Is Christmas Worldly

December, 2005

by: Jack Hughes

It seems every year the Christmas decorations come out earlier and earlier and the commercial side of Christmas is chomping at the bit to make a buck. And every year I think to myself, “How are Christians to navigate through the Christmas season without losing the true meaning and significance of Christmas and yet still enjoy the option and fun trappings that our culture and country attach to the Christmas season?” And, since I have been preaching on Christian liberties, I thought it would be good to use this Calvary Review to separate the sheep activities associated with Christmas from the goat activities.

Now before we answer the question, “Is Christmas Worldly?,” we need to first define what we mean by “worldly.” The Scriptures use this phrase in various ways to describe evil behavior. For instance Paul tells Timothy to avoid “worldly fables fit only for old women,” and “worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge” or “worldly and empty chatter” that “leads to further ungodliness” (I Tim. 4:7; 6:20; II Tim. 2:16). He tells Titus that God’s Word instructs us to deny “worldly desires” (Tit. 2:12). Jude speaks of false teachers as “worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 19).

All of these texts teach us that “worldliness” is having evil thoughts or doing evil deeds. It is not, for instance, merely doing things people in the world do. People in the world eat, they drive cars, they use computers, they read articles like this one. But these activities are not “worldly” in a biblical sense because they do not necessarily violate God’s Word. In order for something to be worldly it must include sin, a violation of the revealed Word of God.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about Christmas. Christmas literally means “Christ’s mass.” A mass is a formal religious ceremony and Christmas is literally a formal religious ceremony celebrating the birth of Christ. The Bible predicts the birth of Christ in several places (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Mic. 5:2). The Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe the birth of Christ and the events that surrounded the birth of God incarnate, the long awaited Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. And though the Bible describes these things it never tells us to celebrate the day of Christ’s birth. We also don’t know when Jesus was born. This means that celebrating Christmas is an option, a personal preference, and is not commanded in the Scriptures.

Christmas was first made a Christian holiday by Emperor Constantine (4th century) as a Christian substitute or alternative celebration day. The Romans had a feast they celebrated called Saturnalia which lasted for seven days. During the feasting days people would exchange gifts. The feast concluded on December 25th with the celebration to Sol Invictus, which means “invincible sun god” and Mithra the ancient Persian god of light. At that time the winter solstice or shortest day of the year, was acknowledged on Deccember 25th. The Sol Invictus and Mithra were celebrated because every day after the winter solstice continues to get longer. Constantine, not wanting Christians to participate in paganism, invented Christmas to compete with a pagan holiday. Doesn’t sound very glorious, but true. And amazingly Christmas still includes the giving of gifts and feasting just like the pagans did in their worship of the Saturn and the sun.

Most know nothing of the origins of Christmas and celebrate Christmas as a fun time of year to spend with friends, exchange gifts, and express love to one another. These activities are clearly not worldly. Even celebrating a man-made holiday like the Fourth of July or Columbus Day isn’t wrong as long as those who celebrate don’t sin against God in the process.

Christmas Traditions that have Nothing to Do with the Bible

1. Feasting. Since the Bible doesn’t tell us to celebrate Christmas, there is no mention of feasting.
2. Having friends over for parties and Christmas get–togethers. Again, we are not told to celebrate Christmas in the Bible though we are told to practice hospitality and enjoy fellowship with one another.
3. Decorating houses. Again, this is a fun thing to do, not sinful, and yet it is never mentioned in the Bible. Yet the world has made the Christmas season into the most important commercial venture of the year. In fact many businesses rely on the Christmas season sales to survive. Decorations are just one of many attempts by the world to make a buck off of Christmas. Yet selling Christmas merchandise isn’t worldly or sinful unless you are selling something that violates the clear teaching of Scripture.
4. Having a Christmas tree. Buying a tree and decorating it is practiced by many and it is not “worldly.” Of course if people worshiped their tree, that would be worldly, but to have a tree and decorate it is no more worldly than a bouquet of flowers.

5. Exchanging gifts. Remember this practice was borrowed from the pagan festivals but in and of itself it isn’t worldly. There are some difficulties and biblical issues that should be considered when it comes to gifts. Some people place themselves under enormous pressure and anxiety during the Christmas season. Of course anxiety is sinful. Some feel guilty or pressured because they can’t buy everyone they know a present. Others get into debt just so they can get everyone else a present. There is a prevailing attitude that you have to give a gift to everyone who gives you a gift. Of course this is contrary to what a gift is. A gift is something given, solely out of grace, expecting nothing in return.

