doing out of love and obedience to the One Who died on the cross for His people. The work of Christ is complete; I can’t add anything to it. However, that does not give me license to do whatever I want, claiming the blood of Jesus over it. Not when it is something unauthorized that is being used in some way to worship the Lord.”
Taking a breath, I continued, “Please, don’t confuse obedience--born of love--to the Lord as legalism. After all, don’t you follow the Ten Commandments as the Lord gives you grace to do so because you love Him and desire to obey Him?”
“Of course, but this is not following a law that was quite literally written in stone. This is adding something to scripture at worst, or taking a passage or two out of scripture and misapplying it at best.”
“How so? Can you give me one, just one passage in scripture that would allow for the celebration of Christmas, or Easter, or any other holiday that is not expressly commanded in scripture or at least demonstrated by the New Testament Church?”
Janie stared at me momentarily. For a moment, I thought she was going to stand up and leave, however, she finally said, “Alright. What about Romans 14 or Colossians 2 that talk not judging concerning eating meats and holy days? I believe those are the two books, though I’m not sure of the exact verses.”
I pulled out my phone to pull up the bible application on it. This wasn’t the first time that anyone has ever used those passages, and I’m certain it won’t be the last, but it’s always a good idea to pull out a bible--or phone app, in this case--to verify exactly what the scriptures say.
“Okay, let’s read it. Romans 14 says, ‘Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and give God thanks.’ I could continue if you’d like, but I know that this is the specific part of scripture you’re referencing.”
“Yeah.”
“Now to Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. ‘Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.’”
“Now what do you say to what the scriptures say there? Are Christmas and Easter and other holidays not considered ‘esteemed’ according to these passages? I would think they are, and I don’t believe you can argue that.”
“Okay,” I started. “First off, Romans was very likely written to a congregation of Jew and Gentile Christians, though I’ve read some arguments trying to dispute that. Anyway, I believe we can all agree on the fact that the Church of Rome was comprised of believers, some who were strong in the faith, and some who were weak in the faith. Same with Colossians, as well. Obviously, there was a discussion about the foods eaten, but we’re discussing the part about regarding or esteeming a day, or not.”
“Yeah. I find that the scriptures lay out pretty neatly that holidays are fine, and definitely not something that you should necessarily call ‘unbiblical’ or ‘pagan’. Sure, it might be paganistically practiced by some, but Christians certainly aren’t doing that; they’re worshipping the One true God.”
“Let’s assume that the congregation was indeed filled with a blend of Jew and Gentile believers. The Jews would have come out of a background of celebrating the Old Testament holy days, whereas the Gentiles would not have. Some commentators believe that if this were indeed the case that Paul could have been addressing the fact that the Jews may have tried to pressure the Gentiles to observe the Old Testament holy days as well, and looked down on the Gentiles for not doing so, and vice versa. Some have argued that it was that the Gentile believers were still participating in some of the festivities that they were accustomed to prior to being converted and there was some argument over those celebrations, and that Paul was admonishing that they could still participate as long as they did so unto the Lord. I don’t believe that was the case, however, since we’re told to put on the new man, forsaking the old man, and to forsake even the very appearance of evil. And I find it very difficult to believe that Paul would have been telling Christians to participate in the very traditions that still would have held very obvious pagan elements to them. It isn’t like today, where so many people have actually forgotten the pagan roots of many of our traditions. The Church of Rome would have been keenly aware of the paganism in those celebrations, so I seriously doubt that Paul was giving consent to continue to practice such things. It makes much more sense that he was referencing a whole other system of holy days: the Old Testament holy days. And if that is the case, there is still no argument for celebrating our modern holidays, since they were never once commanded by God to be celebrated, or even demonstrated for us by the New Testament Church in scriptures. I’d say this pretty much applies to both passages.”
“Wow. So you’re just going to find a way around those passages. Typical,” Janie said, obviously upset.
“It’s not like that, Janie. Don’t you think that Sean and I researched this very passage to try to find a way to continue celebrating the holidays that we so enjoyed? We did. Sure, we read the scriptures ourselves, but we also cross-referenced with multiple commentators, both for and against holiday celebrations. We just believe that the expositions of scripture against Christians celebrating holidays are more sound, despite the fact that we would have loved to have found a loophole to continue to celebrate the holidays. It just didn’t happen. Our consciences just couldn’t be released to do so.”
