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March 7, 2019 |
| Problems With Christmas | ||
Long ago, God let me know he had a problem with his people observing the holidays of our society. I was already aware that there were problems with Halloween and Easter, but it was a revelation to me that God had no interest in those, as well as all others of them, and they had no place in the church.
I began to think about these holidays, this time trying to think of them from God's perspective. If I were God, what would I think? That's a difficult mindset to get into, but I believe the Holy Spirit was leading me.
I also began searching YouTube for other people who had recognized this. There were some.
There is much to criticize about Christmas. I divide those criticisms into two groups: physical and spiritual / theological. Physical criticisms relate to things like practices and ideology. Spiritual criticisms relate to how God views Christmas.
This study focuses more on some of the spiritual / theological problems with Christmas. It does touch on some practices that are also problems.
David Pawson is an interesting Bible teacher in that he rejects much of the standard church's traditional beliefs. He does this because he is willing to read the Bible and accept what it says (for the most part). For example, he rejects the ideas that people go to Heaven or Hell when they die, once-saved-always-saved, Christmas observance, etc.
He still rejects the Sabbath and keeps Easter, so he isn't there yet.
The video below is part 2 of a three-part series on Christmas done by him. In the series, he describes the history of Christmas and also his own journey to rejecting Christmas.
Most people recognize that a lot of pagan ideas have gotten into Christmas over time. Of those people, many Christians still observe Christmas but try to keep the paganism to a minimum. David's journey took him a step beyond that - Christmas was abhorrent to God from the very first Christmas.
Beginning at 11:42 in this part, he discusses two events that impacted him strongly.
Most people, including CoG7, think Christmas is bad because of the syncretism of paganism it has accumulated. They thought there was nothing wrong with Christmas at first, but it eventually got bad enough that it needed to be avoided. That leaves questions. Exactly when did it become intolerably pagan? Where exactly is that dividing line? What year did that happen? Whose standards are we going to use to decide that?
David's experience shows us that those are the wrong questions and that the idea that there is a gray area is wrong. There is more to it than that.
If you enjoyed this, there is another good section in part 1 beginning at 20:49. You can find it on YouTube.com here.
In the Bible, God describes 7 days that he calls his appointed days. These feast days mark out the major steps in God's plan of salvation - the steps that Jesus would take.
What's missing? There is no celebration of his birth. In fact no one knows the date for sure. There are a few reasonable theories for a date (December 25th is not one of them), but they are only theories.
If Jesus' birth day isn't important enough to God to ask us to celebrate it, why do Christians want to celebrate it? Yes, it was the fulfillment of prophecy. It was the coming of God as man. Angels appear to shepherds. Wise men from the east come bearing gifts. To people, those seem like big things, but God sees things differently than man. To him, Jesus' death is more important than his birth, and his birth is not worth mentioning.
"A great and wise king saw that his people were working so much that they were becoming unproductive.
"With his great wisdom, he set up the perfect schedule of holidays that would give them the rest they needed at the best times of the year.
"He told the people, 'Don't add to them and don't take away.' Some time later, he noticed they had added some holidays of their own and had forgotten some of his.
"Later on, he greatly expanded his kingdom. The new people made up reasons why the holidays didn't apply to them, and they created ones of their own.
"For example, they liked to celebrate birthdays, so they created a holiday to celebrate the king's birthday. They were sure he would appreciate that. He had never said when his birthday was though, so they picked a date they liked.
"Will the king be pleased?"
This story asks an important question. By what right do we create our own holiday (holy day)? Who do we think we are to do such a thing? Most people have never given it a second thought. Everyone assumes that we can if we want to.
The Bible speaks of a case where a new holy day is created by a man. Jeroboam is afraid the people of Israel will travel to Jerusalem to worship and not come back. He creates his own worship centers and holy days. The Bible speaks about this.
On the 15th day of the 8th month, a month of his own choosing, … (1 Kings 12:33)
By saying "a month of his own choosing," God is pointing out, in disbelief, how God sees this.
The apostles and the early Christian church celebrated Passover on Nisan 14. When the Church of Rome (later the Roman Catholic Church) changed the day to the Sunday following Nisan 14. Polycarp traveled the great distance to Rome to explain to the bishop there that this was wrong.
Polycarp was a bishop in Asia Minor (now Turkey) who had worked with some of the apostles. He told the Bishop of Rome that the apostles had always kept Passover on Nisan 14. His point was that changing it, even the date, made it unacceptable to God. Polycarp's churches and others did not change the date. At that time, the Church of Rome was powerless to do anything about it.
Later the Roman Catholic Church would change the date for Passover to its current formula. This time, a man called Polycrates, along with other bishops, would send a letter of correction to Rome. By this time, the Roman Catholic Church had the power to persecute the churches that did not comply with its rules. Eventually it would drive them out of the Roman Empire.
He [the anti-Christ] will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
If we change one of God's days, we have tried to take control of it. God sees it as creating our own day, no matter how much we think it is the same. The days we create are our own; they are not holy to God.
If God is pleased when we create a holiday to honor him, then he would be even more pleased if we created two holidays to honor him. And if two are good, then four are better. If 4, then 8, then 16 …
That's the problem we get into when we try to do things on our own to please God. If one is good - many are better.
The Roman Catholic Church has a couple of hundred holidays on its calendar. If God is pleased with holidays, did the Protestants displease him by throwing out most of those? If God was honored by them, how does he feel about rejecting them?
Micah the prophet discusses trying to please God in Micah 6. The result is that God is pleased when people do what he says, in obedience.
"6 With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:6-8)
When we create a holiday, are we walking humbly with our God?
