We’ve been getting hits from googlers who are looking for “reformed Christmas controversy,” so I thought I would take the issue on and be of some help.
In some Reformed circles Christmas is not celebrated because God never commanded the church to celebrate the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ and nowhere in Scriptures is Jesus’ birth celebrate. The Puritans didn’t celebrate it for this reason and would fine people for doing so. Others object to the fact that it started out as a Roman Catholic mass and they also object to the fact that the date was selected to Christianize a pagan holiday.
Yeah, they may have a point but I don’t really think it matters. Even though God didn’t institute a special holy day to celebrate the birth of His Son, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate His birth on a particular day.
The Bible doesn’t prohibit us from doing so, it is adiaphora (things indifferent — you can do them or not, it doesn’t matter). So it really doesn’t matter if we celebrate Jesus’ birth today, tomorrow, next week or in April or September (either month is thought to be a possibility for the actual birth) because we really don’t know when he was born. So, since we don’t know and we can celebrate it on any day we want, why not celebrate it on the day that everyone else is celebrating? The day that is federally mandated as the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth. Why not invite our family and friends over for a shared meal and a present so that we can share the love of our Savior with them, whether they are a Christian or not. Why not give our kids a little something to show our love and appreciation for them? Why not allow our kids the pleasure of sneaking into the living room Christmas morning and shaking all their presents before their parents wake up?
This time of year people’s thoughts turn to God and the gift of His Son to the world and I can’t help but think that’s a good thing. I’m happy that I go to a Presbyterian church where we celebrate the birth of Jesus with a Christmas Eve service so that we can be there for those whose thoughts do turn toward God this Christmas season, as they attend church with their family or friends or remember how comforting the Christmas service was when they were growing up and decide to attend a local church. I’m glad that we’ll be ready for them with carols, Bible readings and the gospel.
I love Christmas and wouldn’t give it up. Yeah, I think about Jesus everyday and don’t necessarily need a special day to do so but I love the fact that we do have a special day in which people from around the world turn their thoughts from themselves to others and celebrate the birth of my Savior whether knowingly or in ignorance. I really can’t see anything wrong with that.
Now, if you can and you want to try to convert me, don’t bother. I’ve read the arguments and they aren’t convincing. Adiaphora, baby, adiaphora.