“Fine. You’re consciences aren’t at peace with it, but to go so far as to basically intimate that Christians are disobeying God by participating in something that you say is ‘unauthorized’ simply because it isn’t directly commanded in scripture is a bit much when I don’t honestly see where you are able to show from scriptures that it’s not okay with Him. I would think that if He so strongly opposed such things, He would have been more clear about it.”
“But He has been fairly clear about it. Sure, we don’t see the word Christmas, or Easter; holidays by those names came about after the canon of scriptures was closed. However, He gives us directions and precepts that should be applied to this,” I said, taking a breath.
“Please go with me on this for a moment. Scriptures tell us in John 4, verses 23 and 24, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well,” I said, before again using the bible application on my phone, “‘But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirt and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’ I’m sure that you would agree with that. Am I correct?”
“Of course. What’s your point?”
“Well, in 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 21, we’re told to ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth, who also will do it.’”
“So,” I continued, “we’re told to worship God in spirit and in truth, but to do so, we must prove that how we are worshipping Him is in both spirit and truth. So often, we claim that we’re doing both, but realistically, we’re having a spiritual experience that may have some truth in it, but is not really full and complete Truth.”
“I would agree with you on that, but that still doesn’t prove anything about holiday celebrations being wrong.”
“Hold on a moment,” I said, trying to maintain my train of thought. “Let’s look a little more closely at 1 Thessalonians again. We’re to prove all things, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. The ‘appearance of evil’ is the important bit there. It’s not necessarily that one is actually doing evil, just that it may appear to be so. Which, since it isn’t just some Christians that have researched the holiday histories and found that there are some decidedly evil elements to the traditions, it is also those who are celebrating the holidays as pagans; those who know the histories. What kind of testimony do we, as Christians, give to them if we compromise our faith and incorporate pagan celebrations into our Christian faith? They aren’t blind; they see the hypocrisy, and likely see us as idiots because we walk around claiming that the holidays are and always have been about Christ. We say things like ‘keep Christ in Christmas’, and I’m sure they think we’re absolutely ignorant because we don’t even know that the holidays all have roots from pagan belief systems. Essentially, we Christians hijacked pagan holidays, and then get all upset when pagans try to keep the holidays true to their original practice, as if they’re actually stealing ‘Christian’ holidays, which they’re not. But, anyway, I’m digressing here.”
“I would say so.”
“Continuing on with verse 23 of 1 Thessalonians 5 we see that God will sanctify us wholly and preserve us blameless. If He was faithful to call us to salvation, then He will complete the work of sanctification in us.”
“Yes, but what does this have to do with holidays?” Janie asked, clearly a bit exasperated.
“Okay. Sanctification comes through the Word of God. Jesus, in John 17, prays to His Father for His people, and says, ‘Sanctify them through thy word: thy word is truth.’ And in 2 Timothy 3, we see this verified again when we read in verse 16: ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’”
“Yes, I get the point here. We have to worship God in spirit and truth, but we have to prove that what we’re doing is in spirit and truth based on what scriptures say. I get it. And yet, you still haven’t given me scriptural evidence as to why you believe that holidays are forbidden because they are ‘unbiblical’ and ‘pagan’.”
“I’m getting there. I’ll address the paganism first. If you study the histories of our supposed Christian holidays, you’ll learn that pretty much all of our supposedly ‘Christian’ and even seemingly amoral traditions and holidays have stemmed from pagan practices. Unfortunately, as far back as at least the 3rd Century, we’ve covered over that fact by renaming certain things, as if renaming them changes their being, and by trying to change or reinterpret the significance of others to be suddenly and miraculously about Christ, when they never were to begin with.”
“Oh, really? Do you have proof? Examples?”
I thought for a moment, as the examples are many, “Okay. What are some of the things that occur during those our favorite holidays today?”
“We remember the fact that Christ was born during Christmas, and during Easter we remember that He died for the sins of the world, but we celebrate His resurrection.”
“Yes, that’s pretty obvious that most Christians are celebrating that. What I mean is: what are some of the traditions associated with those holidays?”
