Why Churches Should Continue to Have Services Christmas Day

To be quite honest, I'm not much a celebrator of holidays and this includes Christmas. So naturally, I wouldn't really post much about holidays, but I feel that this year, it would be warranted as Christmas Day lands on a Sunday. I have seen some churches debate over whether or not to have services on that Sunday and have heard people talking about how they think church should be cancelled to celebrate Christmas. But I want to encourage churches to continue with their services and this is why:


1. The Origin of Christmas
This may be abrasive to some people (a lot actually), but the idea of Christmas is a Catholic holiday and doesn't have a Christian origin. It is widely believed amoung many theologians that Jesus was really born sometime in either late fall or early spring. That is up to debate as to which one but truth is, we don't know what day he was born on. But the point is, Jesus was not born on December 25th. So why do we celebrate it on this date? It goes back to ancient Rome. The Romans had a holiday called Saturnalia. The purpose of this holiday was to have a week of lawlessness. All courts and law enforcement closed down and people were allowed to do what they wanted with no punishment by law. On the 25th (the last day of the holiday), the Romans would arrest the person who, during that week, was selected as lawgiver that was against the Roman government. After arresting this person, they would execute him.


During the week of this holiday, there would be rituals involving sex, drug use, drinking, human sacrifice, rape, dancing naked, everything you would picture in a pagan ritual. When Christianity started to take over in Rome, those who participated in Saturnalia wouldn't convert unless they could keep a part of their previous belief. This happened a lot throughout history (including the Vikings and the Irish) when the Catholic missionaries would try to convert pagans. The pagans would convert, but the Catholics would allow them to keep a part of their pagan beliefs and tie it into the Christian beliefs. In this case, they kept Saturnalia. As time passed, eventually Christianity adopted the date of the holiday and made it Christmas. So why would we cancel church, a time to worship Christ, over a holiday with a pagan origin?


2. Faith Based on the Bible
One point I want to bring up shortly is that our Christian faith is based on the forgiveness of our LORD and on the Bible. We do not base our faith around holidays and do not compromise with the worldly idea of holidays. To cancel a church service is telling God that our pleasure of having the "day off" and having the day to ourselves and our families is more important than fellowshipping with fellow Christians and preaching his word. We should not sacrifice this opportunity to open the doors of the church. I have a strong conviction about this. I also believe that it is each individual's choice on whether he/she will attend the church service on Christmas and that is a personal choice. But I also believe that those who are committed and want to attend the service should be allowed to be continuing with a service. That may be the only time some people will ever step foot in a church.


3. Being an Example
I feel this point coincides with my last point. We are commanded to be separate and set apart from this world and to be a godly example in Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 7:1, and Galatians 2:20. When we take advice from unsaved on spiritual matters or follow their lead, it is saying that as Christians, we are no different. When we continue to open our churches on Christmas day when everyone else is staying home, it says that we are different, it says that we are dedicated, and moreover, it says that we have an awesome God that is worth skipping Christmas morning tradition to serve God and show him that we love him.


As I conclude, I do want to express that I am not against Christmas. Even though I'm not much of a celebrator doesn't mean that I'm 100% against it. Within the Christian circle, we have used this date to look upon our LORD and remember His coming and sacrifice for us and His love for us. It's a day that can redirect our attention to our saviour. But we do need to remember that it is still just a holiday and is not the basis for our faith and is certainly not the source of our salvation or happiness. I encourage each church to keep your doors open on Christmas day. I encourage you to not follow the rest of the world. Finally, I encourage you to show God that you love him by placing him above a national holiday.

Jesus is NOT the Reason for the Season

Everyone loves Christmas! Getting together with family, enjoying a big meal, exchanging gifts. I believe it's safe to say that Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. I have many memories of growing up and having Christmas with the family, whether it was going out of town to spend it with extended family, or staying home and spending it with our parents. 

The more the time passes, the more I see what Christmas really means and this got me thinking: not everyone knows what Christmas is really about. 

Christmas is the second highest grossing holiday in America (Halloween being number one) and I believe there is more than one reason for this. One of the reasons is a misunderstanding of Christmas. Big meals, presents, Santa, elves, snow, Christmas carols, bells, sleighs, green and red, Christmas trees, lights, family gatherings, and more. Most people focus more on these things than what is really important. 

I work in EMS and it seems like after the holidays, we get an outburst of depressed patients and suicides. Why is that? Most of the reasons involve a feeling of loneliness or sense that they don't belong. And I think the reason is because they do not understand what Christmas means. If it's all about getting together with family, then being alone is devastating. 

There's a popular slogan amoung Christians for Christmas: "Jesus is the reason for the season". It's a nice little slogan that many Christians use innocently to try to keep Christ in Christmas (which is getting harder these days). But that is not the whole truth and is only half the story. 

I want to call you to think through the Christmas story a bit. I'm sure all Christians can agree that Christmas is about the celebration of Christ's birth. But I want you think about why Christ came to earth. Too often we celebrate the baby Jesus in a manger with the Christmas story and stop there. But why did He come and why was His birth so glorious? 

Romans is a great book that spells out what it means to be a Christian and what it is to be saved. Chapter 5 give the reason why Christ came. Verse 12 says "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". John 3:16 tells us "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." When we look at these two verses, amoung many others, we see the real reason Christ came down. Christ came because we are sinners. If we were not sinners and did not sin, would Christ have come as He did, to die? Would we even have Christmas?

As I thought long about this post, my answer to "what is the reason for the season?" I would have answered that WE are. We are the reason Christ came, because of who we are as sinners. But I also believe that it goes deeper than that. Yes, we are the ones that Jesus came here to die for, but He did not have to come. The moment Adam sinned in the garden, God could have wiped humanity from existence and start over. The reason why we are still here, why Jesus came to die for us, and why we have Christmas is because of God's love. Think about that for a minute!

From the minute Adam sinned, God prophesied that Jesus would be born to die, thousands of years before it happened. And what I find amazing is that Jesus voluntarily left a perfect Heaven, born into a sin filled world, just to die for us so we can spend eternity with Him. Is that not love? John 3:16 tells us that God sent his Son. But Jesus also voluntarily came. John 6:38 is the account of Jesus saying "for I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him who sent me". And in the account of when Jesus was in the garden, preparing to be arrested, he asked to not have to go through with the crucifixion. Jesus was a servant that loved us enough to stoop down lower than the common man and die for us. That is really what Christmas is about: Gods love. 

This is why it bothers me to see all these people who are so wrapped up in having to see family, getting the meal fixed in time, getting the "right" gift, and obsessing over Christmas decorations. Our country has changed Christmas into a winter holiday revolving around gifts and "holiday" trees. I think this is why it's harder for people to reflect on the real reason for Christmas. I have come to the point where I don't like Christmas decorations or celebration norms. Instead of following tradition of celebrating the modern version of Christmas, I take time reflect and remember Gods love and forgiveness. When that is your focus instead of what everyone else focuses on, your Christmas will be much more meaningful. 

But if you haven't experienced the forgiveness of God, you have not experienced what Christmas really is. Christmas becomes an empty holiday that revolves around greediness and holiday tradition, followed by depression because you know there must be more. If you haven't accepted Gods forgiveness, his Son and love, I encourage you to accept Gods gift, the greatest Christmas gift you will ever receive.