Is Keeping Christmas a Sin?

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People who avoid any celebration of Jesus’ birth are missing out on an opportunity to rejoice, give thanks and praise God for the greatest gift of all time.

Program Transcript

In my younger days, I believed
that celebrating Christmas was a sin. I wanted to let the Bible guide me in
everything I did, and since I couldn’t find any command in the Bible to keep
Christmas, I concluded that keeping it must be a sin.

Of course, it wasn’t very good
logic, and it kept me from enjoying one of the most meaningful and joyous
celebrations of the year.

After all, if we never did
anything that isn’t specifically commanded in the Bible, we wouldn’t have Sunday
school, children’s church, English language Bibles, printing presses, public
address systems, fire alarms or charcoal grills. None of these are specifically
commanded in the Bible.

If we avoided everything not
specifically commanded in the Bible, we’d have to avoid celebrating Thanksgiving
Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, anniversaries, the dedication of a new church
building and even memorials for departed members of our
congregations.

When I look back on those days, I
feel a little silly. I wanted to be faithful to God and to his Word, but I was
interpreting it all wrong. The fact that the Bible doesn’t command us to
celebrate Christmas is not a valid argument against Christmas
celebration.

In fact, what is more worthy of
celebration than the arrival of our Savior to this world? Through Jesus, Paul
wrote in Colossians 1:20, God reconciled the world to himself. It was only
fitting that at his birth people who loved God rejoiced in praise, and even the
angels praised God.

In Luke 2:10-14, an angel of God
described the birth of Jesus as “good tidings of great joy for all the
people.” The shepherds celebrated at the birth of Jesus. The wise men
celebrated. Certainly, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah celebrated. And
the host of heaven celebrated. It is certainly in keeping with the message of
Scripture for Christians to do so too.

Of course, following the apostle Paul’s instruction in Romans 14,
it is important that Christians respect one another’s views on this subject and
not judge one another. Neither those believers who celebrate the birth of
Jesus, nor those who don’t, are more righteous or more evil than the other.

But it remains true that those who avoid any celebration of Jesus’
birth are unnecessarily missing out on the opportunity to rejoice, give thanks
and praise God for the greatest gift of all time.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.

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Program Transcript

In my younger days, I believed
that celebrating Christmas was a sin. I wanted to let the Bible guide me in
everything I did, and since I couldn’t find any command in the Bible to keep
Christmas, I concluded that keeping it must be a sin.

Of course, it wasn’t very good
logic, and it kept me from enjoying one of the most meaningful and joyous
celebrations of the year.

After all, if we never did
anything that isn’t specifically commanded in the Bible, we wouldn’t have Sunday
school, children’s church, English language Bibles, printing presses, public
address systems, fire alarms or charcoal grills. None of these are specifically
commanded in the Bible.

If we avoided everything not
specifically commanded in the Bible, we’d have to avoid celebrating Thanksgiving
Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, anniversaries, the dedication of a new church
building and even memorials for departed members of our
congregations.

When I look back on those days, I
feel a little silly. I wanted to be faithful to God and to his Word, but I was
interpreting it all wrong. The fact that the Bible doesn’t command us to
celebrate Christmas is not a valid argument against Christmas
celebration.

In fact, what is more worthy of
celebration than the arrival of our Savior to this world? Through Jesus, Paul
wrote in Colossians 1:20, God reconciled the world to himself. It was only
fitting that at his birth people who loved God rejoiced in praise, and even the
angels praised God.

In Luke 2:10-14, an angel of God
described the birth of Jesus as “good tidings of great joy for all the
people.” The shepherds celebrated at the birth of Jesus. The wise men
celebrated. Certainly, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah celebrated. And
the host of heaven celebrated. It is certainly in keeping with the message of
Scripture for Christians to do so too.

Of course, following the apostle Paul’s instruction in Romans 14,
it is important that Christians respect one another’s views on this subject and
not judge one another. Neither those believers who celebrate the birth of
Jesus, nor those who don’t, are more righteous or more evil than the other.

But it remains true that those who avoid any celebration of Jesus’
birth are unnecessarily missing out on the opportunity to rejoice, give thanks
and praise God for the greatest gift of all time.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.

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