It is no secret that the issue of holidays, and whether
or not those who are in Christ should celebrate holidays, has been a topic of
heated debate for many years. The reason for this debate generally stems for
the belief that many of the days and traditions we generally associate with
Christian celebrations are, in fact, rooted in paganism: most notably the
traditions surrounding Christmas and Easter.
December
17th -23rd was originally Saturnalia,
a Roman festival dedicated to the worship of Saturn; during which time it was
common for the acceptable social norms of Roman society to be completely
overturned, resulting in wide-spread hedonism and general debauchery for the
duration of the carnival. Likewise the Christian celebration of Easter has been associated with numerous festivals devoted to various pagan gods and goddesses. As one would expect, these pagan fertility
celebrations—observed on or near the spring equinox—also involved a good deal of debauchery,
as well as the usual rituals and sacrifices common to pagan cultures of the day.
That being said, there is a growing movement among believers that
condemns the observance of these holidays, as well as many others. But nearly
two millennia of tradition is hard to ignore, and so the question remains:
should Christians celebrate holidays?
While I cannot speak for all Christians, I personally feel that choosing to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th and his resurrection on Easter Sunday is perfectly acceptable. It does not matter on what day these world-changing events took place. All that matters is that they did. Furthermore, we know from Scripture that the so-called "gods" who used to be worshiped on or near these days are not really gods at all. (1 Corinthians 8:4-7, Galatians 4:8)
That being said, I also acknowledge that there are many Christians out there who feel convicted about celebrating God on days that may be linked to pagan festivals, and the Bible makes it very clear that neither I nor anyone else are to judge them or do anything to cause them to stumble. (Romans 14:10-13, 1 Corinthians 8:7-12) So if you are one of these individuals, then I would encourage you to do whatever you feel God has called you to do. If you feel that it is wrong to celebrate holidays that may have pagan origins, then you are well within your rights to choose not to celebrate them. I cannot, in good conscious, tell you that you are wrong. After all, the Bible says in Romans 14:23 that if you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
While I cannot speak for all Christians, I personally feel that choosing to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th and his resurrection on Easter Sunday is perfectly acceptable. It does not matter on what day these world-changing events took place. All that matters is that they did. Furthermore, we know from Scripture that the so-called "gods" who used to be worshiped on or near these days are not really gods at all. (1 Corinthians 8:4-7, Galatians 4:8)
That being said, I also acknowledge that there are many Christians out there who feel convicted about celebrating God on days that may be linked to pagan festivals, and the Bible makes it very clear that neither I nor anyone else are to judge them or do anything to cause them to stumble. (Romans 14:10-13, 1 Corinthians 8:7-12) So if you are one of these individuals, then I would encourage you to do whatever you feel God has called you to do. If you feel that it is wrong to celebrate holidays that may have pagan origins, then you are well within your rights to choose not to celebrate them. I cannot, in good conscious, tell you that you are wrong. After all, the Bible says in Romans 14:23 that if you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
However,
we do have freedom in Christ. Our God is the God who redeems. He bought us all with his blood and
freed us from both sin and the law through his resurrection. (Galatians 3:19-29, 4:8-12, Romans 3:21-22, Hebrews 8:7-13, 9:1-10, etc.) My God is greater than
the pagan "gods", and he is greater than "their" festivals. So I feel that I am free
to worship God on the days He has redeemed—including Christmas and
Easter. If we were not allowed to
celebrate what God has done for us on the days pagans use to worship their deities, then we would never be
able to celebrate Him at all—the Brahman religion alone would see to that.
After all, there are more Hindu gods than there are days in a year! Therefore,
it stands to reason that there are pagan holidays and rituals going on
somewhere in the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year. Which, if
we’re completely honest with ourselves, doesn’t leave much room to worship the
True God.
Ultimately however, the decision to celebrate holidays comes down to
personal conviction. I feel that I am free to celebrate holidays based solely
on the fact that I have been made holy through the blood of Jesus Christ. I cannot
condemn anyone who disagrees with me. Nor can they condemn me. (Romans 5-6, 14:1) We are all
brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow travelers on the road of life. Our
destination lies before us, and it is our duty to help each other along. If we
allow our personal convictions to divide us we succeed only in hurting ourselves and weaken
the body of Christ as a whole.
“So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
~ Colossians 2:16-23 New Living Translation (NLT)
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