Christians & Christmas 🎄 🎁

Hello and thank you for watching this video. We're going to be talking about Christmas. Should Christians celebrate

Christmas? I did a video a couple months ago about Halloween, so I gave you my thoughts on that.

Now I'm going to give you my thoughts about Christmas. I like Christmas. However, a lot of people, a lot of Christians, I don't think it's a lot but you'll find this, it's common to find this on the internet, in the

YouTube comment sections and whatnot, there's a fair amount of Christians who don't like Christmas and some will just say flat out it's a pagan holiday and you shouldn't celebrate it.

I believe, I don't believe that's true because this is a Christian liberty issue.

So Romans 14, 5 and 6, we can all agree that there's no commandment against celebrating

Christmas. Now that doesn't prove anything. There's no command for it or against it.

That's not proof. That doesn't end the conversation. But Romans 14, 5 and 6,

Paul says, one person esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike.

Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. So if you feel that, you know,

Christmas trees are pagan and these traditions, you know, Santa Claus is pagan.

I admit, I'm not big on Santa, okay? I do kind of take issue with Santa Claus or I do take issue with Santa Claus coming in and stealing all the glory when all the glory belongs to Jesus.

So I like Christmas, not a fan of Santa Claus but Paul says in Romans 14, you know, let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

So this is a Christian liberty issue. If you take issue with Christmas, then by all means, don't celebrate it.

Most Christians, I think, like Christmas and Paul says in verse 6, he who observes the day and that's whatever day, you know, these days that even

Easter itself, you know, there's no proof that, yeah, Passover was a thing but there was no proof, no evidence that the early church, like the very early church, the apostles, there's no real evidence they celebrated this, you know, holiday called

Easter once per year. You know, just you can decide to make that a special day.

For me, every, you know, speaking about Easter, every Sunday is Easter. We celebrate the resurrection of the

Lord every Sunday. So to me, Easter isn't this, you know, high holy day or anything but a lot of people, it is and hey, okay, that's fine or if not, that's fine.

It's the same with Christmas. So let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

So let me reiterate, this is a Christian liberty issue. So some people say it's pagan.

People like to pull out Jeremiah chapter 10. Here's what Jeremiah 10, 3 and 4 says because people, you've heard this.

Undoubtedly, you've heard Christmas trees are pagan. Where do they get that? Well, here is a verse in the

Bible that has caught some people's attention. They say, for the customs of the people are futile.

For one cuts a tree from the forest and the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe, they decorate it with silver and gold and they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple.

See, God is saying that these pagans, they go out and cut a tree down and bring it into their house and decorate it.

That's a Christmas tree and it's pagan. Well, yeah, but is that what you're doing?

Is that what you're doing with the tree? You're celebrating it as some sort of pagan thing?

No, you know, these things right here that we wear on our finger wedding rings, you know, some people say they're pagan.

Circles are pagan. Triangles are pagan. Like pagans have done a lot of things and they've used a lot of symbols.

I mean, if you if you really investigate and, you know, dig deep enough, you can probably discover that just about everything is tied to paganism because we live in a pagan world.

But, you know, I do not believe that Jeremiah 10, 3 and 4, you know,

OK, they they cut down a tree and brought it in their house. The pagans did that. Well, again, pagans have done a lot of things.

I got this little tree here. Is that wrong? You know, some people would never bring in a

Christmas tree, but they have other plants or trees in the house. I mean, to me, this verse, it doesn't bother my conscience.

I know that the Christmas tree that we're going to put up has nothing to do with paganism.

That's my feelings on the matter. I have a clear conscience. So going back to what

Paul said in Romans chapter 14, one person esteems one day above another.

Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it to the

Lord. And he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. So if you celebrate

Christmas, here's the point. If you're a Christian and you celebrate Christmas, great.

But do it unto the Lord. Okay, make Jesus the center. And this gets into the next thing.

Here's where Christmas does become kind of a stumbling block. The materialism, right?

Where people feel obligated to go out and spend money they don't have. Or they hate shopping.

They hate doing this. They hate doing that. But I just feel obligated to go out and do it. And what you don't have to.

Okay, so I think it's good to give gifts. God has given us a gift.

