A Christians guide to Christmas

Should Christians celebrate Christmas ? 

Not necessarily, Christian means follower of Christ. Followers of Christ follow Christ's words. Did Jesus tell Christians to observe Christmas ? No. The bible says nothing about Christmas. Jesus did insist that he gets remembered during the observation of the Lord's Supper. Christmas is the brain child of humans not God , so it's essentially nothing. When we observe the Lords Supper in remembrance of Christ , we are obeying God , we are commanded to do that. When we celebrate Christmas , we are not doing something that God instructed.

Is observing Christmas a sin ?

Point 1

It can be, If you encourage people to observe Christmas as a religious command , you're saying God said you must do this. It becomes sinful cos God didn't command it. 

Point 2

If you're supposed to gather as a church based on agreement, but you decide to not do it - because it’s a Christmas holiday. It's a sin because it stops you from obeying a command from God. God never commanded Christmas , but he did command that Christians gather( Hebrews 10:25). In other words, Christmas should never stop you from obeying God's commands. 

Point 3

If you celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, it's a sin. Because Christ was most likely not born at Christmas and neither did God command people to celebrate it, when you do something in the name of Christ or religion it has to be in the spirit of Truth (John 4:24) and it has to be done based on faith ( Romans 10:25) , faith comes from hearing God's word. If you do something religious without religious instruction - it's not done in faith , and anything not done in faith is a sin. 

Point 4

Since other people think it's wrong to celebrate Christmas, if you celebrate it - and influence them to go against their conscience. You make the brother stumble - and that is sin. If Christmas makes someone fall into sin or confusion - it’s a sin.

"Rom 14:20 Don't let the eating of food destroy the work of God. All food is right to eat, but it is wrong for anyone to eat something that hurts the faith of another person. 

Rom 14:21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that hurts the faith of your brother or sister. "

If Celebrating Christmas causes a brother to sin, it's best not to celebrate Christmas at all. 

"1Co 8:12 When you sin against your brothers and sisters in Christ in this way and you hurt them by causing them to do things they feel are wrong, you are also sinning against Christ. 

1Co 8:13 So if the food I eat makes another believer fall into sin, I will never eat meat again. I will stop eating meat, so that I will not make my brother or sister sin. "

"Mat 5:29  If your right eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 

Mat 5:30  If your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. "

Point 5

Bringing Christmas to church is a sin, the church is the kingdom of God. Christ means King, the idea is Christ as the head , rules the church. Christ tells the church what to do , that's what church of Christ means. When a church does something that Christ didn't command it to do - it's a sin , the church observes the commandments of God.

So celebrating Christmas is a sin ? 

Not really, there are people who celebrate Christmas without making it to be about the birth of Christ. They say Merry Christmas (meaningless words ), they exchange gifts - they buy a Christmas tree and decorate it, they spread kindness, they might also teach someone about Christ. Christmas is also a time when unbelievers soften their hearts to the message of Christ, it’s a great chance for evangelism. Even some Muslims wish Christians "Merry Christmas" - so it's the best time to talk about Christ without being offensive to many people who would normally take offence at the name of Christ. 

"Eph 5:16 I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times. "

Having a Christmas tree, giving gifts, wishing goodwill to everyone , buying presents, eating with family is not a sin. There are people who celebrate Christmas this way so they are not guilty. 

So I can celebrate Christmas right ? 

Point 1

It's much wiser not to ,cos there are people who still think that celebrating Christmas is observing a pagan holiday - something having pagan origins doesn't make it pagan. The verse below talks about meat which originated from pagan worship.

"1Co 8:7 But not all people know this. Some have had the habit of worshiping idols. So now when they eat meat, they still feel as if it belongs to an idol. They are not sure that it is right to eat this meat. So when they eat it, they feel guilty. 

1Co 8:8 But food will not bring us closer to God. Refusing to eat does not make us less pleasing to God, and eating does not make us closer to him. "

Point 2

Also, some think Christmas is Jesus' birthday that God wants celebrated so when they see other people observe it, they are misled into thinking they are pleasing God. To play in their delusion makes them support a lie , they live in sin or a lie and are deceived into thinking they are pleasing God. 

Point 3

More often during festive season , the people in point 1 turn on the people in point 2 - accusing them of bringing paganism into Christianity, which causes more unnecessary arguments about what is essentially nothing. When an issue is divisive , it's wiser to not engage in it to avoid unnecessary drama. For example, if I don't observe Christmas - the arguments won't happen, but if I do - it's often chaos causing division with people who think what they are saying is justified is true. Things like this can also divide the church. It's better to have the church united than me "enjoying my Christmas".

"1Co 8:13 So if the food I eat makes another believer fall into sin, I will never eat meat again. I will stop eating meat, so that I will not make my brother or sister sin. "

Christmas Myths Extra - The Mass in Christmas

The word "mas" in Christmas stands for "mass" , which is a Catholic concept, so essentially Christmas is catholic doctrine. However , it was hijacked to imply something else. The Christmas story is actually a story of hijacking. The Catholics hijacked the date of a pagan holiday to institute their own holiday. Later on - the protestants and "atheists" hijacked the Catholics' holiday to institute a holiday of goodwill and cheer involving the reception of gifts from a fictional red man who rewards kids based on their behaviour, some protestants still see it as Jesus' birthday- "atheists" often see it as a day where a red man rewards kids with gifts. What is most common is a combination of both ideas. You can read about what mass in catholicism means here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_in_the_Catholic_Church

Christmas Myths Extra - the X in Xmas

I'll copy paste this one, but the idea is ,some people think placing an X in Xmas is atheists way of removing Christ from Christmas. But read the script below from wikipedia. 

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which in English is "Christ".[1] The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass.[2]

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century. (from : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas)

Additional Information on Pagan origins

Some people think that something having pagan origins means it is evil - This issue was addressed by Paul in Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8 , 1 Corinthians 10. It's an earthly misconception. Things cannot be evil on themselves, a day cannot be evil. The book of Matthew indicates where evil comes from. 

"Mat 15:19 For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others. "

Just because a day was dedicated to a pagan god doesn't make it evil. If you go to the book of Daniel , Daniels name was changed to a name that honours a pagan god.

"Dan 4:8 Then Daniel came in. (He is also called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god.) The spirit of the holy gods is in him, so I told him what I had dreamed. I said to him: "

That didn't stop Daniel from being a faithful man of God. The days of the week and the Months on our calendars are pagan names , but that doesn't make days and months pagan. I can go to the extreme and say - even if there was a holiday called satanday, that would mean nothing because what is good is based on what God says and whether you do it or not. I'll substitute the word idol with holiday and other changes to place in the noun on the 1 Corinthians 8 - so you might get what I'm trying to say

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"1Co 8:4 So then, about Holidays offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God. 

1Co 8:5 Even if there are so-called "gods," whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these "gods" and "lords," 

1Co 8:6 yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live. 

1Co 8:7 But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they observe these holidays they still think of it as days that belong to an idol(pagan gods); their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the Holiday.

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Emphasis on 8:7 - it indicates that it's very hard for people to adjust their minds into thinking that something is not pagan or that Christmas is not necessarily a pagan holiday, however I indicated that there are people who can celebrate it without offending their conscience. Who do not give it pagan or religious ties - and so can't be held guilty , but due to the confusion that it causes. I've decided it's not worth the trouble…so I personally don't celebrate Christmas - but I think you can decide based on the information I provided.