Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?

Is there any reason that a Christian should not celebrate Christmas?

Jesus’ Birthday

My late mother had no idea when she was born. She had a good idea of the year but not the day of the year so she just picked Valentine’s Day to observe it since it was all about love. That and the fact that she believed she was born sometime in February. Her birth certificate was lost when she was just a child so she had no idea when her actual birthday was but to us, her children, it didn’t matter; we celebrated it anyway. The truth is we don’t really know when Jesus was born. It was almost certainly not December 25th but more likely in the fall as the shepherds were still abiding out in the field at night when they received a revelation from an angel of God about the coming birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-9), so the question is, should Christians celebrate Christmas as Jesus’ birthday?

What Christians Really Celebrate

We are not so much celebrating Jesus’ birth or entrance into the earth by divine conception and being born through a virgin as we are welcoming Him Who can save us from our sins and take the wrath of God upon Himself for our sake (Isaiah 53). Joseph was told that Mary “will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). Christians celebrate Emmanuel or “God with us” because “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). We celebrate Him and not the day but many celebrate Him on that day or on Christmas Day. This explains the Magi or wise men desiring to see Jesus and worship Him (Matt 2:1-2).

Good News

When the angel came with the glory of God present and told the shepherds in the fields “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12). This “sign” came from a prophesy hundreds of years before from Isaiah (7:11-14). This is the good news of Christmas. The people have great joy because a Savior came into the world and He is “Christ the Lord.”

Extending Grace to Others

In most of the world, people celebrate Christmas but in radically different ways and even those who are not Christian observe and participate in the holiday. We are not to judge other people’s motives when they observe Christmas or they don’t because “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God” (Rom 14:5-6) as “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom 14:11). I don’t have the right to stand before you and judge you as to whether you should or should not observe Christmas and neither do you have that right to judge me over this. We answer only to God and not to anyone else. The Bible is not clear about Christmas’ observance but if it is done to celebrate the arrival of the Captain of our Salvation (Heb 2:10), there is nothing inherently wrong about it that I can tell. What in this world doesn’t have pagan connections? The wedding ring that Christians wear is of a pagan origin but does that mean you don’t wear one?

Conclusion

I could find no clear biblical teachings that were written to the church that would forbid anyone from participating in and observing Christmas but neither is there one that makes it incumbent upon them to observe it. On the non-essentials, we must have grace for those who don’t believe as we do because we are not our brother or sister’s judge. There is that risk during the Christmas season that you can worship the gifts, the trappings, and the parties and detract from Who the worship should go too and Who the focus should be on, but that’s an issue of the heart and not an issue of a holiday.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.