CHRISTMAS

Is the celebration of Christmas a good thing or a bad thing? As born-again Christians, should we celebrate Christmas?


There are probably two different ways to look at this: It's a time of year where we can freely talk about the birth of Christ and use it to win souls to the Lord. But, it's also a time of year that has been exploited dramatically by the commercial system to the extent that there is a shopping FRENZY taking place for the entire month of December, especially the last two weeks.

Jesus said, "By your traditions, you have made the law of God of no effect."

Paul said, "All things work together for good to them that love God..."

Let's face it: we are NOT going to be able to stop Christmas. It is deeply ingrained in our culture. But, more importantly, it is a cash cow that most businesses depend on for a large portion of their annual revenues. So, Christmas is probably here to stay. It will be celebrated come what may. Even though it may be "politically incorrect" to actually say, "Merry Christmas", it will continue to be the year's biggest holiday.

But, should we partake of it? After all, it certainly isn't the birthday of Jesus Christ, is it? It's not His birthday, at least, not that we know of. The holiday was handed down to us from pagan worshipers and the Christmas tree was one of their traditions that Christians "stole".

For me, I do like the "atmosphere" on Christmas Day. That's not to say that I am not deceived by a sense of false "peace on earth and goodwill to man" which is quite possible. But, for me, it's the only day of the year (and possibly month of the year) when the Christmas carols are being played and sung. And I just love the Christmas carols.

Many of these songs were written by true, on-fire believers who poured out their hearts to worship our Lord. So, if nothing else, just the fact that the air-waves are carrying messages of worship to Jesus, makes it a glorious time of the year. And I think this also brings down the Holy Spirit, making the message of salvation available to all.

The flip side of this is that, in developing nations, Christmas is merely a day to give gifts, put up a tree, eat a nice dinner and decorate your house with pretty lights. But, still, this really does set the stage for them to eventually reach an understanding of what the birth of Christ is all about, don't you think?

In Malaysia, even the non-believing Hindus and Muslims like to celebrate Christmas. They get excited if you give them a Christmas card! It's just because it's so "Western" and such a cute souvenir. Then, of course, you have the Christians in Malaysia that try to follow all the traditions of the holiday. Why not? Yes, we stole the "day" from the druids or whatever and it's a "harvest celebration" or something, but, so what? Christians use a LOT of stuff that once belonged to the devil.

Don't tell me that shopping malls, coffee shops, restaurants, hair salons, toy shops and so on are off limits to Christians. Most believers, including myself, enter these establishments without any concern whatsoever. AND, when we do, we usually don't go around singing about Jesus, do we? But, at least on Christmas, WE DO. At least, I do. I don't know about you.

As in all things of this world, Christians must RISE ABOVE. Folks, we have to realize we LIVE on the devil's territory! This world is the devil's domain and most people in this world are under the devil's control!

Is that hard to believe?

It's sad for those who are deceived. But, it's true. He has most of the world duped. Most of the people in this world are walking around in a daze, following their nose to eternity, not knowing that there is a way OUT. God has a PLAN for our lives.

So, what about Christmas? WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Here's my suggestion:

"Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do it all to the glory of God."

"Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world..." John 15:19

Just like with everything else that we see going on around us, Christmas can be used for God's glory. If we can go shopping for groceries and come out without demons crawling all over us, I think we are strong enough to get through the Christmas season unscathed. It's really a position of our hearts. And if I say, "Merry Christmas" to someone, I mean it and hope they do have a great time AND come to know the Lord if they don't already. You know what I mean? All things work together for our good.

More and more the darkness deepens. More and more we will be faced with choices about what's really important and what our priorities are in this life. We must be guided by the Holy Spirit step by step because there are many pits and cliffs out there and traps of the enemy. He is SUCH a drama queen. He's mostly all bark and no bite. He's just something to AVOID. And rebuke. But, let's not allow HIM to steal back Christmas.

Maybe, he already has. Christmas has become nothing be a shallow, foolish materialistic orgy for the majority of the world. Santa Claus takes front and center stage with his silly elves. He's one to avoid, for sure. I wouldn't allow any of my kids to sit on his lap. That's the dark side of Christmas.

And shopping is ridiculous. You're supposed to buy a gift for everyone and although it's a nice thought, the whole tradition has caused many to go bankrupt! It's like an obligation that we didn't ask for and didn't want but if we didn't do it we'd feel really bad. It's such a pain! We have to go out and spend, spend, spend money that we don't have to get gifts that will probably not even be appreciated. Then we have to accept gifts that we probably don't need or want in some cases. So, THIS part of the "tradition" of Christmas can be very annoying and it may take extra effort to stay in the spirit and on the right track.

Again, whatever we do should be to the glory of God. If we pray about what gift to buy (or make) and what message to write on that Christmas card, God could even use THAT to His glory.

So, Christmas is a holiday, that used to be used to glorify God in the Christian world. Like Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" about Scrooge, the miser who had a change of heart, it was a wonderful time of the year when people made merry with their friends and family. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

The mother would sit down with her children and read them the story of the birth of Jesus out of the Bible. THAT'S A GREAT TRADITION. And if things were kept simple and unadulterated, it would be fine. But, of course, these days, it's all about the latest gadgets and best gifts under the "tree". It almost seems that Christmas is going back to being a Pagan holiday full of materialism, overindulgence, and drunkenness.

It's a fine line to walk to try to be a good example of a true Christian during a holiday that makes so many of us look like hypocrites. GOD HELP US. It really is an obstacle course and what little of Jesus is still infused into it, we should dwell on that side. After all, we are the light of this world. When all is dark, we will shine even brighter. So, as Tiny Tim said,

"God bless us, every one." (Except for the devil's crowd, eh?)