“You mean like the Easter Bunny, Easter egg decoration and hunting, decorating a Christmas tree, Santa, mistletoe, caroling, gift-giving, and an abundance of other traditions?” she asked as she used her fingers to list them off.
“Yes. Clearly, those traditions didn’t really come from the bible, though attempts are made to try to claim some of them for Christ; giving them a ‘Christian’ meaning.”
“So, no Christian that I know of says they do come specifically from the bible.”
“Maybe so, but there are still plenty of Christians out there that incorporate several of the traditions you just listed in their holiday celebrations without ever wondering where those traditions came from. If they aren’t from the bible, then where did they come from? Since holidays are filled with symbolism and religiosity, you only have two choices: from God or not from God. Meaning we can’t claim that it’s neither godly or pagan, but amoral. When it comes to issues of spiritualism, there is no ‘amoral’ choice.”
“Not all Christians incorporate those traditions into their celebrations, you know.”
“True, but there are still many Christians that do. They go to Church on Sunday morning to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and then go home where they tell their children that the Easter Bunny hid Easter eggs and they have to hunt for them. And they participate in or watch a Christmas play at church, and go to Christmas Eve services, but then they go to their decorated homes and oftentimes have gift exchanges that really have nothing to do with Christ, though many try to find a way to incorporate Him into the gift-giving by saying that He was the greatest gift of all. However, this is not something that we can find even mentioned in the bible as something that we’re to do. Sure, some Christians completely avoid that whole scenario of bunnies and materialism, and only participate in things that they believe center on Christ, such as ‘He is Risen’ crafts and resurrection rolls during Easter, and reading the account of Christ’s birth from the bible and singing Christmas songs telling of Christ’s birth during Christmas. And while I strongly believe that we should teach our children about Christ’s being made flesh, and His death and resurrection, I don’t see any biblical mandate where we should make it a specialreligious day to celebrate it.”
“At least some parents are trying to teach their children about His death and resurrection, even if they specifically choose to do it on a special day and in a way that is not ‘mandated’, as you put it.”
“True, but why do it on a day that is associated with a pagan holy day? And why incorporate traditions that cannot be found in the bible and call them Christian, when in reality they are historically rooted in many different pagan religions?”
I took a breath before continuing, "Let's not even look at the supposedly non-religious traditions, but rather stick to things that are directly quoted by many Christians as being, well, 'Christian'. For example, during Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. But the birth of Christ wasn't even celebrated by the Church for the first three Centuries after Christ's death. It was introduced in by the Catholic Church of Rome around the 3rd Century or so when they wanted to incorporate the Roman festival of Saturnalia into the Church--renaming it for Christ--, but it in fact originally celebrated the birth of the pagan god Saturn. Other pagan cultures have had their own versions of this winter solstice festival dating back even further."
I took another breath. "Or let's look at Easter. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ--following His 'Good Friday' death--during Easter, but the history goes back all the way to the Tower of Babel and Nimrod, who married his own mother Semiramis, who is also known as Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Demeter, Ishtar, Kali, Ostara, and the Queen of Heaven. Anyway, Tammuz was killed at age 40 by an enemy. From there, his mother, slash wife, claimed that he--now deified as the sun-god Baal--had ascended into heaven where he immaculately impregnated her, and that child was named Tammuz, who was considered to be Nimrod reborn. You may recognize the name Tammuz from Ezekiel 8, verse 14, where women were 'abominably' weeping for him, for he was killed--as the stories go--by a wild boar. Fable has it that some of his blood fell on an evergreen tree stump, and the tree grew into a full tree overnight, thus sanctifying the tree and proving that he was in fact a god. Obviously, this telling--which took place before Christ's birth--couldn't have happened exactly the way that the pagans believed proclaimed, but the important thing is to recognize the similarities that this telling has to our modern celebrations of Easter and Christmas with birth, death, and resurrection or rebirth, and even the celebration of Lent as the 40 days of mourning for Tammuz. There's more to the story if you want to study it, but I think you probably get the point."
