THE RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF CHRISTMAS – PART 1
[A]. INTRODUCTION
I have decided to do a more thorough examination of this whole idea of Christmas, paying closer attention to what I think are the rights and wrongs of Christmas. As I mapped this out I found more wrongs than rights. This subject will cover many areas, yet I feel inadequate in covering too much in a limited presentation.
There used to be a song many decades ago I rarely ever heard then, and now, I never hear it. After a lot of searching, I found it on only one search engine. It obviously is written by a Christian disappointed that the emphasis on Christmas has been subverted. Here is that song -
Country music lyrics of PUT CHRIST BACK INTO CHRISTMAS (Anonymous)
Don't wish me Merry X-mas
Or Happy Holiday,
Put Christ back into Christmas
On this blessed holy day
Put Christ back into Christmas
Like on that silent night
When the star of Bethlehem
Gave way to new born life.
Let all the world give glory
To Christ the King of Kings
Let children hear the story
Of love our Saviour brings.
Put Christ back into Christmas
Like on that silent night
When the star of Bethlehem
Gave way to new born life.
We have the great Christmas divide at Christmas time. The two positions are clearly there – the Christian side and the secular side. I want to examine the world of “modern Christmas” to see the conflict here.
It is not possible to write on this without bias and I am in the camp of a biblical Christmas. I hope you pardon me if you are into modernism, especially if you have children where the world’s pressure can be so overwhelming at Christmas time and you feel forced to have your santas and other non-biblical paraphernalia.
I have titled this consideration as “The Rights and Wrongs of Christmas”. This is a very subjective matter but I do think it is correct to probe what has happened to the Christmas that so many knew many, many decades ago. We will begin with the wrongs.
[B]. THE WRONGS OF CHRISTMAS
[1]. THE TIMING IS WRONG
Who selected the 25th December as the date of the Nativity? Why was this date selected? We know the answers because they are firmly set in history.
It was the Emperor Constantine who set this date but it was not adhered to before 336 A.D. Constantine is honoured as the first Christian Emperor but I doubt that he was ever a Christian. It’s a long story I have done elsewhere. He had his whole army baptised, pagans who were not converted and that introduced paganism into the church.
He chose the date of December 25th to coincide with existing pagan festivals and the winter solstice celebrations. They likely wanted the date to coincide with existing pagan festivals honouring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (the Persian god of light). That way, it became easier to convince Rome’s pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion. They just switched from one to the other, and confused both. Constantine really messed up the truth of the bible.
The date has stuck. It is wrong and the reason is wrong. When was Jesus born? Well, because a census had to be taken in all the Roman Empire, then people had to travel back to their birthplace and that certainly was not in winter! Jesus was born when the sheep were still out on the hillsides, not in winter pens. Maybe about July to September would be near the mark.
[2]. GLUTTONY AND DRUNKENNESS
The desire for gluttony and being drunk are both part of the old nature.
I am sure modern Cretans would not be too pleased with {{Titus 1:12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, LAZY GLUTTONS.”}}
God’s condemnation is upon drunkenness – {{1 Corinthians 6:10 “nor thieves, nor the covetous, NOR DRUNKARDS, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God,”}} The fleshly Christians at Corinth were even drunk at the Lord’s Table! And probably some were gluttons also. Wickedness accused the Lord of these very things – {{Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’}}
It is a shame that too many view Christmas as a time to eat, drink and be merry, and to do so to excess. The natural man has no moral judgement in line with God’s requirements so he/she sees gluttony and being drunk as having a good time. This is what too many have reduced Christmas to.
[3]. THE FALSE CHRIST WHO IS SANTA CLAUS
Even Christians think it is all right to have santa images and sleigh bells and reindeer (and holly and mistletoe) everywhere as decorations. I know right now that some are going to deem me as a kill joy, but please bear with me.
Santa Claus is the replacement for Jesus Christ. Every single Christian expression is negated by Satan who substitutes his own false agenda, and nowhere is this clearer than Christmas trappings. The day of Jesus’ birth was mutilated. The Christ of Christmas is mutilated.
The other day I was walking through a large shopping centre and nowhere did I see anything relating to Christmas that was Christian. Not one hymn, but plenty of Santa and Rudolf and “Have a Happy Christmas” and images of an obese Santa Claus everywhere. Children these days have absolutely no idea that this “festive season” is from the Christian calendar. This is what you get when you have a grossly pagan society and secular society.
Even the wrapping paper for purchases and carry bags for shopping have images printed on them but not one “Christian” symbol. They are decorated with trees, santas, laughing reindeer . . . .
I live in the hot wet tropics where snow is an impossibility by nearly 20 degrees C in winter, yet all we get is this Fake Jesus called Santa. Christians should have nothing to do with Santa because it is the pagan substitute for Christ. I have written on this earlier in a short message - https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/a-short-christmas-message-christmas-travesty-pseudo-christmas-ron-ferguson-sermon-on-christmas-269866
Santa Claus is a legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint who is typically depicted in red bishop’s robes.” “Christian” robes came in under Constantine by the way. The Apostles never wore any such thing. Robes are Babylonian in origin.
