SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?

Dear Friends,

To many of you, asking the question, “Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?” sounds very odd – maybe even unchristian. But then again, many Christians share the human problem of not liking to ask questions that require thought. A good question is a great good. Jesus knew the difference between a good and a “bad” question. He was patient and He answered good questions. In fact, He welcomed good questions. Bad questions come in many forms. One thing common to bad questions is that they are not looking for a true answer – they are often looking to hurt or embarrass – in other words, they are an attack disguised as a question. Jesus did not welcome bad questions, and He “answered” them shrewdly.

So, the Bible does not tell us to celebrate Christmas. Today Christmas is an overwhelmingly secular event. On top of this, Canadian Christmas appears to be deconstructing – turning into “Friends-mas” and “Me-mas”. So, should Christians celebrate Christmas? A couple of points can be made.

First, this is an area of freedom for Christians. The Bible does not mandate a yearly Christmas celebration. So, Christians can deal with these and other questions in a wide range of ways. Hopefully we can disagree with humility, charity and prayer.

Second, there are good human reasons to celebrate the incarnation and birth of Jesus Messiah every year. A feature of human experience is that we remember what is important and also celebrate events and people of good importance. When the Raptors won the NBA Championships the city and much of Canada celebrated! People in Toronto will remember the championship series for years to come. We have yearly celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries. So it is natural for Christians to want to remember and celebrate simple human things like a birthday, anniversary or championship. What would it say to people if we never celebrated and remembered central truths and events of the Christian faith? I know we go to church on the Lord’s Day – but to many people, the lack of a yearly celebration would be telling.

This leads to the third point. There are many good Biblical reasons to celebrate Christmas. In the Old Testament, the Covenant People not only had to keep the Sabbath every week, they also had yearly festivals to celebrate the fundamental truths and events of how the Lord had delivered them from slavery and made them His Covenant People. Because Jesus fulfilled the Law and instituted the New Covenant, we do not keep the Old Covenant celebrations. We continue to celebrate the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day; a Gospel Day. But surely the Old Testament suggests that yearly celebrations and remembrances are wise for the Lord’s New Covenant People. In fact, I think part of the wisdom of the Bible is that since the Church is now a transnational, transcultural, trans temporal body, it wisely does not require the celebration or the specifics. Think about it. The challenges of living as a Christian in Iran or North Korea will be very different than for those of us in Ottawa of Fort McMurray.  

Finally, there are good missiological reasons to celebrate Christmas. In Canada, to refuse to celebrate Christmas will make us look more like the Grinch or Scrooge than like Jesus. Furthermore, to celebrate the incarnation of God the Son of God and the subsequent birth of Jesus; God and man; the Messiah; the “lamb of God whom came to take away the sin of the world”; the promised Prince of Peace – this shows to our neighbours that we believe Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. If given the chance (pray for this chance!) we can explain that we celebrate His birth by giving gifts because He is God’s unsurpassable gift to all who will receive Him with humble repentance and true faith. But, the heart of godly remembrance is worship – worship with the Lord’s people. So brothers and sisters. Merry Christmas! Celebrate Messiah’s birth well, to the glory of God!

George+