Janie's eyes narrowed before she said, “I don't know how much of that I believe, but it doesn't really matter to me. First off, the traditions that we have are so far removed from any of the pagan roots you claim that they have, and we’re clearly not using them in the way that they were originally intended by the pagans. So what does it matter? Besides, pagans love to take things that God has done or created and twist it to their own use. But why should we just back off because they messed with something that use to not even be associated with paganism? I'm guessing you were inferring to the Christmas tree with your evergreen tree reference; well, what about the use of the rainbow? That’s God’s symbol of His promise to mankind that He’d never again destroy the earth by flood. However, it now carries the connotation of being for homosexuality. Does that mean that we just avoid all use of rainbows?”“Of course not. However, comparing Christmas trees--or any other man-made tradition--to the rainbow is comparing two separate matters.”
“Really? How so?”
“God created the rainbow as a sign of His covenant promise, which non-believers then came along and twisted. However, as with Christmas trees and many other traditions or holidays, God never intended for His people to use them in any way to worship Him. Sure, He may have created the tree, but it was only suppose to be a tree or chopped down to make something like a house or firewood. We weren’t ever suppose to start incorporating them into our worship, which is exactly what we do when we bring them into our homes, decorate them, and then say that we’re commemorating Christ’s birth. The practice of extra-biblical holidays and their traditions were imagined by pagans, not by God. The rainbow was created by God. Our modern holidays and traditions were not. They have different starting points.”
“Fine. Bad analogy, I guess. But that still doesn’t change the fact that we can’t avoid everything that a pagan might have historically used, or is using today. I mean, even the names of our week days and months come from pagan roots. Wedding rings, too. But yet, we still use those things.”
“Yes, but we’re not worshipping God with those things. Sure, we might say something like ‘let’s go to church to worship God on Sunday’. But Sunday--or any other day for that matter--is not the means for worshipping God. Wedding rings aren’t used to worship God either. However, if someone believed that they shouldn’t use them in their ‘Christian’ wedding and marriage, then I’d say that they should definitely abide by their conscience. When it comes to the holidays, though, the Church has historically tried to incorporate paganism with worship of God. When we choose to participate in a holiday and try to make it about Christ, then we are immediately committing spiritual idolatry in worship.”
Janie’s facial expression almost stopped me, but I continued, “I personally don’t believe in participating in holiday celebrations at all. However, I have come across a few people who participate in the family aspects of the holidays, but they don’t make the day about worshipping Christ. That is not to say that they refrain from all thought and worship of Christ on those days. It simply means that they are not setting aside that day as a special day to commemorate Him. So, if someone really desires to participate in holiday celebrations, then okay, but don’t incorporate intentional worship of God into it, because we are forbidden to mix righteousness and unrighteousness. It’s known as syncretism when we do. The Church is and pretty much has always been really active in syncretism; it goes all the way back to Israel in the Old Testament.”
Janie shook her head. Then, as if she hadn’t heard what I just said, she continued her thought from earlier, “As I was saying before, pagans or unbelievers, love to take things of God and twist them. When they pick a particular day to celebrate their gods, they’re really stealing that day from God. So, when it comes to us choosing to celebrate Christ on a day when pagans celebrate their own gods, I don’t see the big deal. Don’t all days belong to God? Why should Christians take a step back and let Satan have certain days where he gets free reign to encourage people to worship false gods, and not try to reclaim it for Christ? What makes you think that God can’t redeem or sanctify the day for Himself? After all, He is a jealous God Who won’t let any false deity be worshipped in His place. Here, we can take something meant for evil and turn it to good.”
I smiled gently as this was not the first time I have ever heard this argument. “That does sound good, doesn’t it? God redeeming the day for Himself away from the pagan gods worshipped by those who hate the one true God.”
“So, you agree with me on that one?”
“I’d like to. Unfortunately, no, I don’t. I believe that there are too many scriptures that explicitly forbid doing such a thing. I was only saying that it sounds really good on the surface.”
“Of course,” Janie said, exasperated. “And those scriptures you mentioned that ‘explicitly forbid’ us focusing on God rather than false gods during holiday celebrations would be where exactly?”
“Several of them can be found throughout the book of Deuteronomy, as well as other books of the bible. There’s obviously more than I can list right now off the top of my head, but I can give you a few.”
“Go right on ahead.”
“Like I said earlier, I’ll address first the paganism, and how God forbids us from trying to use what the pagans do when they worship their gods in worship of Him.” I took a deep breath before scrolling in my bible app to the first passage. “Leviticus 18, verses 1 through 4 says, ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.’”