And this is sort of what we're celebrating, right? The wise men gave gifts. And that's supposedly what

Christmas and the gift giving tradition that patterned after the wise men, right? Supposedly.

And I don't doubt that. Maybe it's true. Maybe it's not. It doesn't even matter really. I felt, to me, when

I was young, yeah, it was about getting gifts. So I can see where that is a danger because if it becomes all about Santa and getting stuff, then

God is not glorified. So I get it. And you should do, again,

Christian liberty issue. You should do what you feel is right. So if you choose to get 1 or 2 gifts for your child and you don't get anyone else a gift, that's totally fine.

Now, if you're in a setting where you're going to go to your in -laws or your parents or relatives or Christmas party and you know people are going to give you gifts and that's just the setting and you don't want to take part in it,

I would let someone know. Let them know ahead of time and say, hey, for whatever reason, be as polite as you can and say, you know, we're just not, we're not doing that.

So please don't get us anything or don't feel obligated to give us anything.

Just so they know because sometimes there is an expectation. Okay, I'm expecting this and I'm expecting you to do that.

Just, it's okay to let people know ahead of time. Hey, you know what? For whatever reason, you need to decide how to tell people this politely.

But, you know, we're not going to do that. If people know ahead of time, you know, they'll probably be okay with it.

And if they're not, it's too bad. As long as you're polite and respectful and upfront, that's totally, you can do what you want.

So do not feel obligated. Don't let the whole season be ruined because of other people's expectations of you.

But for me, you know, as a kid, I loved getting gifts. I think every kid does.

But, you know, as a parent, you, the thing you enjoy the most is buying gifts for your children.

Like I, if I don't get anything for Christmas, that's totally fine. But I want to get, you know, my daughter something.

So that's more important to me. But through all of it, Christ should be the center.

And this is why I like Christmas because it's a good opportunity to make

Christ, you know, the center of this dark time of year. Here in New England, yeah, it gets dark early.

It's cold. It's cold and dark and dreary. And it's a depressing time for some people, you know, whether it's seasonal depression or, you know, being alone around the holidays or whatever it is.

People have memories attached. For a lot of people, this is a very difficult season.

So, doing what you feel is right, that's what you need to do and make

Christ the center of it. Go to church. Sing the Christmas songs. That almost always lifts your spirits.

Make Christ the center. Keep Christ at the center. And it's a good opportunity to invite someone to church.

They might never go if you invited them in, you know, August or September. But if you invite them for a

Christmas service, you know, that's okay. It's expected and they might actually go to that or a

Christmas, New Year's Eve or not New Year's Eve, Christmas Eve service. So, you know, people are more likely to accept an invitation.

And here you have songs about Jesus and about Christ's birth on the radio.

And it's a good time. It's a perfect opportunity to share the good news of Christ.

So, for that reason and several others, I enjoy Christmas. But going back to the

Christian liberty issue, you just need to do what you feel is right. If you want to observe the holiday, do it to the

Lord. And if you don't want to observe the holiday, then to the Lord, you're not going to observe it.

One last thing, I really don't like Santa Claus. If you do the Santa thing,

I'm not judging anybody. I'm not against you. But just,

I mean, keep it in the back of your mind if you tell your children that Santa exists and he's getting the gift.

I mean, you're technically telling them something that's not true. So, as a pastor,

I know you didn't ask, right? Some unsolicited advice. I would not do the

Santa thing. That's my own personal opinion. Lying to your children, I don't know.

It's just, I'm going to make someone mad. But I'm not judging. But I do judge something.

Hey, some things are wrong and you need to say they're wrong. I'm not going to say it's a sin to do the

Santa thing. But I do dislike Santa Claus. Because again, he gets all the glory and that really bothers me because Jesus deserves all the glory on Christmas.

But again, I'm not passing judgment on you. I, you know, our family,

I did the Santa, not me, but you know, when I was young, I was told about Santa Claus and it was fun and I want my kids to have that same thing.

And okay, that's, bottom line, this stuff is really up to you, whether you, whether you observe it, how you observe it.

And before I get myself into any more trouble, I'll just end it here. But thanks for watching.