When we observe a man-made holiday, we are being obedient to the prescribed observances for that day. At Christmas time, no one goes from door to door saying, "Trick or Treat." We all know the correct observances for each holiday, and we obey them. With man-made holidays, who are we obeying?
The truth is that God is not honored by us creating a holiday to celebrate him. He is not like a man.
When a holiday is created, it is a "thing" just as much as a block of wood or even something as abstract as wealth, strength, or a philosophy. Having been created by our own hands, it can be worshiped.
The tangibles, like wood, stone, and metal, are more easily understood as potential objects of worship, but some religions, for example, Taoism, are based on the worship of a philosophy. The prophet Habakkuk speaks of a people whose God is their strength. We also understand that wealth can be a God as well.
Just as we cannot worship God through an idol or any other thing we create, we cannot worship him through a day that we have created. This is true even if we have decided the holiday is about some aspect of God.
25 Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched. (2 Chronicles 34:25)
16 I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. (Jeremiah 1:16)
41 And they made a calf for themselves in those days, and they sacrificed sacrifices to the idol and they were delighting in the work of their hands. (Acts 7:41)
20 And the rest of the children of men who were not killed by the scourges did not turn from the work of their hands to not worship Devils and idols of gold, of silver and of brass, and of wood and of stone, which do not see, neither hear, nor are able to walk. (Revelation 9:20)
How do we worship such intangibles as wealth, strength, and philosophies? Just as we praise our God, we praise these gods, though it sounds a little different. Wealth: "My wealth has made me secure; I need not fear." Strength: "Because of our strength, we cannot be beaten." Philosophy: "You have given me understanding and wisdom."
I have heard Christians praise Easter with words like, "It's the most holy day of the year." We've certainly also heard Christmas praised as "the happiest day of the year."
When a holiday is created, there are always rituals and symbols that accompany it. Christmas has its tree and gift giving. Easter has its eggs and dressing up for church. July 4th has its flag and people going to see fireworks. Thanksgiving has its turkeys, and pumpkins … and eating.
We commonly see these inside churches as well. The word "Syncretism" describes the mixing together of holy and pagan. Remember that pagan doesn't mean evil. It just refers to things that are not part of the faith.
God spoke about bringing pagan things into our worship.
In fact, an argument can be made that anything we have created does not belong in a worship center because it distracts from worship, attracting our attention to the glory of the thing we have created.
25 If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. (from Exodus 20:23-26) (NIV)
God's concern here is about bringing things we have made into our worship. The temptation is to worship them instead of God. It's easy to understand how a highly ornate church building could be a visual distraction. It can be more than that though. It can become a source of pride and worship.
Because of this commandment, the stones for Solomon's temple were worked off-site and then brought to the temple to be placed in position.
21 You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:21-22) (NIV)
This verse deals with bringing pagan symbols and rituals into worship. One of the symbols used in the worship of the goddess Asherah was a pole or pillar. Note that God doesn't say they are not to worship the pillar - he says not to have it anywhere nearby.
Actually Advent doesn't mean Christmas. Advent, in the Christian context, refers to the first or second coming of the Messiah or Christ.
But that's almost a trivia question. For most Christians, Advent does mean Christmas. They do not see any difference. This is also true of unbelievers. Those who use the word Advent would be just as likely to say Christmas.
No one misses the obvious connection.
A church is built from people with a range of understanding of the faith. Those with the best understanding are a minority. Once that door is open to Christmas, how long will it be until the other trappings of Christmas begin to appear?
I saw that happen when a church held a fall party on Halloween and invited the neighbors. Neighborhood people arrived in Halloween costumes because "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, maybe it's a duck."
In 2 Samuel 6, the people were joyful about the coming move of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. "David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments." You know there would have been singing, dancing, and praising of God.
They were sure they were doing something wonderful for God, but they were violating God's instructions in multiple ways.
Shortly after they started to move the Ark, a young man touched the Ark and was struck dead.
God's ways are not our ways. We can be deceived or deceive ourselves into thinking that good is bad and bad is good.
Christmas is often called the season of giving, and it is often said that Jesus was God's gift to us. The giving that happens at Christmas is not the kind of giving that Jesus talked about.
Then he said also to the one who had invited him, "Whenever you make a banquet or supper, do not call your friends, neither your brothers, nor your relatives, nor your rich neighbors, lest also they should invite you and this would be a reward to you. 13 But whenever you make a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the maimed and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, for they have nothing to repay you, for your reward will be in the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12-14)
Perhaps the best bad example is the gift exchange, where a group of people agree to give a gift to one member of that group, and they will receive a gift in exchange. A price range is set so that competitive people in the group do not buy lavish gifts and embarrass those who paid less. The people in the group might as well exchange $20 bills.
The things that we associate with receive our stamp of approval, whether we want to or not. We wouldn't be involved in a gay pride march because we don't approve of that lifestyle. We might, however, be involved with gays in a different setting for the purpose of spreading the gospel. The difference is our mission, whether we are going along and therefore approving, or whether we are working for God against evil.
Do not be associates with those who are unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness with evil, or what intimacy has light with darkness? 15 What harmony has the Messiah with Satan? What lot has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does the Temple of God have with demons? But you are the Temple of the living God, just as it is said, "I shall dwell in them and I shall walk in them, and I shall be their God, and they shall be a people to me." (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)
Paul says those who are close to us should be believers. He isn't saying we should never have contact with unbelievers. Instead the contact with them should be missional.
For if a man should see you who have knowledge in you, reclining in the house of idols, behold, will he not be encouraged to eat what is sacrificed because his conscience is weak? (1 Corinthians 8:10)
Paul is making a different point, about destroying the weak in faith by our actions. For our point here, though, this destruction is possible because people see our participation and actions as a sign of approval. Everyone understands that.
We've looked at many different views of Christmas.