I preceded to the next passage. “And later in Deuteronomy 12, verses 1 through 4, and 31 to 32, God again says, ‘These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. [...] Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.’”
“And again, in Jeremiah 7, verses 30 to 31. ‘For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.’ And Jeremiah 10, verses 1-4. ‘Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.’”
Janie looked at me irritatedly before saying, “First off, those are Old Testament passages. The old law has been nailed to the cross of Christ. Read Colossians 2 again, the passage right before the passage on meat and holy days.”
I pulled up the passage and read, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.’”
“Exactly, so using Old Testament passages which were specifically given to the physical Israel is out of place. Also, they were actually worshipping pagan gods. That is not what Christians that celebrate holidays are doing.”
“Janie, did you not hear what the Lord commanded when He told Israel that they were not to do the same ‘unto the Lord’? He was specifically forbidding false pagan worship being used to worship Him. And so what if they’re Old Testament passages? Christ Himself tells us in Matthew 5 that He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, and that until all has been fulfilled, and heaven and earth pass, that not a jot or tittle shall pass from the law. This still applies to us. The law is there to point us to Christ, so that we can see our need for Him. And while we’re still prone to struggle with sin, or the breaking of God’s laws, we can find peace in the knowledge that Christ’s death pardoned us from the penalty of violating the law. However, that in no way okays us to go about intentionally forsaking His commandments.”
I continued, “And if the Old Testament passages don’t convince you, 2 Corinthians 6 says in verses 14 to 18, ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ He’s calling us out; to be separate. Are we really being separate when we practice much of the same traditions as those who don’t believe in Christ? If we partake with them in their traditions, even if we re-imagine certain aspects to be about God, we’re opening up our souls to be partakers with them in the consequences of such actions.”
Janie glared at me momentarily, before saying in a clipped tone, “Listen, you can’t judge the hearts of people. If we love God and are worshipping Him with all sincerity in our hearts, then back off.”
“You’re right, Janie. I can’t judge your heart, or anyone else’s heart. Only my own. Though we are called to judge with righteous judgment those professing to be members of the Body of Christ. Check out 1 Corinthians 5, verses 12 and 13, I believe for proof on that. This righteous judgment is done out of genuine love for Christ and His Bride, and by examining the fruit--which will include the following of the Lord’s commandments--because the fruits are evidence of what’s in the heart. And for everyone--including myself--who believes with absolute certainty that their heart is right before God, there is a warning that our hearts can deceive us, as Jeremiah 17 declares. We can think we’re worshipping God properly, but we do it in vain because our hearts and/or methods really aren’t right with God. In Mark 7, which can be cross-referenced with Matthew 15, Isaiah 29, and Ezekiel 33, it says that the people honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him, and that they reject doing His commandments in order to keep their own traditions. If we really love Him, as Christ says in John 14, we must keep His commandments.”
“So, you don’t think I love God? Is that it?”
“I am not saying that, Janie. I have no authority to say that, but we must always examine why we do what we do. If we hear the truth, and ignore it, what does that really say about our love for God? I believe that many Christians love God sincerely, and believe that they are showing that love by remembering Him during the holiday celebrations. I would say that most don’t even realize that scriptures speak against holiday celebrations not specifically commanded in scripture, so they participate out of ignorance. It’s not intentional disobedience. In such cases, I truly believe that Christ’s blood covers those sins. However, that being said, that doesn’t mean that God will accept false and improper methods of worship as He makes abundantly clear in several places such as in Leviticus with Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire to the Lord and He put them to death. Or in 2 Samuel 6 where David had the ark transported upon a cart--rather than the method that God ordained--and when the cart tipped, Uzzah put his hand out to steady it and was immediately struck dead. Or even when God refused Cain’s sacrifice in Genesis 4.”
Janie angrily looked passed me for a moment before saying, “Is there anything else you want to throw on the table?”
“Yes.”
“Then go on.”
“I’d like to point out that God mentions a few times that we are to do what He commanded, but we’re not to add anything to His commands, or take anything away from them. He mentions this in Deuteronomy 4, verses 1 to 2.” I searched for the passage in the bible app, and read, “‘Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.’ He says later in verse 9, ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.’ And continues in 13 and 14, ‘And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.’ And later in verse 40, ‘Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.’ He repeatedly reminds us to observe His commandments all throughout the Book of Deuteronomy. Earlier, I read part of Deuteronomy 12, and verse 32 emphasizes not adding or removing anything.”
