O.k. So here is the story. My hubby started giving in to the idea of Christmas last year and allowed me to buy gifts for the kids. He would not accept any in return. This year, he says me and the kids can buy gifts and even took the kids to pick out presents for me. Anyway, my son who is 12 asked WHY we cannot have a Christmas Tree since we are giving gifts anyway and therefore we ARE in fact observing Christmas? Hubby's answer to my son was that Christmas trees and celebrating it is not in the bible and Jesus never said we should observe his birth so he really doesn't want to observe Christmas and that he is merely given in to Mom.
Anyway, my son gave up but I started to really think about his reasoning on this matter which of course is the same reasoning he got from the WT. Basically people who hold to this view believe that UNLESS God himself or Jesus commands us to observe a certain day - we should not observe it for it is automatically un-biblical or un-christian. But is this really true? Anyway, I set out to do my own simple reasearch to find out if this type of reasoning would really hold water and I shared my findings with my hubby.
Well here are the points I brought out to my hubby.
Number 1 - although the name Christmas is not found in the bible, the birth of Christ which Christmas is based on certainly is found in the bible. And during the birth - the Angels rejoiced! They sang songs and praised to the Son. It does not say that God commanded them to do this, they merely took it upon themselves to do it. This is clearly a celebration of sorts and shows that the birth of Christ had special meaning to them as well as further significance for ALL of mankind. (Luke 2:8,20) Not only did the Angels rejoice but so did the shepherds in the fields, Mary and others as to them the birth of Christ was a very special day. Also just by the fact that Christ's birth is recorded in the bible for us, we cannot say Christmas which is the observing or celebration of this birth is un-biblical as it most certainly has a biblical origin.
Number 2 - Is it true we should NEVER observe a day that Jesus or God did not command us to observe? Well, we can ask ourselves this - did Jesus ever observe a day that God did not command him to observe? You may be surprised that the answer is Yes!
According to John 10:22,23 Jesus was present in the temple area during the "Feast of Dedication" - this day commemorates the victory of Maccabees and re-dedication of the temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days. Did God command this day to be observed? NO! There is no reference to this being the case in the OT. The NT does not say how much Jesus participated in this Feast but it does say he was there. Now, if Christ would feel any day that his father did not command his followers to observe to be un-biblical, you would think he could have protested this Feast by not being present at all in the area it would take place. But by his presence it does seem to show he not only allowed this feast but participated in it. He certainly in no way kept away like the Witnesses are told to do when someone they know is observing a special day!
Absolutely nowhere does the bible restrict days of celebration to the ones that are mentioned in the bible. Of course for Christians we know we are to proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. (Lord's memorial) But the Lord never said that this could be the ONLY day that we could dedicate to him or observe. As long as we observed the Memorial day, we are free to observe any other days we choose to. By saying otherwise you have to add too much into the bible that is not there. Where there is no clear statement against something we cannot then say it must be wrong. The bible simply does not go into details on every little issue like the WT tries to say. And what days to observe brings me to my third point.
Number 3 - Paul clearly shows that the observance of other days (other than the memorial) is up to our individual conscience. (Romans 14:5-8). Paul said let each of us decide what day we hold as sacred and what meaning it has for us. No mention of any particular day is named as a reference is a clear indication that Paul is leaving it up to the individual to make that determination. And no matter what day they should be convinced in their own mind about it and observe it "as to the Lord". I cannot see how if millions of people are thinking about Christ's birth during this time of year how this day would be considered ungodly. Of course many today do not think of this as a religious holiday anymore and that is o.k. too if that is what their conscience is telling them. But Paul here is not restricting any days we choose to elevate over others he is merely saying if you are a Christian, behave like one no matter what day you celebrate. Period! Nothing else can be read into this.
So we see, the bible is not as cut and dry on holidays as some try to make out. And since my hubby wants biblical proof it is o.k. to put up a tree and I showed him the so-called evidence against it just is not there, he allowed us to bring home a tree and put it up last night. And he even helped decorate it! Who said there is no such thing as a Christian Miracle? Hope everyone has a great Christmas this year. Lilly