If you are a disciple of Christ, questioning whether you should be celebrating Christmas, please allow me to share with you some biblical and historical facts to consider, which might help you make your decision.I would like to share a letter I recently sent to a friend of ours, explaining why we no longer celebrate Christmas. I hope this will also be encouraging to the growing number of people who are feeling the same conviction in their heart that we have. The letter states:
"I want to mention something to you, since you have mentioned Christmas a couple times to me. It's not a problem with us if you want to celebrate Christmas, but we don't do so. So you're probably shocked and wondering, 'Why not?!' Well, in case you are thinking that, I want to share some of our reasons.
First of all, there is no place in Scripture where we are told explicitly, exactly what day Jesus was born on. And there is no place in Scripture where we are told to celebrate His birthday. Neither do we find any Scriptural record of the early Church celebrating His birthday. In fact, the date when the world celebrates Christmas is closer to the time when Jesus was conceived, rather than the time He was born. He was more likely born in the September-October time frame.
You can read more about this in my blog, called "The Birth of Jesus: On What Day was Jesus Born?" As you would have guessed, I have a blog about this topic, like so many other things the Lord has shown us from His Word. We believe in living as Jesus did and according to His Word, not man-made traditions or worldly customs.
Christmas is really an invention of the Roman Catholic Church. And it appears they chose it to fit into the time-frame of another festival that was celebrated by the pagans. They did this with many of the pagan deities and festivals, replacing them with Christian themes and names. All of the customs of Christmas pre-date (existed before) the birth of Jesus Christ. You can read more about that here.
Just like all the other man-made traditions of the Roman Catholic church, this one is not life giving. We just don't see the life in it. In fact, probably this holiday brings about more death than it does life. It places so many burdens on people, even in the world, that they have to go shopping and buy all these gifts and they have to have a "merry Christmas". Then if they don't have the money for the gifts or they cannot celebrate the holiday according to all the established customs, they feel very sad about it. It seems like this holiday drives people to copy the world and conform to the world, rather than be led by the Spirit and obey the Scriptures. This funny skit sums up what we mean.
To us, Christmas is just another day, and every day is alike. Paul wrote, 'One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.' (Rom 14:5-6). Paul shows here that those with weak faith, who observe certain days, do so for the Lord. And those who regard every day alike do so for the Lord.
So I realize that was a bit of a long explanation, but we knew you would probably ask, so this is the best way we can explain it to you. I hope you understand.
with love and blessings,
Len and Jennifer"
That's the end of the letter we wrote to our friend. Actually she wasn't shocked like I assumed she may be. Her reply said in part, "Yeah, I understand and I agree with this. It was cool though that you've written down for me these facts."
I'd also like to link to a similar letter that I just found online today by a sister in Christ, whom I have never heard of until now. It is excellent, and I highly recommend you read it. She is an Ethiopian lady now living in the States, and it's amazing to me how the Lord led her to say very similar things to her friend that the Holy Spirit led me to say to ours. I think it is just additional confirmation that the Spirit of the Lord has led us this way, in order to bring us into greater freedom. And the Lord used her letter to encourage us.
Since this holiday is so popular with the world, even among those who don't know Christ personally, anyone who does not celebrate it seems rather strange. But each person has to do for the Lord what they believe to be true and right. We're free in Christ to do so, and that's what we do. Therefore, if you have faith to celebrate Christmas for the Lord, just allow others, who love the Lord, the same freedom not to celebrate it.
This is our personal decision as a family. If you are considering whether you should celebrate Christmas, let me encourage you to read your Bible, learn the history behind the holiday, and seek the Lord in prayer about it. He will be faithful to guide you. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all Truth, and the Truth will set you free. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
___________________________________________________
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years,
making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making
disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal
of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States
with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
