The holiday season is upon us once again. With it come houses glowing with decorative lights, exchanges of gifts, opportunities to gather with families and friends, good food and hope for a new year. Personally, it is one of my favorite times of the year. But the holiday season also brings with it a degree of controversy among brethren. Viewpoints regarding the Christmas season come in three general varieties in the church. (1) Some look at the Christmas season as an opportunity to celebrate a special religious Holy Day honoring the birth of Christ. (2) Others believe that nothing should be done any differently in December than is done the rest of the year. They argue that even decorating trees and exchanging gifts should be avoided. (3) Still others attach no religious significance at all to December 25, but enjoy certain aspects of the holidays that are not necessarily associated with anything religious, such as the aforementioned decorating of trees and exchanging of gifts. In light of these differing views, what should the Christian do about Christmas?

Respect the Silence of Scripture

The Bible is clear that everything a person does must be authorized by God if it is to be accepted by Him (Col. 3:17; 1 Cor. 4:6; 2 John 9-11). Here, therefore, is the first question that one must answer: Is there authority in the New Testament for a special religious celebration of the birth of Christ? Answer: no. Neither Jesus, who rightly claimed to possess all authority (Matt. 28:18), nor His inspired apostles, who were guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13) instituted such an observance. If the passage exists that established such, I would be interested in knowing its location.

Historically speaking, the observance of Christmas as a religious Holy Day did not arise until the mid-fourth century, some 350 years after the days of Christ and the apostles (see Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, pp. 394ff; Earle Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries, pp. 120, 160). Whatever else may be said about Christmas, this point is beyond dispute.

As with all matters religious, we must observe only that which is biblically authorized and reject that which is not. If that is not the case, what would prevent us from setting aside special Holy Days to honor other events in the life of Christ? How about having a special worship assembly in which we commemorate the cleansing of the temple (John 2; Matt. 21) by passing out whips to everyone and encouraging the church to overturn tables conveniently set up in the foyer? Or, how about celebrating the day Jesus walked on the water (Matt. 14) by erecting a swimming pool, then having everyone walk across a shallowly submerged wooden bridge to simulate the Lord’s miracle?

It’s not my intention to be flippant, but simply to point out that there is just as much authority in the Bible for those celebrations as there is for a religious observance of Christ’s birth. If we may observe one, we may observe them all—plus any others that we may want to create. The point is that neither Christ nor the apostles authorized a special religious celebration of Christ’s birth. It was created in the minds of men.

Incidentally, how ironic it is that the New Testament places great emphasis on the weekly commemoration of the death of Christ (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23ff)—something the religious masses have largely ignored—but gives no authority for the yearly celebration of His birth—something the religious masses greatly emphasize.

Maintain a Proper Balance

Our current cultural environment finds a number of activities taking place on or around December 25 that are not necessarily connected to any religious observance. Irreligious, humanistic, and even atheistic people are regularly known to exchange gifts, send cards, decorate trees and sing non-religious carols at this time of year without so much as a passing religious thought. While some may argue that those traditions began centuries ago with religious overtones, it cannot be successfully argued that those things carry the same significance today. If they did, antagonists to Christianity would have no part in them.

Consider these examples by way of illustration: do I sin when I refer to the first day of the week as “Sunday,” since it was originally called that in connection with the worship of the sun? “Thursday” was called that originally to honor the false god “Thor.” Do I sin when I call the fifth day of the week “Thursday?” Certainly not, because the current usage of those terms does not imply that the user is worshiping the sun or Thor. Now let us apply that accepted principle to the topic at hand. Some activities and words associated with the present season (like “Christmas” and “holiday”) are not things that automatically carry with them religious connotations in our day. Therefore, to label such special holiday activities (like decorating trees, sending cards, etc.) as wrong just because they are done near or on December 25 is, in my opinion, inconsistent and unnecessary. Yet, if one cannot with clear conscience involve himself in these kinds of holiday activities, they should be avoided (Rom. 14:23).

Remember: Not All Things Are Expedient

One of the issues that also arises this time of year is whether or not we should sing songs about the birth of Christ as the holiday season approaches. First of all, it is an acceptable practice to worship God the Son. The passages are plenty that authorize such (Matt. 2:2, 11; 8:2; Mark 5:6; Matt. 9:18; John 9:38; Matt. 14:33; 28:9, 17, et al.). This includes worship in song (Rev. 5:9). If, therefore, we are authorized to sing songs of praise about our Lord and Savior in March or August, then we are authorized to sing them in December. Would anyone argue that we are strictly forbidden by God, under any circumstances during the last month of the year, from doing what we’ve been clearly authorized to do during the other eleven months, just because a confused religious world has created an unauthorized Holy Day in that month? Personally, I think not.

But it is also the case that all things authorized are not necessarily advantageous (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23). If our singing of songs in December relative to the birth of Christ has the potential of causing someone to think that we have accepted the unauthorized creation of a religious Holy Day (and that potential is clearly there), then would it not be expedient to save those songs for a different time of year? I believe such would be the proper application of 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23.

In addition, if there are good Christians who cannot with clear conscience sing “Joy to the World” or some other song about the birth of Christ during the holiday season, would it not be the right thing to do to forego those songs until a less controversial and problematic time of year? Again, I believe so.

There is no reason to stop praising our Lord at any time of the year. But one can acceptably worship the Lord without calling specific attention to his birth, especially if such attention leaves another with the impression that we approve of a man-made religious Holy Day. Surely we can apply wisdom in this area by focusing on songs that don’t emphasize his birth, thereby keeping us from contributing to the confusion that characterizes so many folks at this time of year.

Conclusion

Let us not do anything for which we have no Bible authority. But let us not legislate for others that which God has not legislated. And let us be mindful of the consciences of others (Rom. 14). While we should never attach religious significance to any day that God has not authorized (cf. Gal. 4:8-11), there is nothing wrong with observing festive times of year for other reasons (cf. Rom. 14:5-6).

Eddie Parrish