I know this is a difficult one for parents who might even foster the lie that presents come from Santa Claus. I think children, even young ones need to be brought up in truth. When a child is enveloped by a lie, and later finds out it was a lie, some of them also treat Jesus Christ the same way. The treat the Lord as false also. Parents, don’t deceive your children. Do what is truthful, not deceptive.
A child has a very fertile mind and one that retains lasting impressions. Raise them with dishonesty and you produce only bad. Be honest about gift giving and what Christmas is really about.
Santa is the FALSE Christ of Christmas. Don’t fall into the trap of having one foot in paganism’s door. Fakery has replaced reality.
[4]. OVERTAKEN BY GREED = COMMERCIALISATION/COMMERCIALIZATION
“Share in the Christmas cheer” equals spend up big at often-inflated prices. The commercial world has manipulated Christmas for its own greedy profits, and tries to make you feel you are going good by “getting into the spirit of Christmas”.
The event that Christmas is based on, is the birth of the Lord Jesus who came into the world at the first advent where his parents owned nothing. The stable or animal housings were not theirs. I have no idea where the cloths came from – {{Luke 2:7 “and she gave birth to her first-born son, and she WRAPPED HIM IN CLOTHS and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”}} The AV uses “swaddling clothes”.
I am glad it was that way. Man is poverty-stricken in the sight of God because of sin and the only thing each of us owns is our sin. We are as poor as Joseph and Mary, and I am talking about our own righteousness as the natural man, but their material poverty. Spiritually, they were greatly blessed. Slightly adapting a verse, the truth of this is magnificent – {{2 Corinthians 8:9 “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake HE BECAME POOR, that you through His poverty might become rich.”}}
The commercialisation of Christmas is obscene. Everything you can think of has been rounded up and put on display and each year the lists of products are presented earlier and earlier. One of the first off the mark is the decorations and baubles and all the tinsel and junky looking stuff streaming out of a godless China. Inflatable Santas, shining paper and the trims and trappings, all of it jumping out of us.
I was in a major retail outlet and all this stuff was everywhere, all the things you can buy for Christmas but there was not one item that related to the true Christmas. Commercialisation hates true Christianity because its aims are opposed to Christian aims.
Greed for profits in the name of “Christ-mas” smacks of Roman Catholicism’s greed for Indulgences in the Middle Ages. In the days of Jeremiah, in the final days of the Kingdom of Judah, the prophet penned a remarkable statement, it being remarkable because it now represents our world in the last 20 or so years. I have found it not just with commercial enterprises but with trades people, dentists . . . well, almost everyone these days. Here it is. {{Jeremiah 6:13 “for from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone IS GREEDY FOR GAIN, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.”}}
We know we live in a materialistic world but when the claws of greed are latching into everything, then we are in a bad way. The verse before that one quoted, is God’s perspective on this matter – {{Jeremiah 6:12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others. Their fields and their wives together, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.}}
It is fast approaching for this world when the same will come, and that is the time of God’s wrath in the Tribulation, but because it is going to be a wrath against sin, then God’s own children, will be taken out of it because the wrath of God has no part on them, having fallen on Christ for our sakes. It is the same when Noah was removed before the wrath of the flood came.
Some might object and say, “Well it’s not wrong to have a business and try to make a profit at Christmas.” Yes, I understand that, but it is all part of the great commercialisation of Christmas that has turned the emphasis away from Christ entirely. I focus on that aspect.
I don’t really want to make this negative so that will be enough on this aspect. I am sure you can see what Christmas has become. This is not about businesses making profits or doing well. NO! It is about mammon REPLACING the Christ Child in the manger.
[5]. CHRISTMAS SONGS AND CAROLS
Commercial places like Malls and Centres and Shopping Centre complexes love to get people in the mood for a buying spree so they play the appropriate songs, especially jingly ones. These Christmas songs you hear on visits to these shopping places IN MY CITY, maybe not in yours, because my nation is now so pagan, every one of these songs is about a pagan Christmas. You will not hear one traditional Christmas carol. Santa Claus is coming to town so you’d better be good! Yes, the false Christ is coming! The wonderful shop displays you once had in shop windows of the biblical Christmas story have disappeared, replaced by sleighs, snow, Christmas trees, sometimes bells, and Santa with his bag of gifts as this obese man tries to work out how he can fit down a chimney.
Keep an ear open and you might hear music of a reindeer with a red nose, a song about 12 days of Christmas, about dashing through the snow, about ringing bells and drummer boys.
The counterfeit always has its songs. Satan has a counterfeit for every single institution and declaration of God. God said to Adam that if he ate of the fruit he would die; Satan negated that. God said marriage is between a man and a woman. Satan has perverted that. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Satan has brought Santa Claus along to save us. Godly men gave us inspired Christmas carols. Satan has distorted all that.
