I am 37 years old and have never celebrated Christmas. Yes, as one of friends son from my Bible Study Group said to me, "Never celebrated Christmas? Like even when you were a kid?" I responded, "Yup. Even when I was a kid." He stood there looking at me in utter shock for quite some time trying to absorb this concept that seemed utterly unattainable to comprehend.
Growing up, I was told multiple reasons from my parents as to why we didn't, shouldn't or wouldn't. I don't know that I have never really stopped and questioned the reasons I was given and as I have been considering those "reasons", I wish to share my thoughts with you on some of them. If I did an exhaustive list as to all the reasons why we didn't celebrate Christmas, this would be a horribly long post and none of us have time for that. Nor do I want this to turn into a rant, I simply want to share some of my reflecting and encourage you to stop and ask questions and search for the truth.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: We don't know what day Jesus was born. God didn't tell us. Anything he wanted us to know or do in the bible he gave instruction for how we were to live. Since we don't know when he was born and he didn't tell us, he doesn't want us to celebrate his birth.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: We should celebrate Jesus every day of the year, not just his birth (or his death). Therefore we will not just celebrate Him on this day.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: Christmas is commercialized. It is not about God. It is about selfishness with a MeMe attitude about what you get, Santa, Snowman, Elf's, Gingerbread Houses, etc. If it was about God, why don't people do things for God instead of themselves? We will not support a commercialized day.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: Christmas is a pagan Holiday. Since we do not support any pagan activities, we will not partake of this day either.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: Christmas means Christ kill. "Mas" means to kill. Why would you celebrate a birth with this term? We don't.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: People tell their kids they are going to get presents from Santa if they are good, if they are naughty they won't, yet all kids get presents anyways. What does this teach your children? Santa is a lie and we won't lie to you.
- REASON I WAS TOLD: People say Christmas is about giving. We should not be giving just one day a year, so we are not going to do good things just on Christmas so in order to avoid being matched with those kinds of people we are not going to do any giving on Christmas.
This is not an exhaustive list, it is a few reasons I was given. So here are my thoughts on those 7 reasons.
- REFLECTION on REASON #1: Yes, we don't know what day Jesus was born. We don't know the exact day anyone in the Bible was born as we do Birthday's in society today. Mom told me that Dad really didn't want us to celebrate birthday's because every account of them in the Bible was bad. After much discussion, he gave in on this. I don't know whether this is true or not as I have not gone to the Bible to prove it. However, have you thought about the fact that God didn't tell you to celebrate YOUR birthday either? So, since he didn't tell you to, does that mean he doesn't want you to and you shouldn't? Do you think in reality that this actually has more to do with what he wants you to do in celebration of your birthday then if you do or don't actually celebrate it? Did God tell us everything he wanted us to do in life? No, the Bible doesn't contain an exhaustive list. God wants to have a relationship with you to help you know what he wants you to be about in your life and journey here. The things that were told to us, if you want to call them hard and fast rules, he has given those things to us to believe and follow.
- REFLECTION on REASON #2: Do you want to be celebrated every day of the year as a special person, loved and treasured by God, or just on your birthday? When I celebrate with you on your birthday, does that mean I only celebrate you on your day of birth? I am not married, but an you imagine if I was and my husband coming and saying, Misty, I love you dearly but I don't want to celebrate our anniversary for fear you will make an idol out of this day and I really do love you each and every day of the year so we won't celebrate this day as being any more special. I mean, you would look at my husband and think he had lost his ability to be logical, wouldn't you? Who wouldn't celebrate their anniversary with the love of their life??? Of course we should celebrate God every day of the year!!! If you are only celebrating him on one day you are missing out on a joyous relationship!!! He is more than LIFE. Would it be wrong to take one day and worship him to an even greater level? Any more than it is that we celebrate you one special day a year? He is worthy of our love. Worthy of our praise. Worthy of our admiration. He is God!
- REFLECTION on REASON #3: Anything can become commercialized. Marketing will turn it into that. People will turn it into that. Anything can and will become not all about God if you don't make God your focus. I personally don't care for all the commercialism that exists in life, whether related to Christmas or not. You can embrace the commercialism or keep it out of your life. But just because someone else has commercialized something doesn't mean its wrong, it just means they have made a way to make it big and make money on it. I beg you to find one thing you use in life that has not become commercialized.
- REFLECTION on REASON #4: Are there any Holiday's that are not pagan? If so, does that make them better? If they were "religious" would that make it approved in your book? Is Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday pagan or religious, or a day God gave us to serve Him? We have made Sunday the day of Sabbath, but do we truly know if that is the day the Lord wants us to rest or does he want us to take one of the 7 days we are given each week and rest?
- REFLECTION on REASON #5: I do not find any resource online to substantiate the definition of Christmas that was given to me by my Dad. I regret I used this term as a reason I didn't celebrate it with kids I went to school with, teachers, coworkers, bosses, strangers I met that checked me out at a store, the bank teller, etc. In fact I find that "Mas" means mission {read wikipedia here for their account of the definition of mass and here for the definition of Christmas}. A day dedication to Christ's Mission I think is a lovely reflection on what he was for us.
- REFLECTION on REASON #6: Is giving and loving people supposed to be based on if they are good vs if they are bad? No. Are reward programs and things of that nature based on conduct and criteria? Yes. Is your birthday supposed to be based off of this? No. Was it during my childhood growing up? Yes. So was it easy for me to believe this? Yes, it was. Do I support lying? No. Do I support believing in something that is fake? No. Do you have to believe in Santa to support or even celebrate Christmas? No, I don't think so and I don't plan to, if I ever "celebrate" Christmas.
- REFLECTION on REASON #7: Should the only day you be loving and giving be on Christmas? No. Does it have to be the only day you are loving and giving? No. Does it mean because people have made that a day of loving and giving that it is wrong? No.
What thoughts do you have on Christmas? I would love to hear from you as to the arguments you have considered against the truth. I don't promise I have the answers, I only am sharing my thoughts. I believe in reflecting on Christ and who he was and who he is we can celebrate him on a level like nobody else!