“God tells us within the Ten Commandments not to worship any other gods. Nor to make graven images, and bow down to or serve them. And He also says not to take His name in vain. Well, when we unintentionally imagine God as a god who is fine with us worshipping Him in ways that He either very specifically said not to do, or just simply didn’t directly command us to do, we are changing His attributes and thus creating and serving a false god, breaking the first two commandments. Then when we claim that we are doing it in His name, we profane His name. He pretty clearly states that in Leviticus 22 when He says, ‘Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the Lord. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.’ Not appropriately following His commandments actually profanes His name.”
“Okay, so let me get this straight. You pretty much believe that a majority of Christians are falsely worshipping God when they celebrate the holidays because (1) the holidays and their traditions have pagan roots, and (2) God doesn’t directly command the observance of said holidays.”
“Correct.”
“So, you think that all these people have just simply gotten it wrong? Really? Only a small group of people likely share your views on this, and yet you think you’re right and everyone else is wrong?”
“You make it sound as if it’s contingent on me being right or wrong. It’s not. Do I believe that what I’m saying is in fact true? Yes, but not because I’m saying it. If someone gave a really clear biblical argument against what I am saying, I would very possibly recant. However, I’ve yet to hear such a refutation.” I swallowed before continuing, “I didn’t want this to be so. I loved the holidays and would have grabbed at any decent explanation that would have allowed me to continue to participate. The arguments for holiday celebrations just weren’t strong enough.”
“Well, I don’t think your arguments are strong enough. I mean, it’s totally your prerogative to celebrate or not celebrate, and I can admire your desire to follow God’s commandments and keep yourself from impurity, but I can’t agree with your assertion that it’s actually wrong to celebrate the holidays. That would mean that most Christians have simply missed some important fact in the bible, while only a few get it.”
“Janie, it’s not that we ‘get it’ on our own. We can only see it for what it is in scripture if the Holy Spirit opens our eyes.”
“It’s really easy to say that the Holy Spirit has enlightened you. That doesn’t make it so.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. But if it aligns with scriptures....” I sighed. “I understand that you don’t agree with the presentation I’ve made in regard to the scripture, but you could go home and study it out for yourself. Study the histories of the holidays, especially the so-called Christian traditions. You’ll be amazed at just exactly how much has direct ties to paganism. And then compare that with what scriptures say.”
“Honestly, I’m not interested in studying the histories. I’ve spent quite a bit of time listening to you try to dissuade me from celebrating the holidays, and I’m just not convinced. I mean no disrespect, but I don’t want to go waste more time when I could be spending it with my family, trying to honor God, and I do believe He’s honored. I believe that He can redeem anything for Himself, including holidays and traditions that have some long nearly-forgotten pagan roots. If He couldn’t, then so many Christians would basically be doomed to damnation for participating in the celebrations.”
“Well, I don’t want to come across as unloving, but Matthew 7 does say that the road is wide to destruction, but narrow to eternal life, and few be that find it. Unfortunately, I believe that means that out of those that profess Christ, few are truly saved.”
“Wow. That’s a big assertion.”
“Look around you, Janie. How many people do you personally know who profess Christ but live a life that looks absolutely no different from a firm non-believer every day of the week, except Sunday morning and special events like Christmas and Easter? Or how many people do you know who have professed Christ and then walked away from Him entirely? Those are not real Christians. They’re impostors, but they claim to be of Christ. So, yes, those within the professing church are on one of two paths: the wide or the narrow, and I do truly believe that most are likely on the wide path.”
“I honestly don’t know what to say to you right now. Part of me feels pity for you, because you’ve limited yourself from the freedom that you have in Christ. But, hey, that’s your life, and if you believe you’re doing it unto Christ, then that’s fine. Another part of me is angry that you would dare try to impose your extremely narrow views on others. That’s a bondage that Christ never intended.”
