I am a member of a church which generally does not celebrate “Christian Holidays”. These are my thoughts on this topic and why I do not believe it is wrong if someone chooses to do so. My primary goal is to Glorify God and encourage others to do the same.
It is clear to all that Christians are commanded to remember the Lord’s death. Paul recorded this in I Corinthians 11:24,25 quoting Jesus as saying, “do this in remembrance of Me”. If we want to please God we must obey Him when commands us to do something.
What about having special days to remember the birth of Jesus or the resurrection of Jesus? Well, God did not command us to have to have special days to remember these occasions, so it is certainly not something that we must do. But is it wrong if some people choose to remember these occasions on a certain day? I do not believe that it is. Paul discusses “observing of days” in Romans 14:5,6 and essentially says that each person needs to make their own judgement about those matters. This does not give us carte blanche (a blank check) to do things that we know are sinful just b/c we are “observing a day”, but it does provide some latitude, assuming of course that we are not violating God’s Word.
It is likely that many Jews who became Christians still observed the Passover feast after becoming Christians (if you observed it every year for 50+ years, you’d likely continue to do it as part of your family culture or tradition). Did they have to observe the Passover as a Christian? No. Was it wrong if they did? I do not believe so. They were remembering a joyous event in deliverance from Egypt.
I view the birth and the resurrection of Christ as similar events. They are both very very joyous occasions to the Christian. Are we commanded to celebrate them on a special day? No. Is it wrong if someone chooses to? I do not believe it is based on Romans 14:5, as long as they don’t seek judge others that do not share the same conclusion.
I don’t celebrate Christmas and Easter as “special days”, but I still do appreciate the added spiritual influence those holidays have on our culture. I enjoy thinking about Jesus’ birth when hearing songs about this on the radio around Christmas time. His birth was the beginning of the end of God fulfilling His eternal plan for our salvation. An angelic chorus praised God during this time! (Luke 2:13,14). With the resurrection it is even more of a joyous occasion for the Christian. Jesus’ conquers DEATH and leads the way that we might also. The entire hope our our service to God rests on this event (I Cor 15)!!!
In my view, the key on matters like these is that we don’t violate our conscience and don’t seek to judge others who have a different view on things that God has not commanded (special days), but are still focal points in God’s plan (birth & resurrection of Jesus).
p.s. If I was naming these holidays I’d name them “Bad Friday” and “Good Sunday”; nothing was worse than a mock trial, a bloody beating and a crucifixion for a bad day, but alas, it needed to be done for my sin.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
