Christmas 2012

I heard about all the pagan origins a few years ago, and was really disturbed by what I was seeing in scripture. I decided that until I could see direction from God through His word, I’d go without any references to Christmas in our home. After all I didn’t want to do as the heathen do. I didn’t want to worship the Lord the same way the heathen worship their false gods. That was really difficult for my family & me as we’d been raised [in God-fearing homes and Christian schools] celebrating Christmas, not with a Santa figure, but we did have a tree, lights, gifts, big meals, and the normal festivities one would expect to see in a Christian home. So we’ve now gone 4 years w/o the décor and my wife and girls have been very understanding of my position – even though they disagreed with it.

The problem I was having was not that we were worshipping God with a tree [that seems pretty nonsensical to me as that had never even been a consideration in all my years of celebrating Christmas], nor were we worshipping the tree itself. The problem was the symbol of the tree itself. My logic went that – if the symbols were originally Christian, then they were ok to use (such as the rainbow); but if the symbols were originally pagan and had been Christianized, that I felt compelled not to have anything to do with. So what it really came down to was the use of the symbols.

Last week I noticed something in scripture that I’d never picked up on before. Paul tells the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 8, that it’s ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols provided it’s not done in front of a weaker brother who feels it’s sinful (paraphrased). But then later on in a letter to two of the seven churches in Revelation 2:12-29, Jesus tells them that He has this against them, that they eat meat sacrificed to idols. This caused problems for me as I couldn’t seem to reconcile these two. I KNOW the word of God doesn’t contradict itself, so if God tells us it’s ok to eat the meat that had been sacrificed to idols, He must not have any problems with the meat itself, but rather the lack of concern/love for a [weaker] brother who found this sinful.

Based on that, the take-away I saw was that God doesn’t want us to use His creation in any way that might damage a brother’s faith. However, He doesn’t have a problem with us enjoying His creation either. After all, we read in Genesis that He was pleased with His creation when He created it. He said it was good.

I think back to a poem that my grandfather used to recite that I just found out is a song called Maker of the Universe. The lyrics read…

The Maker of the universe,
As Man for man was made a curse.
The claims of Law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.
His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.
The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.

He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
The sky that darkened o'er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread.
The sun that hid from Him it's face
By His decree was poised in space.

The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.

The throne on which He now appears
Was His for everlasting years.
But a new glory crowns His brow
And every knee to Him shall bow.

I don’t see evidence from the bible that God has a problem with the physical objects of His creation that mankind has chosen to use as symbols to represent other things. From what I see between what Paul told the Corinthian church, and what Jesus told Pergamos and Thyatira, He doesn't have a problem with the physical meat. Likewise, He doesn't have a problem with nails, or spears, or crosses even though they were all instruments used by sinful man to torture Him to death. Likewise, God doesn't have a problem with His evergreen trees, whether they’re outside the house or inside the house. I think He does have a problem when mankind chooses to use any part of His creation in worship of either false gods, or Himself, or in any way that might damage a weaker brother’s faith. 

And it is with this understanding that we dusted off the fake Christmas tree in the garage and our daughters had a great time decorating the house together.

I may not have made my point clearly enough, in fact, I probably didn't, but I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. I'm fully convinced in my own mind based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit through His word that we have freedom in Jesus Christ in regards to anything that He didn't expressly forbid in His word. Christians know that although there are powers and principalities behind idols, the idols themselves aren't anything (not that I'm advocating the use of idols) but wood and stone. Evil symbols are a way for Christians to identify earth dwellers who are enslaved to them. Christians aren't enslaved to Christmas trees, or lights, or gifts. We are voluntarily enslaved through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. He is our number one, on our list of one.

 

We’ve had a great time this year celebrating the moment that the promised “He” of Genesis 3, loved us enough that He came to tabernacle with us in order to offer Himself as a spotless sacrifice for our sins, that we might be made righteous in Him in the eyes of the Father.

 
Jesus isn’t the reason for the season – He’s the reason for everything!

Thank you Jesus.