“Janie, I don’t want you to stop celebrating the holidays because I said so. To do so without conviction, I believe, would still be a sin. If you were to only do it to please me, but not to please God, then it would be vanity; sin. I just hate the idea that so many people have been taught traditions that are unbiblical, but because the traditions go back so far, they don’t even realize that they’re unbiblical. And unfortunately, it isn’t just parents teaching their kids what their parents taught them; it’s preachers from the pulpit perpetuating them, as well. Sadly, too many men--and some women, though it’s unbiblical--are going off to bible school or seminary to become preachers, being taught unbiblical things, and coming out with false doctrines. I’m not saying all of them. But so many so-called preachers are being produced from bible schools and seminaries who really have no business preaching, since they aren’t preaching soundly. Part of that is their responsibility as preachers, but some of that responsibility falls right on the shoulders of these schools that probably should just stop certifying preachers because they aren’t teaching their students soundly either. Now, we have whole generations of sincere people who don’t soundly understand the attributes of God because they’ve been changed or watered down by false doctrines coming from the pulpit, and we continue to worship Him in ways that are not biblical.”
I took another deep breath, before saying, “Unfortunately, I wish it weren’t so, but I truly do have much concern for the Church today. I was led to believe some unbiblical things growing up, and I’m sure that there are still things I believe and do that are wrong because I don’t know any better. But I certainly hope that God will send someone sometime who can point out my errors, and that my ears will be opened to hear them.”
“I hope the same. For both of us. But in this particular instance, I still believe that it is a matter of conscience and Christian liberty.”
“Well, you’re free to view it that way, I suppose. I won’t make you change your mind.”
“Good, because you won’t be able to, just as I doubt I’ll be able to make you change yours.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I should go,” Janie said, leaning over to pick her purse off the floor.
“Hey, I want you to know that though we don’t agree on this that I don’t look down on you or anything. I can get pretty passionate, but that doesn’t change the fact that I truly care about you.”
Janie was silent for a moment before slowly bringing her gaze up to look me in the eye. “That’s kind of you to say, and I appreciate that fact that--while I disagree--you took the time to try and share something with me that you believe to be truth. I believe that you’re wrong, but I also believe that you are sincerely wrong. I don’t believe you’re doing this out of maliciousness. At least I hope not.”
“I’m not, Janie. I wouldn’t have probably even talked about it if you hadn’t asked what we’re doing for the holidays. I really prefer to talk about the holidays when it isn’t that time of the year, just so that it’s less emotional. But, I guess this is the time that God ordained for the topic to come up.”
“I guess so,” she quietly replied. “Well, I should go. I’ll pray for you and your family.”
“And I’ll pray for you and yours.”
“Who knows. Maybe you’re actually right and God will change my mind on the topic someday.”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe you’re wrong, and He’ll open your heart to the truth.”
I sat silently as she stood up and hung her purse over her shoulder.
“Anyway, I guess I’ll see you around sometime. Maybe next time won’t be so...argumentatively animated.”
I smiled softly at Janie’s old phrase for disagreements that got passionate. “Maybe.”
“Good-bye,” she said with a final wave of her hand.
“Good-bye.”
I watched her walk away, the sound of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” playing from the loudspeaker.
My intention in writing this short story in the manner that it is written was to address some of the objections often brought up by those who oppose not celebrating holidays, because I truly believe that too many Christians, though doing so sincerely, are partaking in holiday celebrations without any knowledge of their roots, or what God's Word says about participating in such celebrations. I believe strongly that everyone should make informed decisions. After all, scripture does tell us that people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), and that Satan seeks to deceive even the very elect of God (Mark 13:22). I cannot tell anyone what to do, but I do--much like my protagonist--believe that if we could ask God directly how He felt about our modern so-called Christian holidays, that He would tell us to completely remove ourselves from participating; to be a separate people. I hope that you will consider the information presented in the story, maybe do some historical studying of your own, and prayerfully compare it to scriptures. Keep in mind that God is Holy. So, make sure that you are absolutely convinced through the scriptures that your decision--whatever it may be--is sound, and true to His character, and not based on personal preference or societal/cultural expectations. Remember, it is not so that any of us can be saved, or maintain our salvation, but simply because He is Holy and should be worshipped correctly, and since most Christians that participate in holiday celebrations are doing so in remembrance of Christ, they cross into the realm of worship.
Grace and Peace in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