What I think is detestable is found in some WOKE churches where people have a service and they come along with santa hats and the counterfeit Christ paraphernalia and sing songs of the counterfeit Christmas maybe interspersed with a few traditional carols. What sort of horrible compromise is that, dishonouring to the One whose Name will not be blasphemed!
[6]. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR TREE AND CANDLES AND DECORATIONS
What are the origins of these add-ons to Christmas? Are they Christian, and are they harmless additions?
(A). THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Nothing is more certain of pagan origins than the tree that is used at Christmas.
[[“Evergreens at midwinter festivals were traditional since the ancient world, signifying the victory of life and light over death and darkness,” Carole Cusack, a professor of religious studies at the University of Sydney, said. (National Geographic).]]
Evergreens likely held a special significance in pagan cultures because they retained their colour in the winter months, whereas other trees shed their leaves and appeared dead and lifeless.
[[ Many pagan cultures adorned their homes with evergreen boughs to keep evil spirits at bay, a common element among winter solstice rituals. In many countries, it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. In fact, according to the Society of Ethnobiology, the period now known as the 12 Days of Christmas was considered by pagan cultures to be the darkest and most dangerous time of the year. ]] (Internet). Pagan myths say that during those 12 days, Odin and the Wild Hunt would ride through the sky, concealed by dark storm clouds, ready to abduct anyone unfortunate enough to have failed to find a hiding place.
Similar beliefs can be found in the cultures of ancient Rome and Egypt, where greenery served an equally protective and spiritual role. And despite Christianity’s eventual overtaking of many pagan religions, elements of the tradition lingered on — and eventually became the Christmas tree as we now know it. This pagan belief prevailed and the famous Catholic composer and scientist, Hildegard von Bingen (12th centeury), said “Wherever the fir wood stands, the spirits of the air hate it, and shun it. Enchantments and magic spells have less power to effect things there, than they do in other places.”
In fact, in 1621, Puritan governor William Bradford (United States) (Plymouth, Massachusetts –Bradford was the governor of the Plymouth colony for 30 years,) wrote that he tried to stamp out the “pagan mockery” of Christmas decorations and celebrations, arguing that they promoted excess and lacked any origin in Scripture. Things have changed - Today, more than 25 million live Christmas trees are sold each year in the United States.
During the Renaissance in the 16th century, the Christmas tree originated in Central Europe, particularly Germany. It was inspired by earlier traditions of using evergreens to symbolise life and hope during winter, with Martin Luther often credited for adding lighted candles to the trees.
[B]. LIGHTS AND CANDLES
Christmas candles and lights have an ancient origin. Ritualistic churches make extensive use of candles and a liturgical church will tell you that the candle represents Jesus as the Light of the world.
I don’t think there is any pagan origin to candles and for many, many centuries candles provided light for evening services in ancient places and darkened interiors. They had a practical use. However their use is now very much out-dated and using them in churches is a bit like the Amish who still use horses for transport. Some see candles as symbolic. We used to use candles in cyclonic power failures.
One Baptist Minister wrote, “As a Baptist Minister I don’t want to teach my people that lighting a candle will in any way help them in their approach to God. In other words, the lighting of a candle has nothing to do with a relationship with the Lord.” I would apply the same to practices at Christmas. Maybe candles should be confined to romantic candlelight dinners and used in blackouts.
[C]. DECORATIONS
Jeremiah wrote of the heathen idolatrous worshippers and their idols, and there can be for some, a similar experience with Christmas decorations on their trees – {{Jeremiah 10:3-4 “The customs of the peoples are delusion because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. THEY DECORATE IT WITH SILVER AND WITH GOLD. They fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter.”}}
The idea of decorating trees, particularly Christmas trees, originated in Germany during the 16th century, where families brought evergreen trees into their homes and adorned them with various decorations like apples and candles. This practice evolved from earlier pagan traditions of using evergreens in winter celebrations, symbolizing eternal life and the return of spring.
"It's the 16th and 17th century that we really get the decorating happening, and we get a movement into the festivals and the big royal courts having these trees with the gold leaf on them, having paper decorations with candles," Dr Wilson said. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany, where families set up a paradise tree in their homes on December 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers on it (symbolizing the Eucharistic host, the Christian sign of redemption).
Pieces of evergreen fir tree were first brought into people's homes to brighten spirits during the winter solstice. "The idea of bringing the evergreen into the house represents fertility and new life in the darkness of winter, which was much more of the pagan themes," Dr Dominique Wilson from the University of Sydney said. "That's also where the ideas of the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe come from because they're the few flowering plants at winter so therefore they hold special significance." So the idea of bringing evergreens into the house started there and eventually that evolved into the Christmas tree."
We will end Part 1 there and in Part 2 we end the WRONGS of Christmas and look at the RIGHTS of Christmas.