   Yet in many cases people worry themselves into a fret trying to buy gifts for all those people that they think might by them a gift. These are worldly or ungodly motivations for giving. In addition to this some people get very irritable, grumpy, and miserable during Christmas time trying to purchase everything they want to purchase. This too is worldly behavior. If you’re going to go shopping for presents, you need to maintain the “fruit of the Spirit.”

6. Putting up Mistletoe or holly. This in and of itself is not worldly. Some might have problems with someone demanding to have a kiss because they walked under some mistletoe, but other than that, these things are fine and acceptable.
7. Lying to your children by perpetuating the Santa Clause myth. Lying and deceiving are always wrong. In fact Satan is described as “the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44) and those who practice lying are described as those who will end up in hell (Rev. 21:8). It amazes me how many professing Christians try to defend the wholesomeness of lying to their children about Santa, his reindeer, elves, the north pole, and coming down the chimney, etc. Again, while there is nothing wrong with fiction or myths, it is sinful and worldly to present what is not true as something that is true. Some parents act like it is bad to tell children the truth about Santa. Some feel that by telling children the truth about Santa you deprive them of some good. This is warped and worldly thinking and is satanic. And while you may have fun talking about Santa, just like you might tell them about the Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, Snow White, or Alice in Wonderland, God never wants parents to lie or deceive their children into believing that a myth is true.

Biblical Based Myths and Misconceptions

Even among those who make an effort not to be “worldly” in their celebration of Christmas, most have many misconceptions about Christmas. In fact the world has attached a tremendous amount of myth to the biblical facts about Christmas. Below are some of the more common misconceptions about the birth of Christ.

1. Jesus was born on December 25th. Fact is, no one knows when Jesus was born.
2. Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable. Fact is, the Bible doesn’t say where Jesus was born only that there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the Inn and that after Mary gave birth she laid Jesus in a manger (feeding trough).
3. Bible doesn’t say that Mary traveled to Bethlehem on a donkey. Fact is, the Bible never says how Joseph and Mary got there.
4. Many things have been said about the innkeeper but the fact is the innkeeper is never mentioned in the Bible.
5. Most Nativity scenes and Christmas stories include a wide variety of animals. Sheep, donkeys, camels, and cows. Fact is, the only animals mentioned specifically in the Bible are turtledoves and pigeons (Lk. 2:24). Luke 2:8 does mention shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night which could be a reference to flocks of sheep or goats.
6. There was a star over Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. Fact is, the star appeared sometime later after Joseph and Mary went back home to Nazareth after Jesus’ birth and then moved from their hometown Nazareth to Bethlehem and were living in a house (Lk. 2:8-12).
7. Three Magi came to visit Jesus right after he was born to present him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Fact is we don’t know how many Magi there were, we only know that they gave three different kinds of gifts. We do know they didn’t visit Jesus right after his birth. He was a young child living in a house with his parents (Mt. 2:9-11). It is safe to say he was probably about two years old since Herod slaughtered all the male children two years old and under when he discovered that the Magi had tricked him (Mt. 2:16).

Keeping Christmas about Christ

While there are many things that Christians can do during the Christmas season, nothing is more appropriate and God glorifying than to spend the Christmas season praising and worshiping God for the birth of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Take every activity, every celebration, every feast, every tradition and focus them all on praising the Lord Jesus Christ. As you give every gift remember that Jesus was God’s gift to us so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. But keep in mind that Satan and those who are “worldly” would prefer to have Jesus removed from Christmas all together. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t let the Christmas season lead you into sin, materialism or anxiety. Instead praise God!

Erwin Lutzer wrote a book called Hitler’s Cross. In the book he outlines Nazi Germany’s agenda concerning Christmas. Lutzer writes, “Since Germans had for centuries celebrated Christmas and Easter, Hitler had to reinterpret their meaning. Christmas was turned into a totally pagan festival; in fact, at least for the SS troops, its date was changed to December 21, the date of the winter solstice. Carols and Nativity plays were banned from the schools in 1938, and even the name Christmas was changed to “Yuletide.” Lutzer goes on to say, “You will recognize the same changes taking place in America today.” Just as Hitler wanted to remove Christ from Christmas so Satan the god of this world is doing the same thing. Don’t let it happen to you.